Amidst the bright lights and sounds of applause, the OHS theater program closed the curtains to their last performance of the school year: Anastasia. Based on the historic event of the Russian Revolution, the show captured the hearts of many, actors and audiences alike.
During the weeks leading up to every performance the theater program puts on, each actor and member of the production feels a sense of excitement. Especially for Anastasia, each student had a role that brought them this anticipation, whether it was choreographing, putting together the set, or playing the lead character.
“It’s very exciting, it’s my first title character. I don’t know, it’s been a wonderful experience. I think it’s so cool to play a Disney princess. I love it so much… Tthe amount of ballgowns I had to find [for the musical],” said Madelene Salisbury, senior.
While the show was put on from April 2-4, the theater program spent countless hours during the months beforehand, prepping and rehearsing the musical. There is tremendous work that goes on behind-the-scenes, aside from simply what is shown on stage.
“There’s an after-school [stage production] group that comes in for like four hours every day and works on our set. During tech week, everyone’s there for like six hours every day, and then show week, it’s the same thing, we’re there till 8 p.m.-9 p.m. every day,” said Isaiah Asmare, junior.
While Sedona Sutton, the OHS theater teacher, directed the production, most aspects of the musical were completely created from scratch by the students themselves. From choreography to stage production and tech, the students brought the musical to life.
“First, we worked on choreography and blocking, which Isaiah and Jeni choreographed, which was amazing. Then, we, at least I, worked on lines and memorization and worked on music and songs, and now, we’re running the show as a whole. I know that tech has worked on the set, lights, quick changes, set changes, and stuff like that,” said Kate Lundgren, sophomore.
One special aspect of the OHS theater program is the tight-knit community it offers. Not only is it a good company of people to be around, but the students are all very hard-working when it comes to stage production.
“There’s a really good community between all the people, and people learn really quickly, which is great. That’s not something you find in a lot of different programs, so it’s really interesting to see how quickly people learn here,” Asmare said.
The community element was especially significant for the Anastasia musical. As the mainstage production, the musical brought together a group of people, some of whom are not normally part of the theater program.
“Theater is a very mishmash of different people that you might not interact with beforehand, especially our mainstage show, like [Anastasia]… Normally, a more variety of people than just the people who are in this building audition for our mainstage musical, so I love how theater brings people together,” Salisbury said.
The OHS theater is where students gather for the love of the art of performance. While the curtain call of Anastasia signaled the last performance of the school year and the last performance of their high school career for seniors, for many, it is also a new beginning.
“I think what it’s taught me the most is, honestly, reigniting my love for being in theater and being in shows… [I] was just doing copy and paste auditions over and over again for most of this year because the musical theater audition process is super competitive. I’ve been doing the same songs forever, and the senior show was thrown together really quickly. [I’ve] just been able to embrace and [play] within that depth of the character,” Salisbury said.
