May 13, 2015 at 4:52 p.m.
High school drama club to perform 'Annie Play Will Do'
High school drama club to perform 'Annie Play Will Do'
By Kayla Thomason-
"Annie Play Will Do" will premiere at 7:30 p.m. May 14. Two additional performances are set for 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. May 16. Admission is $5 per ticket.
"Annie Play Will Do" is about miscommunication and whipping a show together at the last minute.
"Due to a miscommunication on the school calendar, the principal informs the drama director that she has to produce a play overnight," said Kristin Higgins, NCSS advisor and RHS/NCSS drama director. "She enlists the help of two student directors who have just broken up. They refuse to communicate well and end up rehearsing two different plays that come together two minutes prior to the curtain."
The RHS/NCSS Drama Club knows something about coping with a last-minute change of plans.
The group was to perform a different play, "Murder for Dummies," in March, but that plan was scrapped after a Rhinelander High School student, Ashlee Martinson, was charged with killing her parents.
"The only things that were inappropriate about the play that was canceled were the title and the poster," Higgins said. "The play itself was very sweet and innocent and we just had a terrible coincidence."
The students had rehearsed for "Murder for Dummies" since they came back from Christmas break in January, with the performance scheduled in March prior to spring break.
"When the play was canceled, my co-director, Roddy Macmillan, and I asked the kids if they wanted to do a new play (and) they were very, very excited about it," Higgins said. "We had to rush to pick a new one, and ironically, when we opened the link to the script company we like to use, 'Annie Play Will Do' was the first one we saw. It's about a drama director and her students who have to rush to put on a play at the last moment. We laughed out loud at the irony of it, and had a few other people read it, and everyone encouraged us to do it. We all met and started the next day."
Ironically, there are 17 actors and actresses for this play, the same number needed for "Murder for Dummies," so the actors and actresses just needed to adopt new roles.
"Yet another irony is that we didn't plan to build a set (for the old play) because there were other things happening in the auditorium during the week before our performances," Higgins said. "All (of) our set pieces were simple and free standing, so we had costumes, furniture and props ready - some of which you'll see in the background of our new play, sort of as a homage to 'The Play that Never Was' ('Murder for Dummies')."
Fortunately for the students working on "Annie Play Will Do," the production does not require an elaborate backdrop, props or clothing.
"Since 'Annie Play Will Do' is literally produced overnight, everything related to it is simple and thrown together, so it's very simple," Higgins said. "It's the nature of the play, and not due to our laziness."
A rare treat has been bestowed upon those working to make the play a success: the playwright, Scott Haan, has been communicating with them and has personally autographed their scripts.
"(He) has been communicating with us during our rehearsals and has been super supportive," Higgins said. "The students were really excited about it and were thrilled to have the communication."
Over the course of her last 15 productions, Higgins said she has communicated with only two of the playwrights whose plays she's directed, so it is not a very common occurrence.
"The first time was when we did a play that was written by my friend, Mike Eserkaln, and the second time was when we did 'Hodag, the Musical,'" Higgins said. "Both times the playwrights were actually in the audience. This time, the playwright got a Google Alert when I wrote an ... article about the plays being changed and he emailed me."
Haan has also donated some autographed scripts for the students to sell during their fundraiser, which will be available at each intermission.
The scripts are "Speed Dating Nightmare," "Hex Marks the Spot," "The School Spirit," "Mind Over Matt," "Superhero Sanitarium," "The Name of Shame Club," "A Very Bad Day for Brandon Butterworth," "Wage Warfare," "Silent Treatment," "Byte Me," "Trapped," "Don't be so Hard on Your Shelf" and "The Vent Button."
During intermission there will also be a bake sale with the goodies created by the Prostart class at RHS and a 50/50 raffle to benefit the Drama Club.
The raffle tickets are $1 each or six for $5.
"Roddy and I are very, very proud of our students who took the cancellation news really well," Higgins said. "We all understood that our community was reeling and performing our original play would be perceived as inappropriate. The kids were extremely disappointed because they had been working for two months to put on the play, but they were also excited to start again. On a personal note, we've gotten to spend another two months together and that's been really fun. We hope people will come see 'Annie Play Will Do' and support these amazing kids."
Kayla Breese may be reached at kayla@ rivernewsonline.com.
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