The Making of a Musical

As the spring musical “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” approaches, various groups within the arts department at SJHHS are busy working to make the production come alive for audiences.

Though there have been other spring musicals, this is the first year all the set designs have been done entirely by students.

A very high level of cooperation and collaboration among groups is required to make a spring musical successful. Orchestra, theatrical production, stagecraft, drama, dance, and song all come together to make the spring musical. That’s why it’s called the collaborative arts program.

THEATRICAL PRODUCTION

Before the actors can take the stage, sets must be built.

This is where two classes offered at SJHHS come in. Theatrical Production is the more advanced course which involves lighting and sound training as well as design. The students in this class act as the mentors to the Stagecraft class, who are the apprentices and do the set building.

“Theatrical Production and Stagecraft are about kind of coming together as a group to make the plays possible,” says Sara Stickler, a Stagecraft/Technical Theater student.

“These technical skills are taught through a mentorship program in Stagecraft/Theatrical Production class,” says Beilstein. Mentors consist of the advanced theatrical production students who focus on the areas that most interest them.

Students first read the script to see what they will need. Next, they design and measure the sets so they will fit the stage. To ensure that everything is right, they build models to scale that help them conceptualize what it will look like. Once the prep work has been done, they start building. Coaches are also hired on to ensure that the sets are constructed safely.

The set of “How to Succeed…” has many different components. Currently, several large sets are being built by the Stagecraft students, including one large stationary set which serves as the lobby of a business complex, complete with elevator.

Other sets include two movable units that will be offices, an executive bathroom, a TV show film studio scene and an outside rooftop party scene. Those working behind the scenes will have to be on their toes because the sets are large changes must be made quickly. The sets include many corresponding props, such as secretary desks with typewriters that can roll.

But the sets are only part of the process of putting together a theatrical production.

“Like in any production, the technical side of this show is majorly important. The actors tell the story, but the tech is what makes it come to life, it gives it all the magic,” says instructor, Cambria Beilstein.

The students are enthused to be working on this years musical.

“For ‘How to Succeed’ we are definitely going bigger and better this year…so it’s going  to be different and difficult but it’s going to be something that’s really enjoyable to see and build,” Stickler says.

 ACTING AND DANCE

Auditions began way back in November for the upcoming debut of the spring musical, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” Actors are now rehearsing for the musical, scheduled to hit the stage with a special student preview on April 23 at 4:00.

The show will then continue for three more days, April 24, 25 and 26, with two showtimes on the final day, one at 2:00pm and one at 7:00pm.

Before the musical was even chosen, about 60-70 aspiring actors auditioned for unspecified, general roles in the spring musical, regardless of the undetermined play.

“We auditioned talent first and had about four [plays] in mind and based on the talent we had, we selected one of the options,” said Cambria Beilstein, drama teacher.

The first audition, held in November, was an open call where everyone showed up and sang 16 bars. A few months later, actors had callbacks for specific roles. Following this, each actor had a dance audition, singing audition and an acting audition for the directors.

“During the acting callbacks, we were given part of the script which they want you to create a character out of. Then you basically performed that part for the character and the directors base their decision on how well the actors can perceive that character,” said David Diamsay, who will play the role of J. Pierrepont Finch.

Of the 60-70 actors who auditioned, only 39 were casted.

“We have a really active, really talented department here and casting is always difficult, especially in choosing the girls. There were close to 50 girls audition for only 20 spots,” said Beilstein.

At this point, the actors have gone through four weeks of rehearsal and will continue to prepare four times a week, up until the show in April.

“[Currently] they are going through three different types of rehearsals. So they’ve got acting rehearsals with me and then they do vocal rehearsals with De La Cruz and then they have choreography rehearsals with our choreographer,” said Beilstein.

The actors are working to make the most of their crucial rehearsal time before the curtain rises.

“The nice thing is that once you get into the rehearsal process and run things over and over again, it really gets locked into your brain,” said Diamsay.

The actors are optimistic about the production, and are ambitious regarding rehearsals. “It feels so awesome to be a part of this production! It’s been a great experience working with Ms. B and I am so excited to be a lead role and I can’t wait to see the finished product,” said Tessa Englesman, playing Rosemary Pilkington.

ORCHESTRA

In order to have the music ready for the actors to rehearse the play, orchestra began preparing for the musical back in January, before the second semester started and a month before the actors begin practicing.

There are a total of 37 pieces of music in the play, 25 of which are songs. Not only does the orchestra need to learn and practice the music, the actors need to hear the exact music that will play during the show so they can practice their songs.

The dancers and choreographers also need to hear the music so they can plan and practice their movements.

“We try to get about a month ahead of the singers so we can to have the music prepared for them so we can do recordings that they can use for dance choreography and also have music prepared so the singers can come in,” says McElroy, the orchestra teacher.

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a broadway play, so orchestra was given professional sheet music rather than creating their own.

“There’s a new revival that’s currently on broadway so we weren’t sure if we could get the rights to it, but we did. We had to go to the publishing company and get rights and permission and pay rental fees and royalties in order to do the musical,” says McElroy on orchestra and drama’s eligibility of performing the musical.

The creative team, consisting of McElroy, De La Cruz, Melissa Staab, and Beilstein, meet to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each department to understand which musical would be best to perform. Orchestra is required to have certain instruments in the musicals, so when deciding on a musical, McElroy looks at musicals that have that have the proper instrumentation.

“It’s kind of hard to find shows that use a full orchestra,” says Beilstein. “Now, the trend is toward more rock-based instrumentation.”

The instruments in the musical are string instruments like violin, cellos, and bass, woodwind, as well as brass instruments. They pull in as many instruments as they can fit in the pit, then they bring in the singers and actors to go along with what they have prepared.

During the musical, McElroy and the orchestra will be in the pit, which is the front portion of the stage that is lowered six feet below the stage level. There, he will conduct the orchestra and choir.

DIRECTION

SJHHS student, Reese Ravner (11), was chosen to be the assistant director of the spring musical and works closely with drama teacher Cambria Beilstein to make the musical the best it can be.

As assistant director, Ravner gets full directorial say and opinion. She had to apply for the position, and was chosen by Beilstein, who is also director of the musical.

When reviewing the application, Beilstein was looking for someone who had been in the department for a long time. She was also looking for someone who was easy to work with and someone who had the maturity to handle the responsibility, and was committed. “Reese has all of these things,” says Beilstein.

“Its been really interesting seeing this side of the process of creating a show and being able to put in my own input with blocking and acting… it’s been really cool,” says Ravner

Being assistant director, Ravner has the privilege of working closely with Beilstein. Ravner comments on the unique way Beilsteins directs, in which she lets the actors build off their own instincts.

Ravner has been involved in theater ever since she was an actor at age six. Her freshman year, she helped build sets and from then on was inspired to explore the inner workings of a play.

The actors in the play agree that Ravner is a great assistant director. “I’m so grateful to have her feedback,” says Maddy Blomdahl, who plays Hedy LaRue in the musical.

“She’s only in my grade, so its really cool to see her take on that kind of responsibility that’s really high up in production team,” says David Diamsay, who plays Finch.

In addition to being involved with the play, Reese is also a part of video broadcasting, and is an NHS officer. Ravner aspires to move to New York and pursue a career in journalism.