As Park’s theater prepares for their upcoming performance of “String,” the cast and crew have been working hard both together and separately to make sure that the execution of the show is possible. It can be a challenge with the many steps needed to create a successful performance, but with communication and dedication, the thespians aim to pull it off.
Jodi Schifsky, Park’s head director of theater, said the first thing she prioritizes is choosing a show and figuring out what students will take on the many different roles within theater when preparing for the musical. According to her, there are various aspects during the process including rehearsals for actors, tech jobs like lighting and sound and building sets and costumes. These differing sections will come together at the end of the production.
“The first step (of creating a performance is) looking at the talent pool we have coming in as actors, musicians (and) technicians, and also picking a show over the summer. Then I work with the other directors to come up with a few ideas of how (the musical) is going to come together,” Schifsky said. “After that, we start the auditions and the application process, and right now, where we’re at, we are a few weeks into rehearsals and we’re starting to do tech too. Ms. Paredes is working with the students to build the set. We’re figuring out how the light and sound can accentuate what the actors are doing on stage and how costumes tie the story together. So it’s all these different pieces that will eventually collide, but right now we’re working on little compartmentalized sections.”
Junior head of costumes Lucille Burgeson said the crew’s idea is to design the set and costumes by depicting the differences between the modern world and the Greek fates’ weaving room by using contrasting color schemes and designs.
“The production is about the Greek fates in an office building in the modern world, so our idea is that we show the modern world as a more dull and industrial place, and that the fates and their weaving room that are in this office building are more of a pop of color and that they bring more life to it,” Burgeson said.
Senior cast member Bailey Schneeberg said it’s important to show up to all of the rehearsals to learn lines, which she finds the hardest part of preparation for the musical. According to Schneeberg, she gets to know both the figure she is playing and her fellow actors.
“I personally prepare for the production by learning my lines and getting to know my characters (and) castmates better. I also make sure that I am showing up to rehearsal every day. The hardest part of the theater production is learning my lines,” Schneeberg said.
According to Burgeson, when designing costumes for the musical, they either use clothes they have in their closet, thrift clothing or sometimes sew clothes. She said they need to customize their clothing based on the measurements of the actor and the characteristics of the people they are playing.
“We have a big closet full of clothes. We get the measurements of all the actors, we pick out clothes that fit our vision for the production and we have to figure out what clothes fit which actor and how we want their personalities to be shown through the clothing,” Burgeson said. “If we don’t have the clothes we need, sometimes we’ll sew and make the clothes, which I don’t think we will be doing for this production, and then we also go to thrift stores to find the clothes that we need.”
Schneeberg said the cast puts time into practicing their roles daily while the crew works to create a good atmosphere for the cast to perform. According to her, both cast and crew are incredibly important and help the show come together.
“The cast and crew have important roles in making our production come together. The cast has rehearsal almost every day after school and is working hard to bring the characters to life. The crew is working hard to bring the stage and the fictional world to life,” Schneeberg said.
Schifsky said putting the components of the musical together is one of her favorite moments from production. According to her, they spend a big tech day collaborating to figure out how to combine the elements.
“Combining cast and crew is the most exciting part to me because when we get closer, we have things like a huge tech day on a Saturday, where we come in and figure out all the lighting and transitions, and then we add the pit orchestra in the following week,” Schifsky said. “We have tech week where all of the elements are working together, and we get to see the story grow.”
The cast and crew will hold their first performance of “String” at 7 p.m. on Nov. 13 in the high school auditorium.
