Tamsin Smith
If you have been
hanging out after school anytime in the past few months and have wandered past
the auditorium, you probably caught a glimpse of the drama department
practicing for their annual musical.
This year, they performed Wonderful
Town, a successful Broadway show, which premiered in 1953. Despite its success, it is not well known,
especially among high school audiences. Wonderful Town takes place in the 1930s,
in Greenwich Village, New York. It stars
Ruth and Eileen Sherwood, who have moved to New York from Columbus, Ohio, in
order to pursue their dreams. Ruth (Lucia
Helgren) is older and much more serious than Eileen and she plans on becoming a
writer. Meanwhile, the pretty and
popular Eileen (Lexington Swartwood) wants to make it big in the performing
industry. Both sisters find settling
into Greenwich difficult and have a hard time finding jobs as well. Eileen catches a few breaks because of her
popularity with men, which later gets her into trouble. While hunting for a job, Ruth meets Bob
Barker (Josh Apker), who works in the offices of a short story magazine. Eileen bumps into Bob as well, and invites
him to dinner, along with Chick Clark (Jake Elkins) and Frank Lippencott
(Richie Howell). Both sisters find
themselves attracted to Bob, and the evening takes an awkward turn. Bob and Ruth have a falling out over her
writing, and they both leave. Ruth goes
to a shipyard to report on a new arrival of Portuguese sailors and ends up
leading them back to her neighborhood.
The singing, dancing sailors cause a riot and Eileen is arrested. In the second act, Ruth finds a job at a
nightclub and tries to get Eileen out of jail.
Both sisters also grapple with their feelings for Bob, and all the while
search for their perfect job. This
musical is filled with memorable characters, including Wreck (David Perfetti),
a bum who briefly lives with Ruth and Eileen, and his lover, Helen (Bailey
Kote).
The drama department
put on an extremely fun show with Wonderful
Town. In my opinion, some of its
best moments were “Conga”, sung by the Portuguese sailors, and Wreck’s
character. The costumes were fun and
appropriate to the time period- there were quite a few costume changes as
well! Good job, Mrs. Votra! Of course, the singing was great, with
excellent performances by the seniors: Lucia, Lexi, Josh, and Richie. Although you could not see the pit band this
year, they did a good job. Mr. DiGennaro
could be seen when the lights were down, conducting enthusiastically! The sets were great, thanks to Louise Felker. Mrs. McLaughlin should be proud of putting on
such an enjoyable, wonderful show!
