PHS Presents THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
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The longest running show in Broadway history, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s and Charles Hart’s musical, The Phantom of the Opera, is coming to Pratt with a local production at USD382’s Liberty Middle School auditorium. On Saturday, Sept. 9th at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 10th at 2 p.m., Pratt High and Liberty Middle School students will take the stage, creating this powerful story anew for Pratt audiences.
When Brandon Wade, Rose Beilman, and Michelle Popovich – directors of the show – decided to choose this show, they knew they would be stretching the talents of the students and their family volunteers. Technically, with the limitations of the local auditorium and the vast demands of the musical, they knew they’d have to simplify the technical requirements while still remaining true to the spirit of the original.
Even with those simplifications, it’s a difficult production, but with a dedicated cast, crew, and musicians, the directors knew they would have the talent to pull it off.
Part of that talent includes two leads: Abigail Domann (senior, as Christine) and David Mathes (junior, as Phantom.) Both performers mentioned that while they have had to deal with challenges, they also have loved seeing everything come together beautifully during show week.
“I had trouble with memorization with a massive part. People know what I’m supposed to be saying, so I have to say it right with this show.” Mathes mentioned as his biggest challenge, while Domann remarked, “The schedule – fitting everything in and getting everything done is the biggest hurdle: homework, social life, Pratt High Singers, band, hey, even a social life.”
Still, Mathes also felt that this musical has gone beyond expectations of a normal high school show: “It sounds beautiful and everything is going right. Even the experienced actors have been doing phenomenal jobs. Our average high school age isn’t above 11th grade, and for how young we are, we do amazing things. You put 15-16-17-years olds in a show, and you don’t normally expect this level, but we’re doing it. Also, this show has given me a whole new sense of work ethic that I never would have had. You have to commit fully with hours and hours of work to pull this show off.”
That work ethic, with a backstage urgency of getting to the next scene, being in the right place with the right lines, songs, movement, costumes, sets, and props, is a responsibility that all of the cast and crew feel.
Newcomer to theatre, Zach Shanline, stage manager (and PHS junior) noted, “The hardest part is definitely the puzzle of moving sets. Even though it’s the hardest part, the puzzle moving sets on and off -- the constant go, go, go, go – is also the best part.”
Ninth grader, and spot operator, Lucas Baker, concurred, “Everyone is always doing something, and it’s like a well-oiled machine! Learning everything and getting used to doing something I’ve never done before has been the toughest, but I’ve also loved learning lights and getting comfortable with what’s uncomfortable for me. Trying something new.”
Other backstage workers remarked that it can be scary feeling like so much depends on them when the actors are onstage. They have to keep the show moving, but lighting chief, Elise Coykendall, senior, has discovered in her years of running lights that she loves “adding mood and contributing in a way that the actors can’t, but which enhances what the cast is doing onstage. I’ve discovered through the years that my part on lights is as important as what every actor is doing onstage.”
It’s a feeling echoed by all the crew, while the cast agrees. Every cast member from the youngest to the oldest knows that they are needed for the show to run smoothly, and every person interviewed ended with the same refrain and with similar comments: “Come see the show!...It’s all up there: good singing, dancing, acting with color and light and spectacle!”
To reserve tickets up until noon Saturday, contact director Rose Beilman by email at rose.beilman@usd382.com and provide your name, number of tickets to reserve, and then plan to pay for tickets in the WILL CALL line by 15 minutes before the show. After noon Saturday, no more reservations will be taken, and please use email only to contact Beilman. Reservations are filling up, so if you plan to go to the show, please contact her early.