The
Walter Johnson High School
April 30, 2010
Pitch
< < < < Visit The Pitch Online at WJPitch.com By Abby Singley and Rosie Hammack
Volume 54 | Issue 8
6400 Rock Spring Drive, Bethesda, Md. 20814
The Making of...
Auditions. Callbacks. Crew meetings. Director meetings. Rehearsals. Choreographing. Sitzprobes. Tech Weekend. The infamous “Hell Week.” On the opening night of WJ S*T*A*G*E’s The Wiz, these, albeit vital, aspects of the preparation process for the spring musical were far from the minds of most audience members. “When you watch a show, it’s only three hours, and you don’t really realize how much work it really takes and how long we’ve actually spent doing it,” said senior Gina Amsellem, who was double cast as Addaperle. Director Colleen McAdory says it is a multi-step process for the cast, crew, orchestra and production staff – McAdory, vocal director Hernandez-Cata, producer Jon Bos and technical director Kevin Daney. Once the production staff agreed on The Wiz as this year’s musical, they held three days of auditions to begin the four-month-long process. The three days of auditions started with a day of singing. The second day was the dancing audition, which McAdory views as a vital aspect of the selection process. “That really helps us to solidify the chorus, because the students who can sing and dance really well are going to be our first choices, obviously,” said McAdory. The directors had to make some difficult cuts for callbacks, but the most difficult cuts came after callbacks, when the production staff met at a restaurant to painstakingly decide on the cast list. According to McAdory, approximately 30-40 students were not cast at all. On the flip side, McAdory and the team of directors also found some roles so difficult to cast that they resorted to double-casting. If the directors felt two students were equally deserving of a specific part, the role was double cast and both students got the part. When the grueling selection process was over, McAdory created a calendar of goals and schedules. “I try to go piece by piece,” said McAdory. “If I were to look at the whole big picture every day, I would be very much overwhelmed.” The cast then began the first round of rehearsals, which focused on practicing one scene at a time. These practices ran from 2:30-4:30 p.m., and eventually lasted until 5:30 p.m. Music was essential to learning and rehearsing the scenes. With The Wiz largely based on a variety of AfricanAmerican styles of music, HernandezAp Exams Pg. 5
WJ REMEMBERS Special section 7-10
The Wiz
Cata said her job didn’t end at vocals. “I think that I have to teach them to bring the song to life,” she said. And it wasn’t just singing that brought the music to life. The pit orchestra, led by director Christopher Kosmaceski, rehearsed biweekly. After the pit and cast convened about one month before opening night, Hernandez-Cata said it didn’t take much time for the soloists, background singers and ensemble to get in sync with the pit. Once the cast and pit orchestra had become familiar with each other, the tech crew began incorporating what they had been working on with the cast and orchestra. During the weekend before the show, called Tech Weekend, the tech crew put the fruits of their labor into each scene. It The Sexting Scandal Pg. 11
was especially over this weekend that the crew was severely affected by the lack of previous technical director Ty Huber, who was on extended medical leave. The next and final stage was Production Week. Beginning on the Monday before the show, the more aptly named “Hell Week” required five days of tireless work and dedication, as the finishing touches are made to the production. Among other features of “Hell Week,” last-second rehearsals and practices, short breaks and 15-hour days are all to be expected, according to sophomore ensemble member Sarah Collins. Pit orchestra, cast, crew and directors were required to stay after school until 8-10 p.m. every night, and some of the stuProm Style Guide Pg. 12
Photos courtesy of Kathleen Seale
Clockwise from top: the set, the costume room, cast members Garrett Schiponi and Eddie Simon getting their stage make-up on before the show.
dents were cut very little slack by their teachers. Despite the months of hard work required to execute the show, many cast and crew members wouldn’t trade the experience for the world. “Though we work very long and have insane hours, at least for me, the moment we hit the stage, it’s all worth it,” said junior Mariel Berlin-Fischler, who is both in the ensemble and on the crew as encore crew chief and publicity co-crew chief. “I think this is a show that WJ will be very proud of.” Sports Updates Pg. 14
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