For school production, young actors tap into classic dance form

By Daniel Nash

The Courier-Herald

A musical show is coming earlier to the community this year thanks to Bonney Lake High School. The stage production will utilize student vocals, classic dance and modern video to create a multimedia theatre experience.

BLHS students, drama director Brenda Williams and vocals and orchestra director Amy Fuller will put on a production of “Singin’ in the Rain” Friday. The classic Gene Kelly movie about Hollywood’s transition to talking pictures will be adapted to stage and performed at the Sumner Performing Arts Center.

Preparation for the performance has required many of the actors to learn tap dance at their own expense and, in some cases and at least partially, on their own time. Twenty actors flocked to a two-day tap workshop during the summer, before casting had even begun. Actors cast in the show were responsible for obtaining their own tap shoes.

High school theatre groups typically show their musicals in the spring, but a conflict with Fuller’s schedule moved up the window of time in which a musical could be done. In addition, the actors only had seven weeks to rehearse, as opposed to the usual nine weeks, Williams said.

“We auditioned the first Monday school was open,” Williams said. “The turnaround has been absolutely nightmarish. I would not have taken on this project if I knew how difficult this schedule would be on everyone.

“But everyone loves it and loves being involved. I just hope next year when we do a musical the time for rehearsals is a little longer.”

“Singin’ in the Rain” follows the plot of the 1952 movie of the same name. The backdrop is Hollywood in the late 1920s, when studios began the transition from silent movies to talking pictures. When MGM studios decides to turn a planned silent movie into a musical, star Don Lockwood (played by Kent Wilson) adapts well, but leading lady Lina Lamont (Cass Neumann) is held back by her shrill and obnoxious voice.

“She can’t sing, she can’t dance, she can’t act,” Neumann said, quoting from the script. “She’s a triple threat.”

The studio’s solution is to dub in the voice of unknown chorus girl Kathy Selden (Megan Cady), fostering conflict between the diva and the real talent.

Cady, who is a new arrival to Bonney Lake drama, has studied at Elite School of Dance in Puyallup, but the musical is her first experience with tap dance.

“I really like it,” she said.

Dress rehearsal at Sumner PAC began Monday. But on a recent Thursday afternoon, students from all grades gathered in the BLHS Multipurpose room where the actors and stage crew shared space with other after-school activities. At the opposite end of the room, BLHS cheer and dance squads held their own practice.

On the floor, the small town backdrop for the title song and dance number was taking shape under the care and paintbrush of stage crew technician Ashley Nard.

Onstage, the cast brought out the good umbrellas to practice the main number. The ensemble cast took their places and were soon joined by lead Evan Hildebrand (playing Cosmo Brown), who arrived late after taking a test.

“Smile, chin up, attitude, spacing,” Williams called from her table.

The number began. Empty spaces could be seen in the staging. Several students were out sick, including lead Wilson.

“Kids will get sick in any show, it’s pretty much par for the course,” Williams said. “No matter what you tell the kids, they still share pop and snacks and kiss each other.”

In the main number and several other scenes in which Lockwood and Brown performed together, Hildebrand practiced sans Wilson, pretending his partner was dancing and acting beside him while stage crewman Jake Freebie read lines.

This will be Hildebrand’s last show as an actor. He has held lead roles in several shows over the years, including “Oklahoma!” and “Narnia.” He will direct the spring production for his senior project.

Some interesting technological choices will be featured in final show. Silent film segments are being shot beforehand at Tracy Castle in Wilkeson by parent Mark Walrath. The vignettes will be projected onto a screen at their relevant points in the show.

For the main number, rain will not be recreated on stage, though it is possible. Instead, the illusion of rain will be created by Gobo lights and sound effects.

Williams anticipates a great show, she said.

“This is a very family-friendly script,” she said. “It’s a fast moving story that should appeal to kids or people in any age group, really. I was speaking to some older ladies in the Red Hat club that seemed very excited.”

“Singin’ in the Rain” will premier at Sumner PAC at 7:30 p.m. Friday and will show throughout the weekend. The show is still seeking a violinist.

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