Musical preparations culminate in performances
After the opening of the musical “Oklahoma!” cast members see their work put into action
November 6, 2015
The musical “Oklahoma!” opened Saturday, Nov. 7 after months of cast and crew preparation.
Senior Gabby Saunders plays Laurey in one of the two casts and said work outside of rehearsal was necessary for her to be ready for the show.
“I did a few different things to prepare. We had ‘lead parties’ where everyone who had a lead role would gather and run lines. We had to practice the interactions between characters to have chemistry and really develop our own characters,” Saunders said.
Sophomore McKenna Harvey plays Laurey in the second cast and also had to prepare for her role on her own time in order to be successful.
“I looked up a lot of “Oklahoma!” on YouTube and watched different videos so I could prepare. I also studied different scripts,” Harvey said. “It was a lot of my own behind the scenes work; I couldn’t do it all just in rehearsal.”
Saunders also said some of the more difficult things at the beginning of rehearsals end up being much easier when it comes time for the show to open.
“The hardest thing is memorizing lines. Once you have them memorized, it’s really easy to just get up there and do it,” Saunders said. “Eventually, it doesn’t even really take much thinking.”
There are many unique things about the show this year, according to Harvey.
“I think this year, the show gives people a lot more opportunities to play roles compared to other shows that I’ve seen here at school,” Harvey said.
Saunders is looking forward to the rest of her performances and the remaining events with the whole cast.
“I’m really excited for everybody to come out and see it, especially my family coming to watch. I’m also really looking forward to the cast party, even though I have to give my senior speech since it’s my last show,” Saunders said. “It’s been a lot of fun.”
