If you immediately assumed this article to be an advertisement, or perhaps just more internet spam, you would not be entirely wrong. I admit this with some degree of shame; generally, I take great lengths to avoid being the person who is constantly popping up on your Facebook page or Twitter feed, the one you see in the hallway at and think: “I resent how much I know about you from social media”. But since my high school puts on a musical production only once every two years, I feel justified in adhering to a similar timetable for my shameless online self-promotion.
For this year, a “production year” at my school, the drama teachers decided on the musical Pippin, written by Stephen Schwartz. It’s the story of a young man searching for his purpose in life, backed by an entire troupe of circus performers that serve to make things… well… interesting. It’s the sort of musical whose rather dark undertone is at times either completely undermined or perfectly enhanced by the overly cheery songs, light humour, and energetic choreography. To quote what our production’s lead actress Alex Fisher told our local newspaper, “it’s very messed up.” We were lucky that Schwartz left many aspects of the show, such as setting and character, open to interpretation; our directors made the decision to set the musical in a dystopian, “steampunk’d” world, which for us has meant ridiculously cool costumes and an even cooler set.
Because this is exactly how I would market the show to my Jr. high self, and several YAA readers are not quite high school-aged yet, I will briefly mention that two people kiss a few times in this play, and that one of those people is me, and that someone gets stabbed, and that somebody else (me again) has a foot fetish. So, there’s the highlight reel.
Anyone who has ever been involved in a stage production does not need to be told how much time and effort goes in behind-the-scenes in order to make it a success; since October, some 60 students, as well as several teachers and volunteers, have put countless hours into practicing, costuming, set building, and working tech to create and polish the show, which runs this week from March 17th-19th at Holy Trinity Academy. This is a show for anyone who is interested in theatre, or music, or steampunk style, or perhaps even sardonically peppy dance numbers. Our evening shows start at 7 pm, and tickets are just $10 for students and $15 for adults! Hope to see you there! 