The Roseville High School Burning Bright theater program recently had their spring musical event to commemorate the centennial anniversary of Roseville High School.

     Drama director Stuart Smith created from scratch the play, titled The Very Very Very Long Senior Year of Harvey Winkle, in the summer of 2011 and continued to work on the script until December, when the original script was completed and by March all of the songs were completed.

     The play had showings from April 13-2.   

     During the writing of the original script, Smith saw a Facebook post from a past student of his that read “Keep Calm, Listen to the Beatles and Bake a Chocolate Cake.” Smith took such a liking to this that he wrote in a nonsensical musical number to match its nonsensical origin and senior Emilee Telles designed the signs that could be seen in the windows of the Patty Baker Theater.

     “The central idea was that we really wanted to do a family friendly show,” said Smith.

     The play follows the story of a senior by the name of Harvey Winkle who was trapped in time in the year 1912 and 100 years later is released from his suspended animation into the 100^th graduating class at RHS. Along with his struggle to cope with the new world that he has been placed into, there is also a nasty counselor who is bent on getting Harvey Winkle in as much trouble as possible.

     The play itself lasts one hour and contains musical numbers designed to appeal to the entire family.

     “It was bumpy, but it definitely exceeded my expectations,” said stage manager, senior Aurelia Moulin.

     Though Smith had written the entirety of the play, the students set to perform in the play had their fair share of input and even helped develop some new characters.

     “It’s like that old joke about building a plane while you’re already off the ground,” said Smith. “It’s great fun.”