“You Can’t Take It With You” is by the same team that wrote “The Man Who Came To Dinner” (Moss Hart and George Kaufman). Dublin High had a successful run of “The Man Who Came To Dinner” in 2010 (read more…)
Mark your calendars – “You Can’t Take It With You” opens March 29 with performances continuing on March 30, 31 and April 1.
The Dublin High School Drama Club’s annual One Acts provide an opportunity for student directors to take control of play selection, casting, staging and of course directing fellow students (with the guidance of Dublin High Drama Director Bryant Hoex). The 2012 edition of the One Acts opened to an enthusiastic audience, with performances continuing Friday (7pm), Saturday (7pm) and Sunday (2pm).
The success of opening night was due, in part, to the clever selection of one act plays and musical excerpts. The show opened and closed with musical numbers from Title of Show (a musical about two writers writing a musical… about musicals). The choice of musical bookends to the One Acts provided the perfect opening and closing note to a series of plays that combined comedy and drama. Even the funniest selections had moments of drama and insight – most notably David Ives Variations on the Death of Trotsky – very funny yet ultimately melancholic. Making the absurdity of Trotsky work requires perfect timing and performances that never break character – both achieved on opening night.
The student actors played parts beyond their years – for a moment you no longer saw the performers as teenagers but as a middle-aged estranged couple in The Man Who Couldn’t Dance or a night shift doctor helping a mysteriously angelic patient who ultimately helps him in Night Visits or two bored to the extreme customer service employees in The Office.
The one exception to a night of interleaved comedy and drama was provided by the intense A Whole House Full of Babies - which dealt with the anguish of a young mother who had to give up her newborn baby for adoption. Most touching was John Cariani’s Her Heart from the play Almost, Maine which wrapped quirky comedy around the pain of death and loss.
The challenge of a short story or one act play is to effectively create memorable characters and a compelling story in just 10-12 minutes. There isn’t room for anything not central to the theme or story. The student directors who selected the material challenged themselves, the cast and the audience – to great effect.
If you are looking for an evening of entertainment that leaves you laughing, thinking and humming a tune or two on your drive home, then make your way to Dublin High’s Little Theatre this weekend to enjoy the 2012 Dublin High Drama Club One Acts. Ticket prices are $5 for students and $7 for adults, and the show is suitable for all ages. The program for the show is available here. TJ Florist and Gifts, OneDublin.org and Mr. Pickle’s Sandwich Shop sponsored the production.
Dublin High Drama Club One Acts 2012 Opening Night Cast
Dublin High Drama Club One Acts 2012 Closing Night Cast
Dublin High School One Acts 2012 Student Directors
The student directors preparing for opening night took a few minutes to share their thoughts about the upcoming Dublin High One Acts for 2012. The One Acts open Jan 5 at 7pm, continuing Jan 6-7 at 7pm and closing with a matinee on Jan 8 at 2pm. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students.
Nearly 60 students auditioned for roles in Dublin High’s 2012 edition of the popular student-directed one act plays. If two students are listed, it indicates that the part was double-cast. The student directed one acts will be performed Jan 5-8 in the Dublin High School Little Theatre. The student-directed one act plays build on the success of Twelfth Night, the first production in the Dublin High Drama Club 2011-12 season.
Almost, Maine; Directed by Nicole Hamre
East: Alex Cappa
Glory: Melany Scannell
A Whole House Full of Babies; Directed by Kristyn Lue
Sheila: Ashley Bruce, Allie Caterina
Reno: Annie McDonald, Jennifer Strasser
Night Visits; Directed by Nate Bennett
Tom: Ronil Bhatia, Clint Jackman
Emily: Jamella Cross, Makenna Elias
Liz: Kayley Huff, Cassidy Knight
The Man Who Couldn’t Dance; Directed by Ryan McRee
Eric: Lucas Hernandez, Patrick Wallace
Gail: Kristen Koury, Jessica Neideffer
The Office; Directed by Emily Morehead
Woman 1: Hannah Keihl, Madison Lattner
Woman 2: Sharanya Stanley, Jasmine Virk
Variations of the Death of Trotsky; Directed by Sarah Finn
Trotsky: Alex Gregory, Ian Wilcox
Mrs. Trotsky: Lauren Lovato
Ramon: Robby Khan, Cregan Sorvari
[Title of Show] - 2 musical numbers; Directed by Chris Harral
The annual student-directed one-act plays have been announced and auditions are underway. Block your calendar to be in Dublin High School’s Little Theatre during January 5-8, 2012 to be entertained by a diverse assortment of drama, comedy and song.
Dublin High Drama Club Student-directed One Acts 2012:
“The Office” by Kate Hoffower (Dublin High School Student Director: Emily Morehead)
“Night Visits” by Simon Fill (Dublin High School Student Director: Nate Bennett)
“A Whole House Full of Babies” by Sean O’Connor (Dublin High School Student Director: Kristyn Lue)
“Almost, Maine” by John Cariani (Dublin High School Student Director: Nicole Hamre)
“The Man Who Couldn’t Dance” by Jason Katims (Dublin High School Student Director: Ryan McRee)
Excerpts from the musical [Title of Show] by Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell: “Untitled Opening Number” and “Nine People’s Favorite Thing” (Dublin High School Student Director: Chris Harral)
Dublin High’s always popular student-directed one-act plays provide students a unique opportunity to direct other students, while entertaining audiences with a wide-ranging variety of themes and styles.
Viola (disguised as Cesario, and twin to brother Sebastian) loves Duke Orsino, who in turn loves Olivia, who in turn loves Cesario (Viola in disguise). In due course (of course) the twins Cesario (Viola) and Sebastian interchange to the confusion of all. As Viola bemoans in Act II, Scene 2: “O time! thou must untangle this, not I; It is too hard a knot for me to untie!” Dublin High School’s Twelfth Night spins a tangled web of love and mischief, meticulously tied and then unravelled, with flair and comedic timing. And just for good measure, California’s faults entered the fray with a 3.8 magnitude earthquake during the performance (causing a few whispers in the audience, while the performers didn’t miss a beat).
For good measure (and excellent comedic relief), Feste (Olivia’s fool) and companions Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and Maria play Malvolio for the fool (and cruelly so). Sound reminiscent of She’s the Man? Shakespeare’s comedy was the inspiration for the film. Add in swordplay, music, song and artful staging and you have a terrific evening of high school theatre. Actually, forget the “high school” qualifier – the opening night cast treated the full theatre to a wonderful experience.
“If music be the food of love, play on; give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, the appetite may sicken, and so die.” And so the Dublin High Drama Club played on this Fall despite a compressed schedule that required auditions and casting to be completed during the first week of school, and rehearsals immediately following. The complex staging benefited from prior productions (most notably The Importance of Being Earnest and The Man Who Came to Dinner). Like any theatre company, veteran audience members can spot the props of performances past. Thanks to help from a Dublin High alumni, the show also benefited from enhanced lighting (with the number of lights used more than doubled vs. the 2010-11 season).
Most impressive of all was the swordplay – both spontaneous and natural – the performers throwing caution to the wind to great effect.
Wished you’d been there? You have three more chances – Twelfth Night continues Friday and Saturday at 7pm and closes Sunday with a matinée at 2pm. Tickets are $7 for students and $10 for adults. As with other Dublin High productions, double-casting is used for many parts providing more students an opportunity to experience the thrill of a live theatre performance.
With “Twelfth Night” opening night less than a week away (Thursday Oct 20 at 7pm in Dublin High School’s Little Theatre to be precise), the Dublin High Drama Club cast and crew spent a sunny Sunday afternoon hard at work in the Little Theatre. Students and parent volunteers applied finishing touches to the stage, the lighting crew kept everyone in the spotlight and several student actors practiced swordplay in the sunshine outside.
Twelfth Night’s four performances begin on Thursday Oct 20 at 7pm, continuing Friday and Saturday at 7pm and closing Sunday at 2pm. Tickets are $7 for students and $10 for adults. Shakespeare’s popular comedy features intrigue, swordplay, music and slapstick – a perfect mid-term break for students, parents and the community.
Dublin High School’s fall play, Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, will be performed October 20-23, 2011 in the Dublin High School Little Theater. The cast list was announced today after a flurry of back-to-school week auditions and call backs.
As in years past, many roles in the play will be double-cast: characters will each perform twice (either Thurs-Sat or Fri-Sun) and are listed alphabetically; exact performance nights will be determined during the rehearsal process. Read-throughs for the cast begin on Monday. Potential audience members, now is a good time to either re-read the play and/or watch “She’s the Man” (the Amanda Bynes movie inspired by Twelfth Night)
TWELFTH NIGHT CAST LIST
VIOLA: Kristen Koury and Emily Morehead
OLIVIA: Rachel Gregory and Jessica Neideffer
FESTE the Fool: Reed Sights and Patrick Wallace
DUKE ORSINO: Nate Bennett
SIR TOBY BELCH: Chris Harral
MALVOLIO: Ryan McRee and Ian Wilcox
MARIA: Lauren Lovato and Brynne Miller
ANDREW AGUECHEEK: Ronil Bhatia and Nick Sinai
FABIAN: Sarah Finn and Kristyn Lue
SEBASTIAN: Lucas Hernandez
ANTONIO: Ryan McRee and Ian Wilcox
SEA CAPT.: Zach Little and Clyde Ottney
CURIO: Annie McDonald
VALENTINE: Jennifer Strasser
OLIVIA’S SERVANTS (both onstage all 4 nights): Melany Scannell and Elena Valdick
Dublin High School’s first production of the 2011-12 season will be Shakespeare’s classic Twelfth Night. Opening night is Thursday, Oct 20 at 7pm with performances continuing Oct 21-22 at 7pm and Oct 23 at 2pm. Auditions will be held the week of Aug 22.
“If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
That strain again! it had a dying fall:
O, it came o’er my ear like the sweet sound 1
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour!”
