The Chronicle, 6.5

Page 1

News: MHS will have familiar face taking over as principal next year

Chronicle Sports: Local recreational sports gain intense student following

The William Mason High School

Volume 6

NEWS BRIEF

New council member takes oath On February 9, Michael Gilb was sworn into Mason City Council to fill the council member seat left by Victor Kidd, who resigned for a job in Hawaii. Gilb is a lawyer and a former state representative of northern Ohio. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a law enforcement degree, and then received his law degree from Ohio Northern University. He currently works as general counsel to American Business Personnel Service, which provides direct and temporary hire services. His seat, along with three others, will go up for re-election in November -- those seats including Mayor Tom Grossman’s seat. This is due to term limits. Gilb said that he plans to campaign to keep the seat he has acquired. He was chosen for the position from ten applicants and is the third appointed replacement for Mason City Council in the last 14 months.

TODAY

Talent show voting now by texting The annual NHS Talent Show will take place tonight in the auditorium starting at 5 p.m. Tickets will be sold at the door for ten dollars and all proceeds from the event will go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. New this year, the vote for the winner of the talent show will be done through text message. Instructions for voting will be given at the event. The administration has also planned to perform something for the show.

Winter Homecoming presale ends Today is the last day to turn in forms for presale tickets for Winter Homecoming -- themed “Central Park Chill.” In order to purchase presale tickets, all school fees must be paid and your ticket form must be verified by Mrs. Brown in room A51-A. Presale tickets are $15 for singles and $30 for couples and can be turned in to Ms. Dean (A62) or Ms. Allen (A63). All forms must be turned in by 3 p.m. If 500 presale tickets are not sold by this time, purchased tickets will be reimbursed.

The Chronicle William Mason High School 6100 S. Mason Montgomery Road Mason, Ohio 45040

February 20, 2009

Issue 5

Student actors aren’t bothered by stage kisses Alyssa Howard | Editor in Chief From a distance, the moment is perfect. The boy leans in, his eyes glistening with adoration, to the face of his female counterpart, who smiles up at him. Their lips touch for a brief instant of hormonal, adolescent bliss. Perfect, except for one minute detail: the glaring stage lights. Known around Mason High School as a tightknit group, students from the MHS drama program generally aren’t fazed by the prospects of performing stage kisses with some of their best friends, according to senior Brad Helwagen. Helwagen, who had his first stage kiss with senior Renee Rabenold during the most recent drama production of Noises Off!, said that most of the blocking of plays depends upon the director’s preferences, despite some personal considerations. “There’s a personal matter to [each kiss],” Helwagen said. “I’ve known Renee forever…so it didn’t really matter to us. To other people, it’s kind of different. And some people’s first kisses are stage kisses. More of it is just about how the director wants it done, and if people are okay with how he wants it done, that’s the way it gets done.” Helwagen said that even though there was some awkwardness in kissing one of his best friends, their respective “significant others” were okay with the stage kiss because Helwagen and Rabenold are such good friends. “When we practiced, it was kind of weird, because she’s always just been my best friend,” Helwagen said. “We both had boyfriends and girlfriends…and I told my girlfriend about it, and she was like, ‘As long as it’s Renee, I don’t care.’” Junior Moira Cevasco, who has kissed

senior Woody Goldsmith onstage in Much Ado About Nothing and You Can’t Take It With You, said that knowing the person before kissing them in a production can ease any awkwardness accompanying theater smooches. “Sophomore year, we didn’t know each other all that well,” Cevasco said. “[Woody] was a year older and one of the main members of the drama club, so it was more intimidating.” Production practices before the kiss has been rehearsed are more awkward than those during performances, according to Cevasco. After the students take the initiative to practice the scripted embrace, it is expected that they continue until the show opens. “We both tried to act nonchalant about it, but we were both really embarrassed,” Cevasco said. In addition, Cevasco said that all offstage passions must be put aside to successfully perform a kiss onstage. “It’s a real kiss, but it’s not like, ‘This is so romantic or passionate,’” Cevasco said. “Even if you did like the person romantically, it still wouldn’t be a ‘moment,’ because it’s all for show.” A major technical consideration to the kiss that must be accounted for is the ample stage makeup that each actor wears for a show, according to Cevasco. “One thing that the costume designer does talk about is, you have a lot of make-

up on your face and the lights are really bright,” Cevasco said. “I could get lipstick on his face if I kiss him because there’s a lot of perspiration, and I have lots of makeup photo by Alyssa Howard on. And he has makeup, too, which is weird, because it’s stage makeup.” The most notable difference between personal and scripted kisses, however, is the volume at which each person is speaking to each other, Cevasco said. “I had trouble with volume because you’re saying romantic things to each other…and standing close to each other, but [the director] would be like, ‘I cannot hear what you’re saying at all,’” Cevasco said. According to Cevasco, stage kisses become a running joke between cast members and crew throughout the various performances of a show. “Everyone talks about which kiss was the most awkward and which kiss wasn’t,” Cevasco said. “Each night they give [each] one a grade based on awkwardness.” When the show is over, however, Helwagen said that the onstage couples immediately revert to offstage platonic friendships with ease. “At the cast party [after the] last show, Renee and I were hanging out, playing Halo and talking,” Helwagen said.


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