Cast of Something Rotten, this year's musical by Monsignor McCoy High School, on stage at the Medicine Hat College Eresman Theatre.--NEWS PHOTO SAMANTHA JOHNSON
reporter@medicinehatnews.com
Something Rotten, the musical Monsignor McCoy High School is putting on this year, opens Thursday. The first part of this week saw the cast and crew spending long days at the Medicine Hat College Eresman Theatre perfecting lighting and sound and having dress rehearsals.
Grade 11 student Alyssa Bernhart is not only the choreographer but also one of the dancers in the show. She started taking dance lessons when she was three years old and, before quitting this year, was a competitive dancer with LimeLitez.
“With competitive dance you aren’t the one thinking of the dances so it’s a bit of a different side.”
Bernhart has enjoyed the experience and is excited to see everything coming together.
Assistant director Hannah Maser is in Grade 10 and has always been interested in drama. As a kid she did lots of acting but likes being on the other side of things as well.
“We’ve had lots of fun and put time into making the show so it should be good.”
Her favourite part has been watching all the great dance numbers.
Artistic director Jaynes Boksteyn has been responsible for deciding how the set will look, along with creating a few choreography pieces and blocking (deciding where actors go and how scenes look). The main layout of the stage has a set of stairs in the middle with a door off to the side.
Different sets include South Street London, Shakespeare’s house, and the main character’s (Nick) house.
“They are Shakespeare stairs. We use them for creating different levels, whether it’s in the dancing or in monologues.”
Thursday afternoon will be the first performance for Grade 8 and 9 classes from Notre Dame. Public performances are on Nov. 25 and 26 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 each.
