Middle School Students Put On Mystery Extravaganza
By Jack Ballard
Source - The River Current News - www.rivercurrentnews.com - May 15, 2008
The Tolt Middle School multipurpose room was, at best, muffled pandemonium. Young actors were assembling for play practice Wednesday evening last week. At one end of the room, a few handsome young men – hands shoved in their pockets – shuffled by a folded-down lunchroom table that was quite literally covered with girls, and their infectious amalgam of talk and laughter. Of course the boys pretended to barely notice the table with 24 legs and arms gesticulating all at one time. Ah, it was just the “drama queens” warming up for their night on stage.
On the other end of the room a few other boys and girls sat on the edge of the stage in anticipation of
their moment “under the kliegs.” Behind them a crew of theater techies and their parents were preparing to paint unfinished backdrops.
Over in the corner a few adults were huddled, talking over the night’s first plans of attack. Entering the room, stage left, director Chuck Young was soon engulfed by a wave of pre-practice questioners. “What about costumes? Which play would start tonight? Johnny can’t make it tonight. Do you know who’s bringing the other paint and brushes?”
He seems to take it in stride, answering each question and nodding his head in acknowledgement
as he moves to the front of the stage. He’s done this before. Chuck shouts out for everyone to line up by the stage. The room quiets down as the actors move forward, forming one long line of youthful anticipation. All eyes move toward Chuck as he begins “the speech.”
It was not loud, but it was sincere and to the point. “Time’s getting short,” he intones. “And we’ve got no time to be fooling around anymore. You’re responsible for your lines and your own cues. If you don’t pay attention, and don’t come in at the right time, there’s gonna be an awkward silence and some funny looks. I’m not going to bail you out. Next week is dress rehearsal! You gotta get focused. I
haven’t had to cancel a show…yet.” He looks down the line at all 30 of them. “We are doing two shows, but if you don’t work hard to pull them together, I can’t guarantee we’ll do ‘em both on opening
night. It’s up to you. Now, let’s get going!”
Later on, Chuck confides that “every year we get to this part, close to putting on a show. I get frazzled and frustrated because a lot of kids don’t put as much effort into it as they could, and so ‘the speech’ I gave tonight…I give every year.”
When asked if it does come together, he smiles and says, “It always comes together. The show always goes on. I’ve never had to cancel one yet.” Then he grins. Chuck introduces Emilie Humberstone, Diedre Greenfield, Alexa Wehmeyer, and Lauren Ellsworth. “These three girls…this is their third year.” (Recounting heads.) “Four…these four girls.” (Laughter) “I’ve been working too much!
Anyway, these girls are the best! This is their third year, so next year they’re going to be going to the high school.
Looking to the back of the room Chuck calls out to some girls by the window, “Okay…Emilie Humberstone! Diedre Greenfield! Alexa Wehmeyer! Lauren Ellsworth!” (Pointing out the interviewer to the girls.) “He’s gonna want to ask you some questions.” They can give you the best idea what it’s been like, so, fire away…”
Q: “So, Emily, what got you guys…why did you guys come here?”
Emily: “I LIKE ACTING!”
Q: “So, how did you hear about it?”
Emily: “Through this boy, I think. At my school.”
Q: “So, Alexa, why did you get into Cascade Community Theatre?”
Alexa: “Guess I always really liked acting. And so I was trying to find a way to try and do acting, so I saw it in a school flyer and I thought, OK, I’ll try out for this.”
Q: “Before you did this acting, what kind of acting did you do? Class plays or like that?”
Alexa: “Not really, I just always wanted to do it.”
Q: “What about you , Diedre?”
Diedre: “I did the leads in a lot of the class plays at elementary school and I thought I’d like to continue with that, but there wasn’t any class play at middle school. I thought this would be a good way for me to stay involved in drama.”
Q: “So, are all of these kids motivated?”
Lauren: “I would say most are pretty much motivated to do their best.”
The girls had to get back to practice. They run back to their practice group. The sounds in the room start getting louder…and then just a little bit louder.
Artistic Director, Jeff Zuber invites the public to this year’s production with this short promotional piece:
The Cascade Community Theatre is funded by grants from the Duvall Cultural Commission, and relies entirely on many tireless and dedicated volunteers to make these productions come to life.
Photos By Jack Ballard
Cascade Community Theatre’s “drama queens” acting up in preparation for play practices Wednesday night in the Tolt Middle School cafeteria.
Young actors “take ten” between practice sessions at TMS.