Spooky season is here, and the community and students are ready for entertainment. This year at FHS, the students will be performing The House of Frankenstein for their fall play.
The play will be performed on November 10 and 11 at 7:30 pm in the FHS Auditorium. Auditions for the play were held on September 7. Student performers did not start rehearsing until September 11. This play is different from last years from not being a musical, and only having 10 cast members total.
“I like that I can be myself while performing, It’s a very funny role,” sophomore Zach Zinna said. Zach will be starring as the play’s “Monster” role.
However, another student performer went into more detail on her point of view while performing in the play, and what she enjoys about it.
“One of my favorite things about performing is getting to bring joy to the audience. I’m happy when I get to make them laugh, and when I see people after the show with smiles on their faces. I also enjoy getting to perform and create something good with my friends,” junior Ava Lackey said.
She also talked about the difference from last year’s musical to this year’s fall play.
“I get to put myself in a type of character that I’ve never played before. Last year, I played Sally Brown in the fall musical and Rusty in the spring musical, which are both very peppy, hyperactive characters. Now, I’m learning what it’s like to play a character that is more serious and kind of creepy,” said junior Ava Lackey, starring as “Frau Lurker.”
As well as being asked about the issues occurring on set during rehearsals.
“I think one of the biggest issues is being able to project loud enough so the whole audience can hear and understand what everyone is saying. For a good majority of the cast, this is our first show not using microphones. But we are learning to overcome this obstacle,” Lackey continued.
She compared the two plays in a short summary.
“Another way they’re different is that last year each scene was a short interaction, with no directly connecting storyline throughout the show. This year, we are telling a complete story. And finally, the cast is much smaller this year than last year. For Charlie Brown, we had six leads and around eight ensemble members. This year, there are ten people in the cast in total,” junior Ava Lackey said.
Getting different perspectives of the cast members is important to understanding their dynamics on set, and how they’re feeling about performing.
“I’ve always loved performing since I was really little and I would even put on Disney-movie plays for my family. It’s definitely not for everyone but I’ve always had a connection with it. My favorite part about performing would have to be how everything comes together. The characters, costumes, makeup, props, and set all have an important role,” junior Leah Courtney said.
Many of the performers have dreamed since they were young that they would be on the big stage, working hard for the roles they desired.
“Plays are a group effort with every character having their own mannerisms and reactions and to get to the actual performance and see everyone’s hard work play into it is really special. It’s also so much fun to make the character your own and to imagine how they would react to the events of the play. This play in particular is so much fun with everything being really over the top and funny so I’m especially excited for this one,“ junior Leah Courtney continued.
Courtney went into more detail about her role as The Countess, and gave a summary of the play, without revealing too much.
“I think that my role is very interesting. The Countess has grown really bored with her life and wants the Baron to help her ‘escape’ it. She is invited to the Baron’s house and the Count actually follows her there, also seeking the Baron’s help. Everything ends up going wrong and all the characters at the Baron’s house get something very different then they planned. You’ll have to come and see what happens,” Leah added.
The cast is in their third week of rehearsals, they have many things to accomplish still before the curtain rises. Building of the foundation is one of the most important parts, that way they can build upon that and perform another amazing show.
The cast and crew members are working hard to prepare this play for performances on November 10 and 11 @ 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and can be purchased at https://sites.google.com/prod/findlaycityschools.org/fhstheatre.
