In The News: NHS remounting musical ahead of state showcase

Written by: Seth Gordon , Newberg Graphic

The troupe will stage 'The Addams Family' March 23 and 24 to prepare for performance at Oregon Thespians State Festival April 6

Because Newberg High School was chosen to perform "The Addams Family" as the showcase musical for the 2018 Oregon Thespian State Festival in early April, the troupe has been given the rare opportunity to perform a show for the second time in one school year.

But with that once-in-a-career chance has also come a lot of chaos and stress, as many students are not only juggling preparations for that show, but also getting ready to stage their annual spring Shakespeare production, casting for the yearly all-student-led Tournament of Plays and taking their annual pilgrimage to Ashland to catch performances at the Oregon Shakespeare.

If that weren't enough, the performing arts department is also sending about 200 music students to Disneyland for a professional recording experience, a trip it makes every few years.

Even taking all that into account, they say it's all worth it.

"I took students with C.S. Lewis Academy in 2009 and for many of them it was one of those pinnacle-moment experiences," drama teacher Mike McConaughey said. "Performing in front of 1,500 of your peers and an incredibly supportive audience is pretty powerful."

Because even entering to the competition, which is open to all high school programs in the state, was a first for Newberg under McConaughey (and possibly ever), putting on the show the first time came with extra levels of both energy and determination.

"I never felt like we couldn't do it," said Sam Sinicki, who plays Lurch. "Everyone had the attitude that if we're going to do it, then let's do it."

The first run of "The Addams Family" was also thoroughly enjoyable for the troupe, which has helped offset any added stress.

"I don't think any of us are ready to say goodbye," Sinicki said. "All of us wanted it. There's not an ounce of us that was like, 'No, maybe not.' So once we found out, it felt right in a way."

Finally getting the news that they had won was nearly an overwhelming experience for many students, too.

"It was like a weight lifted off of our shoulders," student director Jessica Samples said. "I don't even know how to describe it. It was just so liberating and exciting. I think some people were freaking out because it's adding a lot more stress, but it was just amazing."

The troupe did not begin preparations to remount the show until after completing the run of the winter comedy "Noises Off," as McConaughey did not want those performances to take a back seat.

Since taking it back up, a lot of work has been put into the music and choreography of the show, while McConaughey has been using more time during his two Shakespeare classes to rehearse for the upcoming production of "The Tempest" in April.

"Otherwise, we wouldn't survive," McConaughey said. "Typically, we'd be all 'Tempest' after school now and not as much rehearsal time in class. Every moment we're basically splitting the stage for either 'Addams' or 'Tempest' or concerts or whatever else."

Sinicki said that so far, there has been a lot of "muscle memory" of the musical for the cast, which features Braedon Sunnes as Gomez, Molly Cox as Morticia, Sapitan as Wednesday, Matt Goodbody as Pugsley, Sinicki as Lurch, Camryn Shulz as Grandma Addams, Ethan Olson as Wednesday's love interest, Mal, as well as Tess Hartley and William Lamping as Mal's parents.

"I think the hardest part is that we know it's coming, so it's more fun for us and we laugh really hard when we know some bits are coming, even if we've heard them 1,000 times," Sinicki said.

The troupe filmed one of its performances in the fall as part of the submission process and reviewing it was a new but odd experience, according to Shulz.

Samples added that the focus hasn't been on making any major changes or corrections, but more on cleaning things up, and that the cast and crew have embraced the chance to put more work into it.

"It's been great to get that opportunity because after a show normally, you feel like 'I could have done this better or done that better,'" Sinicki said. "So to actually be able to do that is really cool."

Several students, including Sinicki and Shulz, attended the state festival last year and were in awe of the atmosphere for the two student productions that were showcased, adding to their anticipation.

"The audience is going to be insane," Shulz said. "It's 1,500 people that all understand all the work that you put into it, so it's probably the most, at least at a high school level, by far responsive audience you'll have."

As part of their preparations, the troupe will stage the show at 7 p.m. March 23-24 and is hoping for sellouts to better approximate the atmosphere they will have in Salem. Cost is $6 for students and seniors and $10 for adults.

"We're doing these two shows for us to get ready but also to fund our program," McConaughey added. "It's not cheap to get us all down there and to remount the show. That's the hope and plan."