Breaking news: Woodford County Middle School stops the show with a beautiful rendition of Newsies Jr. for their annual spring musical! These students have been working since January to get their production up and running, staying after school several times a week in order to provide their eventual audience with the experience of a lifetime. Rehearsals have been tiring for the young actors, but ultimately rewarding when they get to hear that standing ovation on opening night.
These talented ‘tweens cannot produce the show alone, though—behind the scenes, there’s a second world which has helped WCMS bring the production to life. As young actors, singers, and dancers make the magic, behind the velvet curtain a crew enables their spectacle.
Five Woodford County High School attendees have volunteered their time to help the middle school prepare this performance. Over the past two and a half months, they have been working continuously with the director to ensure that the cast is as ready as they can possibly be. It’s been rewarding to see the performers be proud of the hard work they’ve put in to get there—especially because many of the high school students find joy in sharing their passion for performing arts. Valix Hardin, a sophomore at WCHS and a second year student in the Woodford Theatre Young Artists program, recounts the whole experience fondly: “Getting to know all of the kids and their individual talents has been really fascinating; I’ve grown very fond and proud of all of them.” Hardin was foremost involved with the design, building, and painting of the set. With the help of a few parents, they were able to bring their creative vision to life in no time.
As far as their experiences with the process, the high school helpers speak exceptionally of the knowledge they’ve gained while working on this production. Sophomore Noa Bennett provided such an insight while reflecting on her time as the chief costume designer: “This process has taught me a lot about the inner workings of theater, especially technical production. Even if I’m only in charge of costumes, I have learned a lot about set design, props, and how each element of theater balances to make a full show.” Bennet also recalls finding a particular love for the behind-the-scenes work. “While planning for this show, I learned my love of costume design, sewing, and crafting to create a finished piece. Now that I understand how theater costuming works, I am excited for future opportunities to bring my designs to the stage.”
Of course, some portions were harder than expected for these teenagers. Sophomore Iris Divine had the privilege of choreographing all the dance numbers for the show. While Divine brought valuable insider knowledge to the teaching environment, she didn’t realize how strenuous the task would be. “This process has taught me that coming up with and teaching your own choreographed dances is very difficult, and requires immense thinking and creativity to come up with dances from scratch,” she explained. “While it was challenging to come up with everything on my own, I still really enjoyed doing the things I love, dancing, teaching, and musical theater. And the kids took to my teaching very well, and I was so excited; this being my first ever teaching experience in the musical theater world.”
Divine even goes as far as touching on how this whole ordeal has opened her eyes to the reality of being behind the scenes of a production. “This process has helped me grow by showing me different perspectives and aspects of musical theater, specifically the technical part. A lot of people either are uneducated or don’t believe in the technical and backstage part of musical theater. But I’m glad I finally get to bring awareness to what happens behind the scenes, and how the tech crew is just as important as the actors seen on stage during a show.” It’s safe to say that each one of these students are exceptionally proud of the work they contributed to helping the show get on its feet. While they mostly focused on their respective areas, they were additionally helping in every aspect of the technical work, gaining them familiarity with all perspectives.
The volunteers were additionally pleasantly surprised at how eager the kids were to learn from both them and the director, which has only helped in cultivating the joy they felt while sharing their passion. “These students have been incredibly supportive and encouraging both to each other and student directors,” Bennett stated. “My favorite part of this process has been the overwhelmingly positive encouragement I have gotten from this cast.” Hardin expands on this point with her own response: “This has definitely solidified my love for helping kids grow and fall in love with performing.”
When all is said and done, there really is much more to theatre than the actors you see on stage. From set designer to choreographer to costume designer and beyond, the work doesn’t end when you reach the curtains draped along the sides. There is a whole world behind the stage, one that has been dutifully occupied by part of our very own creative student body. If you’d like to see the product of all their hard work, buy tickets to see Newsies Jr. this weekend on GoFan!
