Six seniors lead cast in 2019 Spring Musical
By Kayleigh Rahn
The Tuscola Community High School Drama Club will give a bittersweet farewell to six seniors with the 2019 Spring Musical staging of “Once Upon a Mattress.”
Seniors Sabrina Alcorn, J.D. Barrett, Paul Nau, Caroline Rominger, Ashton Smith, and Anna Spillman have played significant roles for the drama club during their four years at TCHS, and the group will take their final bows this week.
“I feel the last two senior classes are two of the most active classes I’ve had,” drama club sponsor Johanna Steffens said, although it’s evident that the underclassmen are a talented crew with numbers, as a cast of 30 will stage the 2019 spring musical.
The drama club will stage the musical comedy adapted from the Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Princess and the Pea” on Thursday, March 7, Friday, March 8, and Saturday, March 9 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 10 at 2 p.m. in the TCHS cafetorium. Reserved seating can be purchased at the TCHS office, and admission can be purchased at the door as well.
“There are, of course, several leads, but it’s a very good ensemble show,” Steffens explained. “It’s a good show to be in the chorus. There’s a lot of chorus numbers, so if you’re in the chorus you get a lot of stage time.”
Spillman will take on the lead role of Princess Winifred, while Rominger and Smith have strong supporting roles.
“Paul Nau plays the narrator which is perfect for Paul, and in between those major roles there’s still a lot of secondary roles for some of the underclassmen,” she explained. “Caleb Haste is a freshman who plays right alongside Paul Nau, so it’s nice to have a senior and freshman together so the freshman can learn.”
Freshman Logan Wallace plays the king who happens to be mute.
“He has no traditional lines, but he pantomimes,” Steffens explained. “You would think it’d be easier without a speaking role, but he has to portray what he is wanting to say, so there is more preparation for each exchange.”
Recently musicals by the drama club have been generally familiar to community members, but Steffens says this time around several TCHS drama supporters have asked about this show.
“I think the students in the show liked doing something they didn’t know,” she said. “A lot of them are not familiar with it or the Broadway run, so they were very receptive to it. These seniors have always been in shows that they already know pretty well, so I think they are excited to create their own take on their characters.”
The full story can be found in the March 6, 2019 edition of The Tuscola Journal.