The theater department presents the first show directed by Hattie Bergman and technical director Aaron Johnson. The students will perform “Chicago” Nov. 1-2 at the auditorium (PAC).
“It’s so fun, and you can come out and see what your fellow students can do,” Bergman said. “There’s a lot of talent in this cast, a lot of amazing dancing and singing, and just a big collection of a bunch of theater kids doing their best work.”
“Chicago” is a 1975 musical about women murdering their husbands. The musical focuses on the story of Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly. They end up going to jail and getting famous through the press.
“I think people should see ‘Chicago,’ because it’s such a classic musical, and it’s been around forever,” senior Hadley Rebtoy, who plays the role of Roxie Hart, said. “It’s just such a fun musical, and it’s also nice to just support the school and show school spirit.”
In addition to Rebtoy, seniors Izzey Riley will play Velma, Waylon Muniz fast-talking lawyer Billy Flynn, and Max Hunter plays jilted husband Amos Hart.
“I feel like [opening night] will be pretty electric,” Hunter said. “’Chicago’ is one of those shows that you can really have fun with.”
The original musical by writer Fred Ebb and choreographer Bob Fosse is currently on Broadway and has been running for 49 years. The Oscar-winning movie released in 2002 influenced the play, because it gives ideas for what to do in the scenes and design. This play will be PG as opposed to the more risque version performed in New York City and off Broadway.
“It is the teen version which censors everything you can’t really have at a high school,” freshman Archer Jones said.
This school year, the theater department will be directing a few plays. “Chicago”- Teen Edition, “Sherlock Holmes and the First Baker Street Irregular”, and “Alice in Wonderland JR”. For the UIL One Act Play, they will be doing “Tartuffe”.
“UIL competitions are in the spring, so the best time to do musicals is fall,” Jones said.
Since the pandemic, the amount of people that go and see plays has declined. The theater department will be showing “Chicago” a total of three times: once on Friday, Nov. 1, and twice on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
“I believe people should come to ‘Chicago’, because it’s an exciting theater [experience] with a lot of people backstage, and the actors put a lot of work into it,” senior Finlay Potter said, “and I think it’d be a great way for people to come and show their appreciation for it.”
