playbill vip

Laugh a Little (or a lot)

Sometimes we just have to laugh.

Working on a show such as The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon really allows us to think about the shifts that have taken place over the last couple of generations.  I grew up learning about many of the fairy tales, albeit in their rather sanitized forms.  Many in the cast and crew did not grow up with many of these stories.  

Why?  

My guess is that the stories themselves are from a time long gone by.  Rapunzel didn’t have a cell phone, and perhaps if Hansel and Gretel had a phone on them, they might not have gotten lost in the woods!  But current generations seem to desire stories which are set in more contemporary times.  

But despite (or in spite of) the lack of prior knowledge, this show has been fun to produce with this group of students.  Playwright Don Zolidis does an excellent job of making all of us think about how these stories have aged.  I would argue that some of them can still be of fun, escapist value (especially when combined with development by “The Mouse”).  And given the events of our reality today, it might be nice to escape to a simpler time, even for a couple of hours.

We hope you enjoy what we have produced for you. My thanks go to the students in the show.  Some have worked since May on their parts, and others have joined our technical crews in the past few weeks.  I truly enjoy seeing everyone coming together to have fun putting on a show.  My thanks also go to Ms. Peggy Matanic and her Technical Theatre students.  They get a virtual internship in theatre by working on our sets and props for our shows.  

I want to also thank our families and businesses for supporting us through our patron drive.  We raised nearly $6000 to help ensure that theatre is accessible to everyone who wants to be a part of it here at MHS.  Please support those businesses listed in here.  I especially am indebted to the numerous alumni who turned out to support us this year.  Check out the Alumni Circle listing, and if you are an alum of theatre here at MHS and want to be a part of it all, let me know!

And we hope you enjoy the accommodations of our newly renovated auditorium.  My final thanks this semester goes to the School Town of Munster and the residents for supporting the funding of such a project.  All of our performing arts students now have facilities that serve them well for 21st century arts creating.  

--R. Palasz