0
0
The stage lights begin to shine and the curtain raises for the first time. The audience holds their breath in anticipation as they watch the actors come alive. The months of practice and dedication are finally coming to fruition.
This year the NS drama department chose the musical “Tarzan” as their major production set to be performed January 8-11, and the auditorium is a hive of activity, with practices in full swing.
Producing a musical is a huge undertaking, and it takes a lot of people to put it on.
“It’s not just the actors, and it’s not just one person: it’s the directors, the music director, the choreography, the light crew, the sound crew, the set crew, makeup, hair,” said tech crew member Katelyn Hill. “There’s so many different aspects of a performance than what people don’t see.”
Starting after fall break, the students spend a lot of time rehearsing for the musical and putting together the technical side of things.
“A lot of them are here every day after school until 6 p.m. and we have Saturday rehearsals, so they’re putting in probably 15-20 hours a week outside of school in most cases,” said drama teacher and director Alex Barlow.
Because a huge part of the musical is about family, a bigger emphasis has been put on forming familial relationships within the cast.
“Mr. Barlow talked about how the family relationships in the show are even more important than the relationship between ‘Tarzan’ and ‘Jane,’ so that’s a lot of weight to put on one’s shoulders,” said Adam Cox, who plays Jane’s dad, Mr. Porter.
For Cox portraying a father has been a challenge he didn’t expect and has required dedication outside the scheduled practices.
“I’m interacting with Jane always, and I have to be able to make it realistic that I am her father and that I really care about her,” Cox said.
For others, like Kaje Nielsen who plays Tarzan’s dad Kerchak, portraying a father has been a little easier.
“I actually have a lot of experience with being a father outside of the play because I have guinea pigs and to me they’re like my kids,” Nielsen said.
Isa Wright plays Kala, Tarzan’s mom, and is essentially a mother to all the cast members, who often refer to her as “Auntie Kala.”
“I get to be a mother to everyone even though I’m only a mother to a teenage boy; I get to be a mother to all the teenage boys and all the teenage girls,” Wright said.
Although there are challenges, the cast still forms lasting relationships.
“It’s a really strong connection that you can’t get anywhere else,” Wright said. “We become our own family where like I feel closer to them than my actual family.”
Jane, played by Ariel Valko, and Mr. Porter are from England, which brings a whole new challenge to Cox and Valko playing those roles.
“I have to be an English person, so I have to speak British; it’s a lot different than English, so I have to end my consonants,” Valko said.
Cox can often be found practicing the way he walks and talks as Mr. Porter.
“I’ve gotta learn how to be like and English guy, so I have the British accent,” Cox said. “I’ve got to act like a grown adult and be like all proper and British.”
This is one of the bigger roles Cox has played, and it has helped him to become a more focused actor.
“You always have to have a purpose on stage and I think that’s actually one of the better parts of this because now I’m always saying stuff and I know people have eyes on me so I can be focused on what I’m supposed to be doing,” Cox said.
The other half of the cast play gorillas which requires a new way of walking and moving around the stage.
“My main problem that I have to put a lot of work into is walking on my hands and knees, but not just like my hands, it’s my knuckles,” said Spencer Brown who plays the lead adn ape-man Tarzan. “By the end of practice they’re all like bruised up, but I gotta get them all nice and callused up so I can walk.”
A lot of thought goes into every element of the show, even hair and makeup.
“I actually designed the makeup for my character, and for a lot of the lead gorillas we’re making it where they have African symbols, that identify as them,” Wright said. “For me, we’ve made an African symbol that shows motherhood and so I think that’s really cool.”
“Tarzan” is unlike many of the musicals the NS drama department has done, which has required the technical crews to put it a lot more effort.
“We have to costume like 47 people in this musical right now and most of the costumes, at least all the gorilla costumes, they’re making from scratch,” Barlow said.
With the fairly new technical theater class though, the majority of set building and costume designing is done there instead of taking up time outside of school.
“When I have a class I can delegate and coordinate, and it also gives the students a chance to discover new talents and find new things that they’re good at,” Barlow said. (Maybe get rid of this part.)
Something to look forward to, opening night is treasured by the cast and crew members.
“My favorite part is opening night because you have all the jitters and the thrills and we finally get to perform this thing we’ve worked on for months, in front of people, who paid for it, so they hopefully enjoy it,” Brown said.
Opening night is not only exciting for the actors, but it’s a big deal to the tech crew as well.
“When the curtain raises and the lights are going and the sound is working and everyone’s mics are working, it’s just like ‘Oh my gosh–we did it!” Hill said.
Besides opening night, the cast members have something else to look forward to as their months of hard work come to a close
“In the musicals we’re never allowed to have soda and so on
closing night after the show we’ll always chug soda,” Wright said.
