The curtain rises, twice
November 5, 2019
This year, both the theater department and fine arts department will each be hosting a musical, meaning there will be an additional musical along with the typical spring play.
During first semester, “Shrek the Musical” will be performed, featuring the talent of both band and orchestra for the soundtrack along with oral performances from theater actors. Then, Godspell will be performed second semester to highlight the talent of those involved in theatre this year. Theatre Director Dr. Sheri Coffman explained that the decision was influenced by a desire to have the musical arts more involved with the theater department. Coffman worked with Choir Director Jason Elam and Band Director Jennifer Rubin to determine which musicals would be optimal for this purpose.
“I wanted to do Godspell… for our big musical, but it didn’t allow us to have a full pit orchestra [and] it had a limited ensemble,” Coffman explained. “Miss Rubin really wanted to be able to have as many pit students as possible involved, so we opted to go with Shrek the Musical to cover both our musicians and all of our actors.”
So far, the decision to perform Shrek the Musical has been met with optimism from students and staff alike; at auditions in early September, that was clear, Coffman said.
“We’ve had more people audition for Shrek than we’ve had for the last 8 years,” Coffman said. “Auditions were supposed to go from 2:45 to 5:30, but at 7:00, Mr. Elam and I were still auditioning people. It’s a huge cast.”
Shrek the Musical is set to be performed on Nov. 21-23 at 7 p.m. in the main auditorium. Tickets can be bought online.
