2018 SLC DRAMA CLUB "HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL"

Disney musical is coming alive this week on the St. Lawrence Central School stage. The school’s Drama Club is staging “Disney’s High School Musical” at 7:30 p.m. today and 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the high school auditorium. In the production, Troy Bolton (Logan Peer), Gabriella Montez (Savannah Adams) and the students of East High must deal with issues of first love, friends and family while balancing their classes and extracurricular activities — much like any normal school. Troy is the most popular student at East High and star of the school’s basketball team. Gabriella is the new girl in school: pretty, shy and smart, who tries to blend in and eventually becomes Troy’s romantic counterpart. They cause an upheaval when they both decide to audition for the high school musical being led by Drama Club teacher, Ms. Darbus (teacher Kathryn Graham). Cast members say it was a fun production to prepare for. “It’s sort of like ‘Grease,’” said Noah Rijinders, a foreign exchange student from the Netherlands who plays one of the basketball team jocks. “It’s quite a bit of fun,” Mr. Peer said. This is the second spring musical for Mr. Peer, a junior. He also participated in last year’s production of “Anne of Green Gables.” “I graduated to (be) lead this year,” he said. Mr. Peer said he was originally cast in another role until the student who was going to play Troy had to back out from the production. “It’s been really busy. I was supposed to be Troy’s best friend. There’s less singing and dancing and more acting. There’s definitely more lines, but it’s easier than last year,” when cast members spoke old English, he said. As the lead, Mr. Peer estimates he’s on the stage about 90 percent of the time. “He’s a popular guy. He’s a basketball star. Everyone looks up to him,” Mr. Rijinders said. Mr. Rijinders said his own role is minor. “I don’t really have lines. I just do my own thing. I’m part of the basketball team and he’s the captain. I’m just doing dancing and singing,” he said. Both students said things started out slow when rehearsals began in January, but have steadily picked up. “It was all slow (in the beginning), I would go home and practice songs and dances,” Mr. Rijinders said. But rehearsals that originally went until about 5 p.m. stretched out to 7 or 8 p.m., and more recently have been more in the 9 or 9:30 p.m. range by the time they’re done for the day. Sometimes that’s involved “stress and coffee,” Mr. Peer said. In between rehearsals and classes, the cast members have managed to keep up on their schoolwork and participate in other activities. They try to get homework done as much as possible during classes or study halls and they’re also preparing for the spring sports season. Mr. Peer said he plans to play lacrosse. “I’m playing lacrosse directly after this. It’s perfect. (The musical) came up between seasons,” he said. Mr. Rijinders played soccer in the fall and he plans to play baseball this spring. Both say they’re ready for Friday and Saturday. “It’s definitely come together,” Mr. Peer said. The cast and crew arecomprised of students in grades six through 12. In addition to Mr. Peer and Mr. Rijinders, cast members include Jonathan Fraser, Cole Zenger, Matt Horan, Alexis Tobin, Kayle McCarthy, Hannah Richards, Ruby Passon, Lacey Gibson, Lyndsay Bond, Emma Sutton, Eliza Sullivan, MaCaleb Earle, Huy Huynh, Margarita Miner, Xavier Bressett, Chantel McCarthy, Kaitlyn Montgomery, Hope Kilcollins, Stephani Sherwood, Jillian Crites and Breanna Anderson. Also, Valentina Charraga de Leon, Gabby Razis, Britney Green-Woodard, Kaleigh Recore, Jasmine Crump, Julia Monacelli, Savannah Adams, Elaina Sokalski, Marissa Kelley, Ramsey Tozier, Rachyl Beckstead, Crystal Green-Woodard, Renae Kelley, Emma Stevens, Hannah Henry and Cathleen Bell. Teachers in the cast include Alyssa Ashlaw, Erica Follette, Carole Shattuck, Kathryn Graham, Christian Remick and Alaina Goodrich. The backstage crew includes Madison Mahady, Hannah Yandoh, Shannon McCargar, Daisy Bissonette, Morgan Cheney, John Snyder, Veronica LaShomb, Emma Sutton, Kathleen Bellinger, Randi Mere, Moriah Barksdale, Aleea LaRock, Emily Grow, Kristi Kruseck, Dawson Searles, Michael Klotz, Chloe Brunke and Cailey Hewlett.