From the Editor Good evening! My name is Alyssa Foster, and I’m the editor-in-chief of The Express. Thank you for taking the time to come watch our school’s production of “Annie”. While waiting for the show to begin, I encourage you to take a look at the features and artwork we put together in this newspaper for the production. If you would like to see more of our work, please visit our website at blhsnews.com or follow us on Twitter @blhsnews. Once there, you can find multiple broadcasts from sporting events, features on students and clubs, as well as our special editions of “Why I…”. These stories include perspectives from students, as well as teachers, about why they are doing something they love. We also have multiple galleries of photos from games, concerts, and activities being done in the classroom. This year, one of our main goals is to further connect with our community. In doing so, we have put together video stories on local businesses, like the VFW and Basehor Community Library. We aim to cover more businesses in the near future. Again, thank you for taking the time to come watch our school’s production of “Annie”. We hope you enjoy the show!
Alyssa Foster Editor-In-Chief
A Conversation With the Director Basehor-Linwood theater director Rebecca Knowles is known for being extraordinarily busy, but Express managing editor Mitchell Mikinski caught up with Ms. Knowles and found out what exactly goes through her perpetually occupied mind and how she’s managed to deal with the rigors of high school theater for as long as she has.
Mitchell: How long have you directed plays? Knowles: I have been directing for the last 12 years. M: Were you involved in theater before? K: I was in Forensics in high school (my high school did not have a theater department) and worked backstage for some plays in college. M: What’s your favorite theater performance you’ve directed? K: My favorite performance is difficult for me to choose. I would say “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” holds a special place in my heart because the cast was such a joy to work with and that was the year that I began working with my music director, Mrs. Reynolds. M: Why did you get involved? K: I always loved going to the theater to see shows when I was younger, and
my grandmother always would get movie musicals to have the family watch. My whole family is very musical so I guess just a combination of things lead me to directing plays and musicals. M: How do you devote so much time to theater? K: Sometimes I wonder how everything gets done, but thankfully, when I get in a time crunch other people step up and help out. M: Do you get inspiration from professional theater? K: Definitely. I love to go see shows and apply new ideas for set design, lighting, and make-up for the shows we produce here. M: Do you feel theater helps kids and if so, how? K: Over the years, I have seen many students gain confidence from being in a
production or even working backstage. Theater teaches leadership, work ethic, communication skills, and much more. M: What’s the best feeling in theater? K: I think the best feeling comes when you give a performance where you immerse yourself in the character and get a positive reaction from the audience. M: Do you enjoy dealing with students all the time? K: It would be a lie to say that I enjoy every moment of every rehearsal, but when the show comes together in the end, the good moments are the ones that I remember, and the bad are quickly forgotten.
All in the Family Ms. Knowles is the director of our school plays and musicals every year. She is very busy making cast cuts, helping cast members memorize lines, and designing costumes that will fit just right for the show. Ms. Knowles would never sleep if she did all of these things on her own, so it’s a great thing that she has a wonderful, sweet and loving mother that would be more than happy to help her out. MaryAnn, “Mama Knowles” has been sewing for well over 60 years. “I used to teach my own FACS class. I taught the students how to design their own patterns for sewing.” MaryAnn used to sew all
What’s My Line? Cast members spend a lot of time rehearsing for the big performances, but before they can fully rehearse, they have lines to memorize. Here are the four characters in tonight’s show with the most lines. Illustration by Kelsey Coleman
the time because she was a member of 4-H club. Even “Papa Knowles” (Ms. Knowles’s father) knows how to sew. This is his first year. Mama Knowles loves sewing. “You get to see so many neat things that can be designed.” Papa Knowles said, “It’s required that we make the costumes, we are her parents, it’s a given, and we love her.” Mama Knowles agreed saying, “I would do anything Rebecca needs!” Mama and Papa Knowles love helping Ms. Knowles out, they enjoy sewing and designing costumes so it makes it easy to help out. Mama Knowles said there
by Jill Espinoza
aren’t many things that are really difficult when designing and sewing costumes from scratch. “The only thing that can make it challenging is a certain type of fabric. Anything with a “sleezy” fabric can be hard to work with.” Other than that, Mama Knowles doesn’t seem to have any trouble making the costumes for the musicals. Without their help, Ms. Knowles would never get any free time during this time of year. Ms. Knowles isn’t the only one who benefits from having awesome parents, the cast loves them too. Ashley Novo-Gradac said, “Everyone looks forward
to coming to practice when Mama and Papa Knowles are there because they are such sweethearts.” Claudia Jacobs added, “Without Mama and Papa Knowles, we would be naked. BLHS presents ‘Annie in the Nude’!” The cast and crew are essential to having an awesome show, but Mama and Papa Knowles are just as important. Abigail Schif said, “We’d be lost without Mama and Papa Knowles. They put so much time into the musical with costumes and they manage to always be sweet while doing so much. It helps so much and has the show looking its best.”
Makeup Artists Play Vital Role to Production When watching a musical or play, the audience sees what happens onstage: the intricate dance numbers, the notes sung at a higher pitch than seems humanly possible, and the quirky yet hilarious accents that have the audience rolling in laughter. All of those aspects that make theater so enjoyable take countless hours of tiring work and practice from the actors. However, not everyone who put countless hours of work into the production of the musical gets to shine under a spotlight. What the audience can’t see are the play production students who spend their afternoons pulling ropes, moving set pieces, working the light boards, and applying makeup to the actors. The musical crew is responsible for all of the aspects of the musical that don’t involve singing, dancing, or acting. While their jobs may not be perfectly choreographed to a piano number, they’re still
by Calder Hollond
a crucial key to pulling off a successful production. The students have many different jobs, ranging from working the spotlight to setting up microphones. One of those jobs is makeup, which is handled by seniors Chase Simpson and Jill Espinoza. According to Espinoza, she and Simpson first had to plan out different makeup plots for each character in the musical, from the flashy Lily St. Regis to the dirty and unemployed Hooverville residents. “It’s just very 1930s,” Simpson said of the general idea for the design of the makeup. She and Espinoza Googled pictures from that time period to determine what New Yorkers in the 1930s would realistically look like. The characters’ personalities also helped them to decide what their makeup would be. “You really just have to look at the musical and figure out what’s going to look best on
Senior makeup artists Jill Espinoza and Chase Simpson pose during a rehearsal.
stage, and what’s going to fit best and really enhance the characters onstage,” Simpson said. Her and Espinoza’s work complements the work of the costume designers, as well as ensures that actors’ faces won’t look washed out onstage. Sophomore Erin McGowan agrees that the makeup artists are an instrumental part of the musical. “It’s a really great help, and it’s honestly a lot of fun to see the product that comes out of it once all the effort was put
into the design and execution,” McGowan said. Today, as you watch Annie sing of optimism during tough times and Miss Hannigan talk about the evils of little girls, you can still enjoy the dance numbers and witty oneliners. In the breaks between songs, however, remember to appreciate the work of the makeup artists, as well as all the other crew members, in making the musical come to life.
What to Watch For Jensen Walcott Lily St. Regis
Favorite Thing About Your Character: The different personalities she has. She goes from flirty to completely oblivious to sassy in the matter of one scene. What the Audience Should Watch For: Watch the background of the radio show if they want to be amused!
Erin McGowan Miss Hannigan
Favorite Thing About Your Character: Pretending to be drunk, and malnutritioning kids. What the Audience Should Watch For: Keep a count for how many drinks I take.
Zach Fisher
Nikki Jay
Favorite Thing About Your Character: I get to play a villain, which I have never played before. I also love that I get to talk in my New York accent all the time. Most Challenging Aspect of Your Character Keeping a high energy level and keeping my accent constant.
Favorite Thing About Your Character: The dancing and happiness. Most Challenging Aspect of Your Character Having a lot of emotion. Mrs. Knowles and Mrs. Reynolds telling me to just pretend nobody’s there and to just be myself.
Rooster Hannigan
Annie
Q& A
With Five-Year Musical Cast Member Lindsey Laney
Willy Wonka (2011)
by Ashley Novo-Gradac
The Wizard of Oz (2012)
Shrek (2013)
How many musicals have you been in now?
This is my fifth musical. I participated in my first musical when I was in 8th grade. What made you want to start to participate in the musicals?
I love to sing and dance so I thought the musical would be fun. What has been your favorite musical and why?
Definitely this one because I actually have a big role this year as Grace. What has been your favorite part of practices?
The singing. I love to hear my own voice on stage. Why did you continue in the musicals?
I love the people and the atmosphere. It's cool having people with the same interest all work together. How has this changed you as a person?
Musicals have made me so much more confident in myself. Will you be doing more in the future?
Yes. I plan to go to a community college and participate in their theater department and their choir program as well.
Need a good book? Ask Amy! Amy Schaffer is our Teen Services Librarian and regularly visits the high school English classes. Amy can find a book for anyone; just this week, she got a high schooler who said he didn't like reading to check out a book he now can't put down. Great success story!
Cast Members Share About Their Characters and Reveal Insider Tips for Watching Tonight’s Show Daniel Tady
Oliver Warbucks
Favorite Thing About Your Character: How he has such money and influence that he can have the president over for dinner on a whim and has the FBI essentially under his personal control. What the Audience Should Watch For: Annie and Warbucks’s dance
Matt Knight
Jade Provence
Quinn Walcott
Favorite Thing About Your Character: I say “apples” like “yapples” and my FDR lines are creepy. Most Challenging Aspect of Your Character It’s hard to act presidential, especially FDR.
Most Challenging Aspect of Your Character: Learning the challenging dances from Ms. Knowles. What the Audience Should Watch For: Erin McGowan
Most Challenging Aspect of Your Character: It’s hard to be happy when the orphans need to be happy when you are supposed to be mean. What the Audience Should Watch For: My countless evil looks I give Annie. I hate her.
President Roosevelt
Duffy
Pepper
Behind the Curtain by Adam Crouse
Often, the unsung heroes are the ones who make the biggest difference. They keep things running smoothly, keep people in order, and make sure everything happens when it’s suppose to and how it’s suppose to. Without the crew, a musical would be a mix of utter chaos and dull scenes; they’d never change. Oftentimes people glance over the “crew” section of “cast and crew”. But without the crew, the cast would fall. People like Olivia Sibert make sure the cast doesn’t fall. She works to make sure all the equipment is in the right place at the right time. This involves running backstage, with minimal light, to gather the things needed and get ready to put them in place. That’s not to mention the scene change itself. In those short few seconds, when the stage goes black and some rustling is heard, all scene changes are made. And there’s no room for error. With all the structure and pressure, one could question why she’d help. “I really like Knowles,” Sibert said.
Madison Bergman and Chandley Easley pose during Play Production class.
Members of Ms. Knowles’s play production class set up props on the stage during the week before the musical debuted.
She figured it’d be fun. Sure enough, she’s enjoying it. Chandley Easley has one of the biggest jobs, as stage manager. “I have a lot of pressure because I’m stage manager,” Easley said. She’s been helping since she was a freshman, so she’s not new to the stress. She says she enjoys being in charge, but she doesn’t enjoy the stress. Her biggest fear is that she might not get a set on in time. Nevertheless, she knows practice makes perfect; she was working on it when being interviewed (outside of practice). Just like the pulleys of the
backdrop, the backstage crew is set to run smoothly. Madison McDowell works backstage with the fly system, making sure the curtains and backdrops are in place at the right time. She helped last year with Shrek, so she has some experience. Still, McDowell says her biggest fear is that she might not get a backdrop in place in time. She already experienced this in practice, when she accidentally switched backdrops too early. She said that she thought the lights had gone out, but in actuality, they’d just dimmed.
Maddy keeps calm during the performances, and said the stress isn’t terrible. “It’s not really too bad, because I’m used to it,” McDowell said. Still, she says that worrying about the timing is stressful. While the cast works hard, the crew works just as hard, yet receives less recognition. Despite being looked over by most audience members, or just shrugged aside, they still come and work. They find joy in being part of something bigger than themselves. They are the unsung heroes of the production.
Play Production Class Fills Essential Role in “Annie” With “Annie” debuting tonight, it’s time to recognize the important people that made this musical happen. Without Ms. Knowles’ play production class, this musical wouldn’t not have such a success.
Ms. Knowles requested, with funding provided by the school. Berkey said of the construction process, “I just want the set to look good and for it to be safe for the actors.”
Play Production is in charge of building the set, helping with costumes and makeup, using the spotlights during the production, and moving around the set in between scenes.
Behind the curtain, Raeney Seaton helps with moving props on and off the stage during the musical. Jade Provence also works on moving around props, in addition to working on building columns with Stevee Leiker.
Set design began back in August, with Jordan Berkey and Keith McDonnell contributing their class time to the stage. They would build anything
“Any memories made from building the set were with Stevee! It’s been fun!” Provence said.
MacKenzie Duncan, also in play production, tags along with the girls to help with lighting, sound, and advertisements. Her favorite memory from the class was, “when I found a rotten potato in a bucket in the props room.” Yikes!
by Alyssa Foster
to musical practice everyday,” Jacobs said. Although all of her time is being spent on and off the stage, Jacobs wouldn’t have it any other way.
One student in the class, junior Claudia Jacobs, leads a double life in the musical. This year, she is helping out backstage, while also appearing on the stage during “Annie”, acting as Star to Be, Ronnie Boylan, and a servant.
“It’s definitely a lot of work, but I love being part of both groups. I’m more comfortable acting around the backstage crew since I have class with them. Also, it gives me a way to realize how important they are for the musical. Without them, the production of ‘Annie’ wouldn’t be possible,” Jacobs said.
“Most of my time is spent working on props and costumes, while also getting
Pit Band Hero When musical performances come around, it seems that everyone’s focus is on the cast. But there’s another group of people who are equally important: without them, there is no musical. The pit band is perhaps the most instrumental piece of any musical. Without them, it’s simply a play. Senior Erin Rigdon is a twotime pit-bander, who joined because she wanted to get more involved in the school’s activities. Rigdon said her worst fear was, “Having an actor fall on me from the stage.” Her favorite song to play is “Fully Dressed”, and her favorite thing about being a pit-bander is helping the actors and Ms. Knowles put on a good show. Given the chance, Rigdon wouldn’t go back and change her decision to join because she enjoys playing her cello for the musical. Rachel Suarez, another senior, first got involved with the pit
band in 2011. “My friend, Haley Stallbaumer, and I wanted to be involved in the 2011 musical, but we both had huge stage fright. When we heard about pit band, it sounded perfect for us.” Suarez’ favorite things about being in pit band are learning the music and seeing how the production improves over time. The most challenging thing to her is the music. “This year the music has a ton of sharps and flats, and it is really hard to play in tune.
Senior Madison Howard prepares for a rehearsal in the week before the performance.
Also, the music company does not write music for violas, so I have to transpose all of the music.” Something Suarez would like the audience to know is just how important the pit band is to the musical. “Without it, there is no music.” Sophomore Mack Grimes got involved with pit band because they sounded awesome in last year’s production of Shrek. Grimes said her favorite thing about pit band is getting to see the show come together.
by Emma Hall Something Grimes wishes the cast was aware of is that they play in every scene, and in between scenes as well. “We’re in more scenes than Annie herself,” Grimes said. “Hooverville” is her favorite song to play because it’s fun and the counting is simple. Tristan McGehee, a freshman, got involved with pit band because he knew that he’d get to play his violin almost every day. McGehee would like the audience to know that it takes a lot of work to play the songs, and that it’s harder than it looks. Tristan’s favorite thing about pit band is the songs, because “they sound amazing and they are so fun to play”. However, he also admitted that they’re often above his playing level. “My favorite song would probably be “Tomorrow.” I love all the songs, but that one just seems to have a good message, and that is that you should always be optimistic about the future.”
“My favorite song would probably be “Tomorrow”. I love all the songs, but that one just seems to have a good message, and that is that you should always be optimistic about the future.”
-Tristan McGehee
Cast and crew have worked hard to perfect the set for tonight’s production, but much of the planning took place long ago. Express artist Ashley Hicklin sketched out the set you’ll see in Oliver Warbucks’ mansion tonight. Some of the props were purchased almost a year in advance of the play, while others were used from theater productions in the past.
EXPRESS STAFF Editor-in-Chief: Alyssa Foster Managing Editor: Mitchell Mikinski Bobcat Network: Casey Jones, Zach Fisher, Damien Laffoon, Colin Barclay Reporters: Kelsey Coleman, Ashley Hicklin, Calder Hollond, Ashley Novo-Gradac, Liz Morris, Erin McGowan, Clay Beebe, Adam Crouse, Emma Hall, Jill Espinoza Adviser: Kristen Loney
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