playbill vip

“Let it Go!” has been my inner phrase for the season. I’m a little bit of a control freak so this is harder for me than it sounds. When you work with such talented people, however, letting go becomes much easier. Talented people abound in this cast. Read through the cast biographies; some of these kids have been in more performances than years they’ve been alive! The cast and crew members have truly been leaders on and behind the stage. Cast members lead warmups, teach music, choreograph dances, organize props, create the program, run rehearsal music, help make props and costumes, set up sound systems and do mic checks, help find supplies to order, solicit more cast members and backstage crew, move sets backstage, run spotlights and light cues, write and record publicity audios, appear at elementary events, collect advertisements, set up and execute special effects, do makeup and prosthetics, and help with general cleaning and organization.

Our WLHS Drama Program is primarily run by directors and students, but parents, friends, and alumni lend tremendous support as well.  I wish I would have taken a picture of our troll sweatshop sessions. With the help of friends and family we were using almost every table in the cafetorium to paint, stitch, and glue trolls! Whitney Meltz, a grad student at University of Nevada Las Vegas, is the creator of our Sven head. I appreciate her willingness to continue to support our drama program as an alumnus. We have several parents who help with publicity, advertisements, ticketing, concessions and baked goods, stage and house managing, costuming, and props. I appreciate all of you so much and hope that I did not leave anyone out. You are ALL wonderful to work with! I also want to acknowledge Katie Lynch for creating the First Annual WL Dinner Theater. Through her vision, research, and organization it became a successful reality. It fills my heart to give our cast members another opportunity to perform and to watch our program grow! I cannot thank all who help enough.

It has been wonderful working with my new director, April Higgs; I have leaned on her organizational skills to keep me centered and sane. April brings so much to the creative process of this show and I could not have done it without her. Jake Manning also brings creative talent to our production and makes our stage come alive! We hope you will never know how much effort went into a punch, bump, look, or handshake on stage; how many times we had to run a townsperson scene to make it look “natural”; the costuming effort needed for one troll hood; or how many times a set piece needed to be redesigned or rebuilt.

We spent four months taking all aspects of a theatrical production and integrating them into the show you see tonight. By Sunday evening, the show will be cleaned up, stashed away, and it will have become a memory; but the time we have spent together is precious and never forgotten. We have pushed ourselves to new levels, had fun doing it, and made friends while creating. We are a family and that is something I will never let go.

                                                                                            ~Laura