Spring musical adapts to COVID-19

Theater staff adjust spring musical to limit physical contact for COVID-19 safety

ANNIE PAN

web editor

With COVID-19 safety guidelines being implemented, artistic director Stephen Howard has taken a new approach to the creation of “Working,” this year’s musical.

“The show itself is a change because it’s set up so that there’s only a few people on the stage at a time,” junior Juana Derdoy said. “Also, we all wear masks and have to stay distanced, which makes it kind of weird for dance rehearsals. But it’s mainly just weird because nothing’s the same anymore. It’s just kind of difficult and totally new.”

The musical has no areas where actors physically interact, placing each student in their own bubble while on stage. Besides the need for social distancing, Howard faced another problem: dealing with students who became quarantined.

“There was a day where like five people in my cast were quarantined,” Howard said. “But we were luckily able to Zoom them in through my iPad. It was kind of wild — like those quarantined performers were on the projector screen being Zoomed in, and then my iPad was giving them a view of this stage so they could still see where they were. It’s a new experience for everyone, but we’re trying our best.”

Based on the best-selling book by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso, “Working” centers around monologues from people working different types of jobs in order to make a living. Actors like Derdoy took on multiple characters, such as a cleaning woman, for songs while also maintaining a main role.

“I think this year’s [musical will] be interesting,” Derdoy said. “Because of the way that it’s structured, how many different types of jobs there are in the musical and the way that they talk about them, I think [this year] should be fun. It’s a fun cast.”

Rehearsals were in person in the main theater, but only two to three actors were allowed on stage at a time. After performing their piece, students usually spent the next 20 minutes off stage socially distanced.

“It’s different because it’s a little bit harder to connect and find that

sense of camaraderie when you have to stay apart from each other,” senior Leopoldo Bochicchio said. “And when you’re staying apart, you don’t want to be so loud. So people are kind of off doing their own thing more since we can’t stay together. We’re putting more trust into each other that everyone will practice and have their lines and dancing memorized since we just don’t have the amount of time for practice we had last year.” Because a full house wasn’t allowed, Howard delivered the musical in two different ways. One way incorporated editing together a video package which was available to audiences on the day of the performance, while the other was a live performance in which everyone in the cast could only bring two people per night. “It seems like it would be very hard to put on a show during the pandemic [because of] the need to social distance,” Bochicchio said. “But you’d be surprised at how well everything has come together and how much everyone has worked to try to ensure the level of quality that we’ve had in years past.” p photo illustration by | JUANA DERDOY, GRACE HENSLEY & ANNIE PAN

THEATER STUDENT OPINIONS

Compared to prior shows, it’s been more difficult because of all the restrictions. ”

LEOPOLDO BOCHICCHIO | senior

“It would’ve been nicer if we had a large crowd, but we’re working with it. JUANA DERDOY | junior