Schools carve out place for themselves in local musical scene
Andrea Klassen Medicine Hat News
With major musicals, ambitious dramas and shows straight from Broadway on offer, school theatre groups in Medicine Hat are carving out a place for themselves in the local theatrical scene.
At Medicine Hat High School, students ended 2009 with a production of Alan Ayckbourn’s The "Norman Conquests" trilogy. The three plays - which ran on Broadway in 2009 - were all performed in the same two-week period, with students spending as many as six hours on stage.
The school’s next show, the satirical musical "Urinetown", will give students a fresh roster of challenges.
The play, in which a water shortage forces people to pay increasingly high fees to public toilets, features complex musical numbers and will require students to take on roles as hardnosed police officers, sleazy businessmen and naive yet well-intentioned rebels with a cause.
Chris Stockton, drama department head at Hat High, says doing complex shows in high school is rewarding, and not just for audiences.
"I find most of the time students have no idea what they're capable of,” he says. “I think if you allow kids the opportunity to reach a bar that's almost out of sight, it's so high, they will surprise themselves. Doing shows that are difficult, it allows students to find that greatness in them."
The same sentiment drives Renee Bischoff, one of several co- directors at St. Mary’s School. This year the middle school will mount a production of "Fiddler on the Roof" with a cast made
up mainly of kids in grades six to eight. A few elementary students from the school’s French Immersion program will also be part of the production, which takes place on the Esplanade stage.
“At a young age they're more willing to get up on stage, less embarrassed,” she says of her young cast. “So we really want to expose them to it early so they can continue on later in life."
While Fiddler is, as she says, “challenging” at any age, Bischoff says the play will give students valuable experience, whether they go on to professional theatre or simply stay involved in community productions.
Over 100 students tried out for this year’s production, she says, and have since begun researching Jewish culture, discussing character motivations and, of course, practicing their singing.
At Crescent Heights High School, senior theatre students wowed sold-out crowds for 11 nights in January with "The Putnam County Spelling Bee," the school’s major production for the year.
The school’s shows consistently sell out, says director Jennifer Davies, largely because they’re new, upbeat and appeal to a wide range of viewers.
“We have got a following,” says Davies. “And it reaches far beyond parents. For example, this last production only had 30 students in it, and 3,500 people came to the plays.”
Other schools say they’re also seeing community interest. St. Mary’s audiences are growing every year, and Bischoff says she’s hoping this is the year the school sells out every night. At Hat High, Stockton says his theatre has regular patrons, who’ll call him for tickets whenever they hear about a new show.
NEWS PHOTO IAN SORENSEN
From left, Logan Bodnaruk, Jana Pahl and Hannah Myers rehearse for McCoy High School's "Cinderella" musical.
NEWS PHOTO EMMA BENNETT
Evan Sandham, centre, as William Barfee, and fellow contestants perform during the Crescent Heights High School production of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" in January 2010.
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