MUSICAL

BY COLTON HARBOLT

We’re all in this together.

The 2022 spring musical has left a lasting impact on the students involved.

Each year, an annual spring musical is held to give students the opportunity to experience the process of producing a play and performing in front of an audience. Being in this play gives students with a passion for performing and singing an outlet for their creativity and helps give them an idea of what a large-scale production would be like after high school. The school has a history of spring plays, though it has been very difficult to organize due to troubles and obstacles along the way.

For the 2022 spring musical, the musical chosen was ``The Addams Family”. Typically, the play is picked by the Advisor and Choir Director Carrie Gary, and any other teachers who are organizing the play. The Addams Family is a musical that the students have been wanting to put on for a while, and after coming back from COVID-19 and last year’s musical being canceled, Gary wanted to let the students have it. “It’s not my favorite, but they have wanted to do this for years, and since we’re coming off COVID-19 when we haven’t been able to do anything for so long. I wanted something where there would be student buy-in and if they already were excited about doing that, it would be one less thing to tackle,” Gary said. Gary wants to make sure this is a musical students are going to enjoy performing and producing, especially since the last musical that was put on was Cinderella three years ago, the easiest course of action was to let the students choose what they wanted to do for this year to ensure a smooth production.

The opportunity to be a part of this musical means so much to each individual member and has become a large part of their high school career. “We all get along super well and they are some of my favorite people in the world,” sophomore Marley Long said, who plays Gomez. It’s important that when you’re putting on a production where you are surrounded by the same people and working together to produce art, that you get along and enjoy spending time with the cast. The overall morale of the cast has been high, which has an impact on the production and the experience of these students.

“This musical is very important to me… I think the fine arts program is so much more valuable to the school than people think and since COVID, we haven’t really had much of a chance to showcase all the hard work we do,” Long said. Not only the musicals, but the fine arts in general, give so many students an outlet for their creativity that they couldn’t find anywhere else. The choir, band and theater programs assist students in finding their passion and actually pursuing this passion at an early age, which is an overlooked opportunity within the school. Choosing these pathways leads to many other outlets and avenues outside of high school and provides a smooth transition due to the experience students gain within these programs. Experiences like teamwork, public speaking, and performing in front of an audience are all gained through involvement in the musical and the Fine Arts programs. The musicals are what bring these pathways together and allow the students to use what they have learned through these pathways and apply it to a real performance. The beauty of the musical is the chance to see the talent these students have and allow them to embrace it.

The chance to put on such a large production is a blessing to the students and teachers, but there are going to be issues and obstacles the advisors and cast would need to cross no matter what.

Throughout the production of the play, there have been multiple setbacks and obstacles the cast has had to overcome. Most of the cast had never been in a full-scale production like this due to COVID-19 restrictions that have just now been lifted since 2020, it has become a learning curve for everyone involved. On top of a learning curve, the cast has also had to borrow various props from other schools for this production. “A good friend of mine from Thomas Nelson high school did The Addams Family last year, so we’re borrowing so many other things, which has been amazing,” Gary said. Even though one of the benefits of putting on “The Addams Family,” is that there aren’t any extravagant props needed, the cast has still had issues with finding the right props without finding help from Thomas Nelson.

Aside from the problems they’ve come across, when the cast has a passion for the art and loves what they are doing, it reflects in their performance no matter what. “I will put our talent and our students up against anybody, they’re doing such a great job. I hope that the audience really enjoys the show and also recognizes all the hard work that went into putting this together,” Gary said. This musical has been in production since tryouts in February and throughout the entire process they have kept positive morale even through the multiple setbacks and obstacles that have crossed their path. Ensuring a musical where the audience will see the effort, patience, and determination the cast has put into this musical.

Sophomore Marley Long started out as an understudy for the roles of Morticia, Wednesday, and Alice but after the actor who was playing Gomez had to drop out of the play due to illness, Long bravely stepped into the role two weeks before the musical. “Marley Long is taking over for our Gomez, which is quite interesting, but she’s so talented and hopefully it will go very well,” Gary said. Not only is it difficult stepping into a role two weeks before the first performance, but there are also challenges that come with a female playing a male role in a musical, which has not been done before in the school’s spring musical history and you could never know what the audience reaction will be. It requires a lot of talent and bravery to step into a role like Long, but her commitment to the musical and talent will show in her performance.

“I’ve really felt that I’ve been able to grow not only in my musical abilities, but also my confidence,” Kendall McGarry said, who plays Morticia. McGarry, like most of the actors and actresses in the musical, have dreamed of doing something like this and they have been given the opportunity to make this dream a reality, creating an experience unlike any other at the school and in their lives. Being a part of this has helped these students with any fears in acting or performing and has derived as a guide to what they could do with their talent in the future. On top of that, the musical has left not only an impact on these students’ talent and abilities, but their overall high school experience. This musical has brought people from different backgrounds in the school all into one production, creating new relationships and memories that these students will hold on to and cherish for the rest of their lives.