The WG Drama Department took on the awesome biopic play by John Logan called Never the Sinner. It is a challenging script and story that offered a lot of opportunity to the students on stage and off to stretch themselves.
The cast of WG Drama's production of "Never the Sinner"
The play showed Oct 19th, 20th, and 21st in the Jerry R. Knight Auditorium at 7:00pm. They played for great houses each night and recieved standing ovations for all three performances. It was a huge success for the department. We also had the show adjudicated for State Conference in Jan.
The Cast and Crew of "Never the Sinner"...acting a bit goofy
Poster design by Reece Hohle in Tech Theater Class
"This was the best show I've seen on our stage in my 23 years working on this campus!"
- Dr. Jon Clark
The CAST
Elliot Williams………….....Nathan Leopold
Christian Ragain………......Richard Loeb
Trevor Zink………………..Clarence Darrow
Aidan Kurtz…………….....Bob Crowe
Ethan Whitaker…………...Reporter 1, Sgt Gortland,
Dr. White
Basil Sessen……………....Reporter 2, Germaine,
Therapist
Danny Chura……………...Reporter 3, Therapist
Rehearsals on the Auditorium stage with lights but no set.
The actors pictured here...(Ethan Whitaker as the Baliff, Christian and Elliot) were beginning to feel the pressure of opening night approaching.
Elliot started every show with an opening monologue
GETTING THE SHOW READY!
Rehearsal took place in the Drama room at the start until the show was blocked and then we moved into the auditorium and began working under some lights. A week before the show we got our set up and the cast began to navigate the staging for real.
We had a Call Board for the show outside of the theater office and the students involved in the show could always check with the schedules and scene breakdowns to see if they were called to a rehearsal.
This was a great group of students we assembled to put on this play. They worked very hard to get stuff done ahead of schedule and that helped us get the show polished in the last stretch of the rehearsals. Memorizing the script was tough on everyone.
The backstage crew rocked it out and held everything together. They collaborated well and made great theater!
The poster in this picture was designed by Aidan Kurtz and was the poster we used to begin the PR campaign on campus.
This was a great group of students we assembled to put on this play. They worked very hard to get stuff done ahead of schedule and that helped us get the show polished in the last stretch of the rehearsals. Memorizing the script was tough on everyone.
The backstage crew rocked it out and held everything together. They collaborated well and made great theater!
The poster in this picture was designed by Aidan Kurtz and was the poster we used to begin the PR campaign on campus.
Aidan Kurtz also set up a display case for the show outside of the library to give additional info on the trial and some of the characters in the play.
THE PROGRAM
Elliot Willams (STO, Leopold) decided to get us a real Playbill for the show. He sold an advertisement to Webster U for the back cover that paid for the entire program. This was a first for us. We had a full color program and we got wonderful color ads for our upcoming productions.
Each actor and designer in the show also received a bio and headshot.
VERY COOL!!!
A note from the director...(taken from the program)
We are thrilled and honored to have the opportunity to produce this
amazing play at Webster Groves High School this October as a part of our Fall
season. John Logan's carefully researched and clinically penned 1985 play
"Never the Sinner," was a breakthrough work for this critically
acclaimed biopic playwright. Tonight we present a bit of the life, the initial
encounter, the budding relationship and ultimately the horrific crime committed
by two of Chicago’s most famous murderers. Two very rich and unfortunately
unsupervised 18 year-old boys named Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb.
Christian Ragain and Elliot Williams at the start of the show
The play renders a visceral picture of the mid-1920’s. The exploration
of such themes as maturity, rebellion, privilege, celebrity and fame are especially
relevant today, and this play illustrates how these same themes rang true less
than 100 years ago as well. The biopic nature of the play also teaches us about
an important moment in the judicial system’s battle with the death penalty and
two sides of that ongoing national debate. We must not forget that even amongst
the darkest of details surrounding this trial, at the core this play offers up a
complex and interesting love story.
The playwright makes direct criticism of any culture that does not accept the diversity of the youth and the rights of the L.G.T.B.Q. community to express themselves without fear, and it looks at what can happen when young adults explore the disturbing philosophies of supremacy without reasoning, logic, adult influence or guidance. As we like to say…this was a perfect storm, and the results of this storm was the brutal killing of a 10 year old boy named Bobby Franks.
The playwright makes direct criticism of any culture that does not accept the diversity of the youth and the rights of the L.G.T.B.Q. community to express themselves without fear, and it looks at what can happen when young adults explore the disturbing philosophies of supremacy without reasoning, logic, adult influence or guidance. As we like to say…this was a perfect storm, and the results of this storm was the brutal killing of a 10 year old boy named Bobby Franks.
The story does take us into the courtroom this evening. You will meet
the attorneys and you will hear from testimony pulled directly from the actual
trial. You will hear both sides of the debate. Theater is here to teach us by
holding up a mirror and asking us to decide what to do. What is the power of
precident? When are laws needing be changed? When does someone cross the line
and loose their right to life?
What is the recourse of the state to punish the worst crimes of mankind? The timeline of the story is told out of order, and the playwright layers the scenes with extreme care and empathy toward these two boys.
The script is one of the best biopic courtroom dramas written for the American audiences in the last 20 years and we hope you dig it as much as we do. Sit back, but don’t even try to relax…you are about to witness the case that coined the phrase “the crime of the century” and you need to stay on your toes.
The last moment in the play..."Life plus 99 years"
What is the recourse of the state to punish the worst crimes of mankind? The timeline of the story is told out of order, and the playwright layers the scenes with extreme care and empathy toward these two boys.
The script is one of the best biopic courtroom dramas written for the American audiences in the last 20 years and we hope you dig it as much as we do. Sit back, but don’t even try to relax…you are about to witness the case that coined the phrase “the crime of the century” and you need to stay on your toes.
The three reporters (Ethan Whitaker, Basil Sessen, and Danny Chura)
PR Marketing
Aidan Kurtz (also played Crowe)took on management of the marketing for the show nd worked with Mr. Schaefer on several ways to get the word out.
We spent a lot of time, energy and manpower on our advertising campaign for this show. We did our normal marketing, but we also added a couple of new things we hadn't done before. Video ads in the hallways, Snapchating pics, and Instagram shares. We also had some extra coverage by the ECHO team which always helps sell tickets to the shows.
Banners were chalked by three students after school and during tech theater class.
We chalk all of the banners in the blackbox. We use to paint them and last year we discovered that it was faster and easier to chalk them. We get more banners made in less time.
A favorite poster...designed by Li Hopson in 1st hour Tech Theater Class
The senior display case is always a group effort. This was assembled by several kids in tech theater, some thespians that also helped with box office...
and the headshots were shot by Yusuf randolph and Caroline Gillows.
The T-shirt designs are created in technical theater class as an assignment and the cast and crew votes on their favorite. That design then gets silk-screened on a color shirt by Mrs. Genovese and T's4U.
The winning t-shirt design was created by Reece Hohle.
We also used our instagram account and sent out a ton of pictures and videos about the upcoming show. This was done by members of the cast and crew with Aidan Kurtz running the PR sweep.
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Simon Moore (senior) made us a video teaser for the show
You can watch here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP9FXPxAvGo
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The CREW
Most of the designers and the backstage crew
for the WG Drama Production of "Never the Sinner"
Connor Hanneken……...Stage Manager
Zia Massena…………….ASM
Katherine Ransden…….2nd Asm (not pictured here)
Lauren Brown................Director's assistant (for dress rehearsals)
Ethan Ryan……………..Lighting Designer
Ethan Ryan……………..Lighting Designer
Sam Habecker………….Lighting Crew
Eva Berger……………...Lighting Crew
Amelia Griesedieck…….Lighting Crew
Samuel Toskin………….Sound Designer
Emerald Habecker……..Sound Engineer
Charlie Richardson…….Sound Engineer
Tea Gardner…………….Costume Designer
Joí Johnson…………….Wardrobe Ast.
Eli Bent………………….Props Sheriff
Christian Ragain……….Score Composer
Aidan Kurtz……………..Lead PR Manager
Reece Hohle…………...T-shirt Design (not pictured)
Kate Becker…………….Club Advertisement Powerpoint
slide design (not pictured)
Box office Manager.........Suzanna Kessler, Yusuf Randolph and Meredith Grimm-Howell
(Not pictured)
(Not pictured)
Set Construction - 1st and 2nd Hour Tech
Theater classes
Backdrop and Banner designs - Marlena Henley , Reece
Hohle, and Sean Mullins
Poster Designs - 1st and 2nd hour Tech Theater
Classes and Aidan Kurtz
SOUND DESIGN
Sammy Toskin (Sound Designer) created a beautiful landscape of sound effects and music from the era that transported the audience from location to location in this non-linear story. He engineered all sorts of FX and they added tension and a real kick to the show.
He also lead a team of sound. They worked extremely hard on this show and got almost perfect sound two nights in a row. The audience heard everything the actors said and the effects went off without a hitch!
SOUND DESIGN
Sammy Toskin (Sound Designer) created a beautiful landscape of sound effects and music from the era that transported the audience from location to location in this non-linear story. He engineered all sorts of FX and they added tension and a real kick to the show.
He also lead a team of sound. They worked extremely hard on this show and got almost perfect sound two nights in a row. The audience heard everything the actors said and the effects went off without a hitch!
The sound team working on Elliot's mic before the show.
Charlie, Emerald and Sammy rocked it out!
Mic checks were essential to getting good sound in this show. The sound team had the actors talking and jumping in their mics to make sure they wouldn't give feedback or make popping noises during the run. Our mics are now 11 years old and we have taken great care of them every year. We need them almost every time we do a play or musical in the auditorium.
Emerald joined us on this show and worked sound for the first time!
We used 7 lapel mics for this show
SCORE
Christian Ragain (Composer, also played Loeb) composed a score that played under many pivitol scenes in the play to add more atmosphere, to create more tension, and to fill in the silence with dramatic tones. He worked extremely hard at writing the pieces, but he also timed them out with the dialogue to make sure they worked exactly with the scene they had rehearsed.
Christian (Loeb) and Aidan (Crowe) during the intense interrogation
The original score, with motifs for different characters added so much to the whole piece we created. The music under the scenes helped with the flow of the scene...almost felt like were watching a movie at times.
Ethan Ryan (Designer)
created a wonderfully rich and colorful atmosphere for part of the show and a stark and sterile courtroom for part of the show. This divide worked well to build the drama of the story and provide clear distinctions between interior and exterior scenes.
It also added to the emotional portion of the story when the two boys would share more intimate moments alone.
Elliot as Leopold and Christian as Loeb in the jail yard watching a baseball game
Ethan (lighting designer) used different palettes for the outside and inside scenes.
Ethan Whitaker as the Baliff..."All rise"
The lighting plot also utilized quite a bit of back-lighting
to add dimension to the scene and more depth to the shallow staging of the piece.
The 3 Reporters relayed the voice of the media throughout the play
Ethan Whitaker (as Dr. White) being questioned on the stand by Bob Crowe (Aidan Kurtz)
The stage pictures were able to create with such a limited palette was impressive.
We were able to make the shifts in emotion and energy quickly with the light plot. The scenes that required a bit more thrill used the side lights and the richer tones we had hung. Of course with this one we needed red for the murder scene.
The isolated downstage areas allowed for great splits of the stage for separate locations at once.
Crowe (Aidan Kurtz) on his side of the courtroom
pleading with the judge for death!
Trevor Zink as Darrow working out his defense arguments on his side...stage left
Ethan got lots of help on the hang, focus and gels from a small lighting crew.
They were Sam Haebecker, Eva berger, Wick H., Amelia, and Mr. Schaefer
We had a couple of fantasy scenes in this play and the extreme lighting and underlying sound FX we used really help to create the creepy and sometimes sad moments for the audience
We used a camera flash sound effect and flash of bright lights to show when Loeb was dreaming of becoming famous in Act I. It was a great moment each time. The effect was left out of Act II once they were being tried.
We created some neat lighting moments going into the jail cells by combing a jail cell closing sound effect and the instant lights up with a gobo. This was mostly done in the Act II.
The timing was everything, and when it lined up with the sound FX it really had a cinematic feel to the scene changes. Conner Hanneken (SM) worked with Ethan Ryan in the booth to get a smooth show called for the techies.
COSTUME DESIGN
Tea Gardner (Costumer Designer) worked many hours getting the clothing together for this show. She also designed and made a full 1920's style dress from scratch for Reporter #2/Germaine (played by Basil). Mr. Schaefer and Tea went shopping at Joanne's and modeled the dress off one that we liked but that didn't work out.
Back stage was a buzz every night around 5:30 as the cast and crew worked quickly to get costumes on, get mics attached, and to be onstage for mic checks by 6:00-6:15.
Tea changed the color scheme and added some great details in the sleeves and with expesive looking trims. She also added a wonderful ruffle along the bottom. It looked awesome and bsil rocked it on stage!
Tea and Basil Backstage before the show Basil as Germaine on the stand
The other actors all looked great in their suits and vests.
We also used some trench coats, a police coat, and lab coats.
The play is set in the 1920's and she pulled a lot of the pieces from our fabulous stock. The actors officially got into their costumes first dress rehearsal and they looked great. A few alterations and off they went.
The team included Jessie Martin and Joi Johnson. They helped with fast changes and getting everything into the actor's hands and then back on the rack after the show is over.
Everything was well organized and prepped before each run. The actors felt safe with Tea at the helm.
Getting the reporters, especially Ethan W. into the different jackets quickly was a challenge, but we got the scene changes down to a couple of seconds and the audience never had to wait too long to get into the next scene.
The mulitple characterizations that take place in the show add to its charm. Ethan W. played the most characters with four.
Joi on the move!
We also added some pocket watch chains and some bow ties to some of the guys.
Leopold's famous glasses we found at Johnny Brock's and they looked almost identical to the real pair. We bought the last two just in case.
Trevor as Darrow giving Loeb a hard time
We also photo archived all of the costumes for a potential future showings...
SET DESIGN
The set was kept simple and was designed by Mr. Schaefer and put together by tech theater classes and some volunteers during the day.
Sam Haybecker working on assembling the facade pieces for the set
Special thanks to all of the people who helped cut assemble and paint little along the way. This was one of the most simplistic sets we've done in a while for a WG Drama production. It was refreshing to see something a bit more abstract.
The entire set consists of one 4 X 8 platform, three step units, four chairs, two tables, a flag on a stand, a hanging backdrop, two downstage free standing proscenium backdrops, and a steering wheel.
The set for WG Drama's production of "Never the Sinner"
Because we planned to have the show adjudicated for the state conference and possibly nationals, we kept the stage simple and easy to travel. We have learned with each show we bring to a conference what are strengths are when we travel a show.
"You're a cold bastard!"...
This play is all about the acting. We were challenged to tell a difficult and complex story with layers of emotional difficulty. The set and lighting plot were kept simple. There are quite a few cues, but that is to be expected.
THE BACKDROP DESIGN
The cityscape design was painted by three artists that are currently in tech class or have taken it already. They are also very involved in the WG Art Club. These three are extremely talented and have done amazing work in class.
The backdrop was inspired by a picture of the city in 1927 that we found on google images. The artists used that and created the outline for the tops of the buildings first and then then began to fill in the buildings and create some wonderful textures in the image.
Sean Mullins was the one who began to drip the paint along the bottom to create the melting effect. This was a wonderful addition to the play.
The black and white city was constantly looming in the background.
Reece Hohle, Marlena Henley, and Sean Mullins all worked together and in two days created this beautifully dark and eerie 1920's Chicago skyline. We backlit the drop with two Source four Juniors pointing up from the far upstage angles.
PROPERTIES
Eli spent many hours creating the props for this show and he got a little help from tech theater.
The props had to be made to look like they were from the 1920's and although there were not a ton of them, they were needed in several scenes. Mostly we had to make sure we always had enough newspapers. That was the biggest prop in the show.
Loeb and Leopold reading about themselves in the paper
We also had to have several letters created. Postcards from the girls outside writing to Loeb and a letter of admission that Loeb writes but Leopold reads to us. The reporters all had notebooks with pencils.
Aidan kept the extra pair of glasses on his side of the stage for this one scene with Leopold
"I think you dropped these..."
The lawyers had briefcases with various papers for the court scenes in them. Eli had to create fake Nietzche books for a scene as well.
The therapists (Basil with Christian here) both had clipboards with their forms and pencils
CONCESSIONS
We kept the concessions simple.
Betty Roberts and Zack Smith sold Gus'd pretzels and brownies during intermission to raise money for the China Trip.Pat Voss and the Alumni Office sold water at our box office to help raise money for the auditorium.
BACK STAGE
Suzanna Kessler and Meredith Grimm-Howell would come over quite often after their rehesarsal for "Crimes of the Heart" finished. They also provided feedback during notes final dress.
Others also joined us for final dress rehearsals to give the actors some test audiences during dress rehearsals. Some tech students, a few thespians and some other drama kids too!
Back stage is always a fun place to be when a show is running
The energy on this show was great and everyone got along. That always helps collaboration and in the end the work is always better.
After the show an MVT (Most Valuable Techie) was chosen
It was Charlie!
This was a great tech team and they got the job done by deadline!
Dr Clark always picks up the bill for our cast/crew party at Steak n Shake...
WE REALLY APPRECIATE THE SUPPORT!!!
We go after every Friday night mainstage show to celebrate our work
CONGRATS ON ANOTHER GREAT SHOW WG DRAMA!!!!
GO SEE A PLAY!!!
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