JCHS students prepare for the spring musical

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By Reese Lorton | JCHS Roar for the Jersey County Journal

Preparations for this year’s musical, Seussical, are fully underway at JCHS as the theater department moves quickly into show week. The cast and crew have worked tirelessly to pull the show together in spite of the challenging nature of the production. The behind-the-scenes planning of this show has required the musical pit, cast, and crew to work simultaneously in order to blend all of their roles into one seamless performance.

Auditions for Seussical were held on October 30th, November 1st, and November 2nd of 2023. Rehearsals quickly followed, beginning in the last week of November, momentarily pausing for Winter Break, and then running through January 6th to this week.

“Being in theater is a huge commitment, we practice six days a week,” explained freshman Emma Beauchamp. “Once we get closer to the show more hours are added on to practices.”

A six days per week time commitment would be overwhelming for any student, but many students working on Seussical claimed that they did not necessarily dislike the long hours.

“…Despite how grueling it sounds, it is absolutely necessary,” stated senior Maddie Harp. “Every single second spent in rehearsal is spent improving the show and preparing for an audience, so I’m grateful for the long hours.”

One of the most vital, yet least discussed, aspects of the musical is the work of the musical pit. The musical pit is directed by JCHS band director Mrs. Bittles and consists of many dedicated students who bring the music of the production to life.

“Like most shows, the music is tricky,” claimed sophomore keyboard player Kiley Pickel. “Musicals are known for key changes, which are not fun at all. On average, there are probably four key changes for each main song. There is so much music to learn in a small window of time, meaning you have to spend a decent amount of time practicing at home.”

The sheer amount of music in this show set it apart from past productions for many theater students.

“There is a whole lot more music than dialogue, there’s not a lot of talking,” explained junior cast member Molly Mellas. “I have one line and the rest is singing.”

Despite the challenge that the volume of music posed for the pit, the instrumentalists believe that their hard work will pay off and are excited to see it come to fruition.

“My experience with this show has been great,” senior trumpet player Eli Hetzel stated. “I love playing the music, creating stronger bonds with the pit members, and watching Mr. Beauchamp’s cast put on a great show.”

Furthermore, the work of the crew in all areas of production from set design, lighting, costuming, staging, and more has proved again to be the key to preparing for a successful show. The Head Stage Manager for Seussical is senior Ellis Benner who has managed the crew and, at times, some of the cast for the entirety of the preparation process.

“A lot of my job is designing and making sure the set is complete, making props, and overall directing what happens backstage during a show,” remarked Ellis. “It’s a really stressful job, to say the least.”

The crew basically handles every aspect of the show that is not the acting, singing, music, or dancing.

“During the show, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes. We have tech crew up in the booth handling lights and sound, assistants in the hall ready to fix any mic issues, and dressing room managers all over the place to help out with costume changes,” explained Ellis. “Not to mention the stage managers are always backstage watching to manage people and the scene changes, and the stage crew members backstage and in the hall to be in the scene changes.”

The true challenge of the crew is to ensure that the audience does not think of them, they have to do their jobs flawlessly and in tandem with each other in order to keep the focus on the performance.

Overall, the students working on Seussical have dedicated an intense amount of time, energy, and care into the production and are excited for audiences to experience it.

“I hope for the audience to be full of laughter and leave with the knowledge that we highschoolers worked very hard to make this production happen, not just the cast, but everyone involved,” stated Kiley.