Central Drama Department will present ‘High School Musical’ April 1-3
By Hailey Sharpe, Times-Register
Each year, the Central Drama Department puts on two major performances, one being the fall play and the other the spring musical. This year, for the spring musical, the school’s drama department is performing “High School Musical.” The show times for this musical will be Friday and Saturday, April 1 and 2, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 3, at 2 p.m.
Brandon Douglas, Central choir director, shared some of his thoughts about how he feels the musical will go for this year.
Musical Theatre International gives a very clear picture of what the musical is about. “It’s the first day after winter break at East High. The Jocks, Brainiacs, Thespians and Skater Dudes find their cliques, recount their vacations and look forward to the new year. Basketball team captain and resident jock, Troy, discovers that the brainy Gabriella, a girl he met singing karaoke on his ski trip, has just enrolled at East High. They cause an upheaval when they decide to audition for the high school musical that is being led by Ms. Darbus. Although many students resent the threat posed to the ‘status quo,’ Troy and Gabriella’s alliance might just open the door for others to shine as well.”
During the interview, Douglas added in his own thoughts and gave a brief view of what it’s about. “The story of Troy and Gabriella resonates with a more modern setting of Romeo and Juliet. The play within the play happens to be Juliet and Romeo, and Troy and Gabriella both resonate with this as they stray from their clique and what they have always known between sports and academics. They want to try something different and explore themselves as people and not the expectations set by everyone else. They want to not only be together, but be themselves. This is something that everyone can relate to as we all have been told that we can’t do something and that we should do what is expected of us somewhere else. This message resonates with many of us.”
When Douglas was asked about why he chose this musical for 2022, he stated, “A major part of this selection was requesting input from seniors to see what they are interested in and any ideas they might have. When the idea of ‘High School Musical’ was brought up, I gave it a lot of thought and determined that it would be a great experience and that we had the potential to make it a great show, which I still believe. One of the biggest things was that I knew it would be fun in the process too. I thought it was the right choice.”
He discussed what he felt his biggest challenges for this musical would be this year. “I feel one of the biggest challenges is always scheduling conflicts. With how many things our students are involved in, this becomes really tough to schedule rehearsals and figure out enough things to work on. Students have been pretty good about making things work right now and communicating conflicts.”
He also mentioned the auditioning process and had a total of 20 students audition to perform in this musical and ensemble members auditioning for very small roles as well. Douglas was asked how he chose who would be best for the roles auditioned in the musical. He said, “I have to go through an extensive list of criteria, considerations and thoughts regarding each and every role. It does not make it an easy task. I was able to record students singing and reading scripts while acting and figure out who would fit each role. Every show is difficult to decide as there are only so many roles to go around. Tough decisions definitely have to be made.”
Douglas discussed his excitement for the musical this year and how he feels it will turn out. “This has been a fun process so far, and it has been wonderful to see students develop as actors, musicians and as people. Some of them have also built leadership skills and I know it only propels our show.”
Brayden Finley, a senior playing the role of Ryan Evans, gave some feedback about his experience with the musical. Finley has been in drama performances for three years and echoed what Douglas said about the challenges. “Trying to get everyone together has definitely been a struggle due to everyone’s crazy schedules.”
Finley went on to say he would encourage students to participate in the musical because “It is a way to get out of your comfort zone, and it allows you to make new friends while hanging out with people you may not have met before.”
He is excited about the upcoming performances because it will be fun to perform in a show that people are already familiar with, and being able to watch the audience and see their reactions will be a different experience this time.
