Light Drizzle / 48° F
High school musical returns
Published 11:05am Wednesday, November 14, 2012Pep rallies, sporting events, graduation and dances are all things that can bring a high school together. Most wouldn’t think a musical would make this list, but the music, art, and vocational departments along with many other volunteers and cast members have gotten involved to make the fall play possible.
“We haven’t done a musical since 2006, so everyone is excited,” said director Lowell Carpenter. “We’re trying to make a comeback with musicals with ‘Bye, Bye Birdie.’”
The play is a parody of 1950s society and the Elvis phenomenon. A rock star gets drafted, leaving his manager without a main act. A team is put together to have one huge hit before rock star Conrad Birdie goes into the military, Carpenter said.
In order to make this play a reality, many students and instructors have had to step up and help. Digital photography students have helped with posters, the vocational department helped construct the set and the art department did much of the painting, said music director Michelle Danielson.
Because it’s a musical, the play has required a lot of work from students and staff in the music department as well. Craig Peterson is the pit director and works with the orchestra, Kirsten Danielson is in charge of choreography and Michelle Danielson is the music director.
The school has been working on the play since late September, and this is the first time most of the cast has been involved with a musical. Carpenter said this is the first musical he has directed.
“It has been fun working with a great, talented group of people,” he said. “There are a lot of kids who are very excited, especially the more musically inclined.”
Unlike most, Danielson has worked with musicals in the past, and she said she is excited to have the opportunity to get involved again.
“It has been a while, but it’s been really good,” she said. “The kids are amazing, we have a great staff and the school has been so supportive.”
When is it?
Please remember there are other schools! Clarify what school you are referencing in the beginning of the article will allow people to actually read the article instead of scanning for an identifier.
This happens all too frequently in articles of all nature in the Journal.