FACTORYVILLE — Despite the mandated school closure, Lackawanna Trail’s drama club have been still rehearsing for the currently-postponed spring play production of “You Can’t Take it With You,” which was originally scheduled for the weekend of April 3 to 5.
Dramatics director Brink Powell and the students have been using the Google Meet platform to run through lines. This idea of online rehearsals came from Trail’s special education director Amie Talerico, who has been conducting her meetings through Google Meet.
“She (Talerico) taught me how to use the program, and since all Lackawanna Trail students have a Google account through the school’s network, it seemed like an ideal platform that the whole cast would have access to,” said Powell.
During the first virtual rehearsal on March 23, the drama club was nine weeks into their 12-week schedule, having started Jan. 9. They keep the virtual rehearsals similar to the regular rehearsals. They rehearse three days per week for three hours. The rehearsal days vary in order to work around the students’ schedule of completing online review assignments and spending time with their families.
Since the students don’t get to practice on a stage, Powell encourages them to create the set outside in their backyards to keep up with their blocking (movement and positioning).
“Virtual rehearsals are great for keeping the students fresh with their lines,” she said. “However, I know for me as an actor, associating my blocking and business (using props) helps us learn and remember my lines.”
The play is a comedic love story about two families: the laid-back Sycamores and the prim and proper Kirbys, with different perspectives on life. Their worlds collide when they meet for a dinner party to celebrate the engagement of Alice Sycamore and Tony Kirby, but on the wrong night.
Trail senior Abby Dalton plays Mrs. Kirby, Tony’s rich and snobby mother.
“She (Mrs. Kirby) is very disappointed in her son’s choice to marry a woman from such a … different family,” said Dalton. “Most of the time she’s found disgusted by the Sycamore family.”
Characters outside either family also bring comedy to the play. Trail senior Liam Trunk speaks with a thick Russian accent to portray the loud, boisterous ballet instructor named Boris Kolenkhov. He uses vocal warmups to prepare the character’s accent.
“I really enjoy being able to perform as this character on the stage because I have always had a passion for foreign languages and accents,” he said.
Causing problems for the Sycamore family is Gay Wellington played by senior and stage manager Rachel Saxton.
“She (Wellington) is a woman who wants to be an actress, but there is one thing that she loves more than theater — alcohol,” she said.
Powell chose this play because as one of her options because she believes that it’s a light, heartwarming show with a great moral. Every summer, she reads scripts and writes proposals to the principal. The options get narrowed down to three, in which the drama club members “express their interest”.
“‘You Can’t Take It With You’ — garnered the most interest from students this year as well as being feasible from a budget and materials standpoint,” said Powell.
Dates of performance will depend on guidance from the state of Pennsylvania and decisions made by Trail’s administration and school board. Currently, Gov. Tom Wolf’s social distancing order extends to April 30.
Powell hopes the students get to perform during the final weekend of May if possible.
“My only hard and fast deadline is the departure of our seniors to college,” she said. “As long as they are still in the area, I am committed to putting up this show whether it’s the last weekend of May as we currently hope, or the middle of August.”
According to Powell, the drama club students showed participation and dedication.
“I can hear their characters in their voices, and they’re still making me laugh even though I’ve heard the show about forty times at this point,” said Powell.
The students have been practicing consistently and memorizing their lines.
“Having online rehearsals was hard at first but we got used to it very quickly,” said Dalton. “Our senior year was cut short but I’m glad that Ms. Powell is finding ways that we can still make our show possible!”
This is Trunk’s first production onstage and last high school production so he said he was disheartened by the fact that he won’t be able to perform his character until the summer.
“But when I think about how much fun it will be to finally have the performance, I gain a renewed energy in working toward the show,” he said.
Saxton mentioned that she feels sad that it will be her last year, and is hoping she will get to perform the play later in this year.
“Drama club is a big part of my life,” she said. “I plan to stay involved in drama in the future whether that in a community theater or a drama club at college.”
Saxton thinks it’s great that the production is still going on despite the pandemic. She finds the online rehearsals to be beneficial.
“Even though it’s not the same as rehearsing face to face on the stage with the props and set, rehearsing via video chat has had its benefits,” she said. “It breaks up my monotonous week, and gives me a chance to catch up with my friends.”
Powell finds the online rehearsals to ease the stress and isolation of the pandemic.
“Having a goal to work towards us all keep up morale and the hope that we will perform the show before our seniors leave,” she said. “My constant refrain to the students is that ‘the show must, and WILL go on!’”
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
