With a brilliant red and white set and an enthusiastic cast, Norwin Theatre Company recently put on their production of Disney’s “High School Musical” from March 20-23 in Norwin High School’s auditorium.
The musical’s plot revolves around the character Troy Bolton as he battles against his father and basketball team’s expectations so that he can sing in his school drama club’s production of Romeo and Juliet with a girl named Gabriella Montez. Together, the two go against the school’s “status quo.”
Sienna DeJesus, who is set to be the President of the Theatre Company next year, says that the cast has worked hard to make the musical amazing.
“We worked so hard on [the numbers], we work hard at everything we do and we were so excited to present it.”
Abigail Szymanski, the Norwin Theatre Company Co-president, said that the show’s attendance was good, stating that it was one of the company’s best-selling performances.
“I think Saturday was our best-selling show,” Szymanski noted. “But we pretty much had most of the floor seats sold out every night and it was great to see so many people.”
After the musical’s run, student tech director Addison Baer also said that the show went really well.
“It was definitely a process to come together,” said Baer, “but through a lot of hard work and rehearsals for months and months it really did come together in the end.”
To make the school’s productions come together every year, the NTC has a student stage crew which is run by Mr. Todd Leighty. The crew mainly creates the backdrops, works the technology, and makes the props and moves the props around the stage throughout each performance. Leighty shares his thoughts on the accomplishments of his crew:
“I take pride in the fact that our shows are built by an all-student crew and that they learn many aspects of tool use construction along the way that they can take beyond the stage and into use in their future.”
This year, there was extra work for the stage crew involved in the preparation and building before the musical because of impending auditorium renovations that required NTC to move all props, costumes, and tools to the middle school for next year’s fall show. This extra work was on top of the already busy tech week for crew.
For tech week, students endure long hours after school and during the weekend to wrap up the entirety of the show they are currently working on and make final changes in lighting and props.
“The crew usually spends 12 hours each day on Saturday and Sunday, then 5–6 hours after school Monday through Wednesday with some students spending free periods during the day also working on the show,” Leighty elaborates.
After all of the high school volunteers’ hard work to bring together each magical musical being showcased for the school, the crew had to take apart all of their hard work, breaking their props and backdrops for around a week after the show had ended and repeat the process for each show, bringing back the magic each year when seniors graduate and freshmen take interest in theater.
In addition to Baer and the rest of the stage crew’s hard work and dedication, the cast also strived and practiced endlessly to perfect their parts.
Serena Borelli, who played Sharpay Evans, had a unique strategy for practicing and memorizing all her lines.
“I made a Quizlet,” Borelli said. “So [my lines] are always on my phone.”
Rehearsals and practices in the months leading up to opening night consisted of running through songs, individual scenes, and dance numbers and repeating them to correct mistakes.
Other aspects of rehearsal included practicing choreography and quick changes. Alex Sweitzer, who played Ryan Evans and is also the co-president of the theatre company, said that these were both challenges for him.
“I loved playing this role,” said Sweitzer, “but it was very involved in a lot of scenes and a lot of songs and there is a lot of things to remember about where to be and when.”
Though rehearsals were largely cast focused in January and February, crew added in lighting, sound, and backdrops during tech week the week before the show which ultimately drew the production together in the end.
In addition to this show being NTC’s last before auditorium renovations, it was also the last show for many seniors in both cast and crew who have been with the company for many years and many different shows.
“My favorite memory of this show was probably waiting to come through center doors at the end of the show,” senior Gracie Paulovich, who also played Sharpay Evans, stated. “I think it is just so fun and it is a big dance number and I love singing and dancing with all of my cast mates.”
Although this was the last show with NTC for many of these seniors, it will not be their last experience with theatre moving forward as several of them plan to participate in it when they leave for college this fall
“I’m going to Point Park for theatre production,” said senior Georgia Harvey, the NTC’s prop master, “I’ll be working on building sets”
The high attendance of the show and the pride of the NTC officers and members both attest to the musical’s success during its run and all the hard work and dedication from all the students and staff from the past few months.
