As many know, the Foran High School Drama Club hosts a yearly musical. Hundreds of students, family members, and teachers buy tickets, however, many attendees are unaware of all of the hard work and dedication that happens behind the scenes to contribute to their success.
This year’s musical is “Once Upon a Mattress”, based upon the original 1959 production about a fictional medieval kingdom in 15th-century Europe ruled by the sly Queen Aggravain. The original Broadway cast included notable names such as Carol Burnett, Joseph Bova, and Jack Gilford.
The musical was chosen to highlight as many students as possible, according to club advisor Mr. Jason Stammen, “Traditionally, we’ve had more girls audition so I look for shows with several female roles. I wanted the students to experience a contrast, so I chose an older musical filled with fun.”
The audition process, which took place on November 28 and 29, is described by Stammen, “Students auditioned by reading a few lines from the script and then singing a short excerpt from a song. Some students had a callback audition where they were asked to perform various scenes.”
After musical roles were announced after auditions, members of the Drama Club began to vigorously prepare to perfect their roles and put their best foot forward for audiences.
Member of the cast Connor Rizzo states, “We rehearse for about two or three months prior to the show. A ton of work goes into all areas of it, the actors learning lines, lyrics, blocking…There’s a lot of effort on all sides that comes together to make a good show.”
The cast includes 25 students, including eight members of the ensemble. Ensemble members perform dancing parts, add their voices to musical numbers, and act out background parts.
However, many people are unaware of the technical aspect of the musical, and the valuable work of the tech crew.
Tech crew member Thao Pham states, “The tech crew does everything behind the scenes from controlling the lights and spotlights, controlling the music and microphones, to moving sets during the show…Without the work of the tech crew, there is no musical.”
Being part of the crew also holds another important role according to Pham, “There are also painters who paint the sets that are used in the show as well. The work of the paint crew is extremely important, and the sets look great.”
In addition to the unsung work of the tech and paint crews, there is also the work of student choreographers.
Stammen adds, “Student choreographers create many of the dances. Members Olivia Salai and Isabella Abreu have done extensive work, while Lexi Kochanowicz and Jada Frias have also made essential contributions to choreographing dance numbers.”
Rehearsal entails much more than planning choreographic numbers, according to member of the cast Isabella Abreu, “We also usually cover a scene followed by a song. Closer to the show, it gets more intense, and we run what needs more work. Eventually, we’ll start running the whole show during rehearsal. We learn things while also talking, helping each other out, and joking around.”
Rehearsal for the show occurs just about every weekday, and there is sometimes an occasional Saturday rehearsal as well.
The musical opens on Friday, March 1, at 7 PM. After opening night, there are two additional shows on Saturday, March 2, at 2:30 PM and 7 PM. Tickets are sold online at milforded.org or at the door.
