Reed high brings 'Singin’ in the Rain' to life

By Cortney Maddock

Reed High School’s spring musical “Singin’ in the Rain” could put the talking movies to shame any day.

The drama department brings the 1952 classic movie to life with vivid sets and costumes, and what would “Singin’ in the Rain” be without the rain? Well, there’s no need to find out because the performance is complete with the downpour dance sequence made famous by Gene Kelly.

Opening to a barrage of screaming fans, Don Lockwood, played by Derek Sexton, and Lina Lamont, played by Danielle Lyons, enjoy their last silent movie premiere before the industry changes forever.

Sexton is able to convincingly play the conflicted Lockwood who must break Lamont’s heart — or at least break the truth to her that their relationship is fictional, made up for tabloids — all while he falls in love with Kathy Selden, played by Alexa Bernal.

Cosmo Brown, played by Grady McCann, guides his forlorn friend Lockwood though a career crisis in the stand out musical number “Make ‘em Laugh.”

McCann is able to dance, do back flips and even slip on a banana peel while singing the catchy lyrics to “Make ‘em Laugh.” In addition to being a one-man show, McCann is able to deliver his lines in perfect comedic timing. One second too early and it would have sounded rehearsed; one second too late and it would have lost its effect. But McCann is right on point throughout the two-hour musical.

Bernal eloquently plays Kathy, who is struggling to find her way in the movie industry, but stands out with an amazingly polished voice that smoothly sings “You Were Meant for Me.”

The song is eventually Lamont’s downfall; she may be a movie star, but in the world of the talkies, she does not have a voice that will go far.

Lyons, who plays Lamont, may not have many singing numbers, but her vocal talents should not go unrecognized. After all, Lyons must perform the entire musical with an accent equivalent to a New Jersey girl in the pitch of a dog whistle. Not an easy task.

Tickets for “Singin’ in the Rain” range from $10 to $12 and performances will be held Thursday through Saturday. The Reed High School theater is at 1350 Baring Blvd.

Students dream up their own version of fairy tale

By Jessica Garcia

Immediately after Sleeping Beauty fell asleep at the high school Sadie Hawkins dance, his peers discovered he was poisoned.

Yes, that’s correct: “he.”

Alright, so the cast and crew of Sparks High School made a few modifications to the classic fairy tale of true love conquering all in the microcosm of today’s high school. But when a drama team decides to take some creative license, some things are bound to change.

“Once Upon an Enchantment,” with two performances left this weekend, was entirely conceived, written, managed and designed by Sparks High students. The performances are played out by two casts, with most of the principals involved with all the shows. For some lower classmen, it was their first attempt at drama or even a first try at putting an entire production together on their own with very little help from their teachers and advisors.

The Sparks High School’s rendition of the familiar fairy tale isn’t exactly conventional, but it has all the elements of the classic “Sleeping Beauty” — the hero(ine), the conspiring wicked “witch” and the all-conquering kiss of true love that awakens the main character from sleep. It’s refreshing that one of the major twists is to see that the victim of the peaceful sleep is the handsome Alton Guapo, captain of the football team.

Esly Gonzales plays Alton, who comes to notice the love-struck Paloma Linda, played by Elizabeth Hernandez. Interactions between the two become more difficult throughout the play as the evil Mally Vice, played by freshman Olivia Riggs, conspires to pursue Alton for herself.

Hernandez, a junior, hopes to become an actress someday.

“I just wanted to get the lead role,” Hernandez said. “I like that she falls in love. I also liked (the cast and crew). They’re really outgoing and awesome.”

Riggs, however, had the satisfaction of playing the conniving teen.

“It was really fun being Mally because I get to be mean to everybody and I don’t get in trouble for it,” Riggs said, who said she’s actually very nice in real life. “But it’s really hard; I have to have someone make fun of me or get me mad before I go on stage.”

While Riggs faintly echoes the sadistic devices of Walt Disney’s Maleficent, it’s humorous to find the twist that Alton is the one in need of rescue from the Princess Charming Paloma at the end.

The play has its moments of humor, such as when Mally’s groupie, Raven (played by Kyrie Wittenberg and Jessica Johnson), mimics every move of Mally’s spoiled outbursts of anger by slamming her backpack. Laughter is evoked when Paloma and Alton come close to their first kiss only to have Coach Merryweather interrupt and pull Alton away. Joe Montilongo and Brittany Souza share the role of Sampson, the voice of reason amid all the high school “who did what” and “who likes whom” drama.

The play is thoughtfully produced with its moments of comedy and sweetness. Sabrina Seachris, the freshman stage manager, came up with the idea for the story as drama club members were thinking about which play they wanted to put on.

“I was at my house looking at old movies and I noticed ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ ” Seachris said. “I’m like, well, it would be kind of fun to a modern version of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and we spent weeks coming up with the dialogue ... and we all came up with the names.”

Faculty advisors included Tina Hart, Dolores Harper and Joe Garton, a student teacher at Sparks High last semester who was responsible for formatting the script. Garton said he was impressed by the talent pool of the students and their initiative and desire to start a club.

“I went to Sparks High, I’m a Sparks High graduate and it always made me sad that the drama club kind of died,” Garton said. “When the kids wanted to started a drama club, I was all for it. They came up with the idea, they came up with a dialogue and handed it off to me.”

Garton merely added technical direction to the dialogue written by freshman Sonia Meza.

“She’s a beautiful writer,” Garton said. “She handed me the script and she has character development, plot development, these little teeny twists that were thought through and passionate. It was so easy; I just had to fill in the blanks ... ‘Dim lights here,’ ‘We need this here.’ She’s a talented student.”

The students also incorporated their own thematic ideas about life with wisdom beyond their years.

Cast A narrator Celina Crittenden, also a freshman, said the play dispels notions about the perfect fairy tale life.

“I just really love this play because it took so many ideas that are really stereotypical about the damsel in distress and the jock and it flips them,” Crittenden said. “It turns them inside-out and shows you that life isn’t always cookie-cutter, that it makes you see the world differently.”

The play was funded by community donations secured by students to build the sets and help with other needs. The students were so motivated that members of the club, called Sparks High TheaTRACKS, is hoping the school will offer a drama class starting in the fall.

“We have such tremendous pride for this because we built this all on our own,” said freshman Kyrie Wittenberg, who plays Raven, Mally’s sidekick, in cast A. “It was our ideas and we went out and got this. We were so starving for something so grand ... and now we have a spectacular play with two casts.”

Parents were also proud of their students’ level of dedication. Donna Glynn, mother of Nicole Glynn, who plays Principal Guapo, said she was glad her daughter was involved.

“The last two weeks they were staying until 8 at night,” Glynn said. “I think she’s brave for going out there on stage. Could you do it? This was an all-volunteer thing and this is what they chose to do so I think we have to support it.”

Two more performances take place this weekend at 6 p.m. on Friday at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the Sparks High theater at 820 15th St. Tickets are $5.

Nothing to fear at 'Little Shop of Horrors'

By Cortney Maddock

It’s not easy to get on stage and act, much less get on stage and sing as well. The students who perform in Spanish Springs High School’s musical “Little Shop of Horrors” do so effortlessly as they put their own spin on the cult classic.

Complete with a house band, the music cues and the lights beat down on the doo-wop singers that introduce the audience to the economically depressed neighborhood of Skid Row. In full-length red dress, the singers smoothly entice the audience into the play in the well-choreographed opening number.

Mr. Mushnik, played by Jared Lively, stays true to the pushy businessman’s character depicted in the 1986 movie. It is Seymour, played by Ryan Costello, who brings emotion to the musical in a funny, yet humdrum way that makes the audience members feel for his plight. Should the orphaned Seymour choose fame or the friends who have become his family?

Lively and Costello bring personality and laughter to the song “Mushnik and Son.” The number comes complete with a tango.

Kira Johnson, who plays the downtrodden Audrey, has an amazing singing voice and puts it to good use during the slower musical numbers, including “Somewhere That’s Green” and “Suddenly Seymour.”

The musical wouldn’t be complete without a villain, who just so happens to be Audrey’s boyfriend and a dentist. Matt Bidart is able to frighten the audience with his evil laughter, which brings his character, Orin, to life. Bidart is able to convey Orin’s ruthless mannerism in a way that makes the audience distrust his relationship with Audrey and his intentions with Seymour.

For fans of “Little Shop of Horrors,” the thought of doing a play without a functional Audrey II would make it an entirely different musical but the Spanish Springs drama department pulls it off. Audrey II grows into the raspy-voiced monster with which fans of the musical will be familiar.

“Little Shop of Horrors” is well worth the $6 ticket price and will be performed Thursday through Saturday at 7 p.m. The Spanish Springs High School theater is at 1065 Eagle Canyon Drive.