The WGHS Theater Department was thrilled to return to this wonderful play by Neil Simon. The play offers so much for the actor and provides a guaranteed good time for the audience. This was one of several productions of this play on the Webster Groves Campus in the last 40 years, but we would like to think it was our best one yet.
Poster design by Bex Derr
AUDITIONS
We held auditions for both of the main stage shows at the beginning of the year. The shows were announced the previous Spring before we left for Summer Break, so the students had the Summer to get familiar with the material.
The display case outside the library
We held Rumors auditions second so that we made sure to hear anyone who could sing first. The musical and play were both small cast shows, and that made it easier to fill the parts. Even after we got the musical cast sorted out, Mrs. Dickens still had a lot of students to choose from. Like all auditions, the right actor always shows up, delivers a solid performance, and the actors that get picked for roles end up fitting their parts perfectly. We were very fortunate to have so many talented kids in the department this year. The cast of Rumors was perfect!
A rehearsal in the Black Box,
trying to envision the room and furniture
The audition consisted of monologue work from cuttings that were posted ahead of time. We also had the actors perform some scene work that they had less time to prepare. We needed to test chemistry with some of the actors since they all play couples/friends.
REHEARSALS
We worked on the show from Sept to Nov and met for rehearsal at least 3 times a week (sometimes a bit more). Mrs. Dickens immediately got the show on its feet and began blocking scenes. This farce has a lot of comic bits in it and lots of movement.
Mrs. Dickens (Director) and Thea Macon (SM) keeping an eye on the actors
We always start with the basics...where are you standing or sitting? When do you get up, and where do you go next? Having a stage manager with us on the journey always helps get the details recorded and they tend to also start all of the necessary lists for props and costumes. Thea Macon was great, she provided wonderful support to the cast and the director during the process.
We stayed in the Black Box through September and moved into the Auditorium right at the beginning of Oct. We figured out a good floorplan and the Technical Theater class were eager to get started.
In the Auditorium before the set loaded in
Bex Derr (Casssie) sits in the house and waits for her entrance. This is the first major role Bex has played on the Aud stage. Rumors is an ensemble show, so each actor has to carry a certain amount of the story. They all have separate plot lines that all get woven together. Bex made a transformation into Cassie and delivered a very strong performance.
Julian, Mia ad Kaya working on a scene in Act I
The show has many French scenes and they all move very fast. There are always characters coming and going. The actors really had to learn the whole story to keep it all straight and to make sure they told it in the right order.
Mia, Nolan and Conner (Ken) working on a scene in Act I
Willow (Cookie) waits to make her entrance from SL
The cast was made up of students from every grade level. Several had never acted in a play before. We are so proud of the cast and all of the work they did to get the show on its feet. It is s full two act play and in the end, they made it look easy. Felt like a sitcom you'd see on TV.
THE CAST
Chris Gorman……...…………………………………… Kaya Wolf
Ken Gorman……………...…………………… Connor Ledbetter
Claire Gantz.…...………………………………………… Mia Willis
Leonard Gantz…………………………………………. Julian Pool
Cookie Cusack………………….…………………Willow Sinclair
Erine Cusack ………………….………….……… Mark Ellsworth
Cassie Cooper …………..………….……………….………Bex Derr
Glenn Cooper…………..………………………Nolan Harhausen
Officer Welch……………….………………….…Kalon Robinson
Officer Pudney……………….………………………... Marc Horn
Officer Renolds …………………..………..………… Adam Poole
THE CREW
Producer/Technical Director…………………………………….…….Mr. Schaefer
Director…………………………….…………………….……………………Mrs. Dickens
Stage Managers………………...…………………….…Thea
Macon & Eva Henry
Lighting Technician…….…………………………………………………….Luca Thies
Costume Mistress.….…………......………………………………………Ellie Blanton
Costume Asst…………………………………………………………….Dana Buchanan
Sound Design/Op………………………………………………….………Russ Hoskins
Props Managers.……………………………………Nolan
Harhausen, Eva Henry
Hair/Makeup Mgrs………………………………….Thea
Macon, Audrey Culver
Poster Design …………………………………….…………….………………….Bex Derr
Program Design……………………………………………………………..Mrs. Dickens
Marque Design………………………………………………………… Andrew Kiesling
Banner Painting……………………………..Anna Dorsey and Mackenzie Miller
T-Shirt Design/Stain Glass design..……………………………………..Eva Henry
Scenery Build……………………………………………4th
Hour Technical Theatre
House Management…………………………..Sarah
Bailey, Micah McCoy, Jeni
Carr-Schwartz, Teddy Woldow,
and Freya Adkisson
Kaya and Willow were always adding energy to the rehearsals!
Costumes
The costumes for the show were not a huge challenge for the designer, but they did need to help the audience see the characters clearly. The characters were to be from the 1980's and they all needed to appear to be very wealthy.
Ellie Blanton and (Spencer) Buchanan worked with Mrs. Dickens and Mr. Schaefer to create some really great looks for each actor. The costumes all came from stock except a few which were bought at Savers. They also managed the closet and helped the actors with any fast changes. There was one jeweled dress we used in the previous production that we knew would be used in the show. It fit Mia Willis like a glove. It was the same dress we had our last actor that played Claire. Worked out perfect and provided the show with a nod to the past.
THE SET DESIGN
The Technical Theater class spent about 3 weeks on the set and the initial build went pretty fast. They set up the main platforms first and then did the walls. We knew we were going to install a massive wall of windows Stage left that were coming out of stock, so that saved us some time. The structure was almost exactly like the previous design we did for this show 10 years prior, but because we were in the Aud we got to go much bigger in scale. The room definitely felt like a mansion this time.
The set before we painted it...
Mrs. Dickens working with the entire cast on the show furniture,
PAINTING
We had a great team show up to help paint the set. The knocked it out the part!
Thea took on the roller and got a lot of the walls
Kaya and Zodiac did a great job painting everything white!
This set provides a very interesting tech challenge. It is described as a house "decorated in white", so we know it is contemporary design. The trick is too add color in clever ways. We chose to use the artwork, furniture and costumes for some color pop. We also added a lot of plants to add warmth to the room. Wall sconces and some practical lighting also added depth. We added a light grey tone to all of the trim to make the design's geometrical features really stand out as well.
This painting crew was Fabulous!!! Lots of new faces
Desiree and Willow on the ends,
but still trying to find the name
of the girl in the middle (lol)
Tech Theater Class Fall 2023
The construction crew for the set of Rumors
The set completely dressed, but without lighting.
LIGHTING
We were so fortunate to have Luca Thies back for another show to work on the lights. He had a simple crew help with the hang but ultmately this was an easy show. It had a few special features, but the lights never changed during the show. Just had a pair of headlights shine through the curtains at certain times.
The Set with all of the stage lighting.
We used stain glass designs from Eva Henry to add lighting above each doorway. We added a chandelier over the main area to suggest a much higher ceiling in the room. We also installed wall sconces to give the set some much needed depth. All in all it turned out to be rather elegant and expensive looking.
The cast used the set like professionals and had so many great comic bits
The sketches made to try and come up with a sculpture to hang on the staircase wall.
We settled on the circular design and made it out of various paperplates.
Artwork created by a few students in the Tech Theater class completing a "draw what you see"
PR MARKETING
We had some awesome marketing tools created for the production. A Lot of great artists are in the department right now and they are all producing really good work for the shows. This kind of marketing always sells tickets!
Bex Derr created a poster design that we were also able to use as the program cover.
Eva Henry (Assistant Stage Manager) created a very cool design for the T-shirt that we also used for the ECHO insert flyer.
Andrew Kiesling designed the Senior Display case Marquee for the show.
The display contains the show info, posters, and headshots.
Andrew also included some props as well. It turned out great!
The banner painted by our fabulous artists,
Mackenzie Miller and Anna Dorsey
An Article from the ECHO about the show
BACKSTAGE
We had a great team backstage keeping the ship running smooth.
Behind the set's bathroom door...
Stage Left props table that Eva Henry managed.
Since it was an Anniversary Party, each couple came in with a gift...
THE SHOW NIGHTS
The audiences were great and the cast and crew did an amazing job with this very difficult show. We had a lot of help with the front of house and the box office each night, but we did not serve concessions of any kind.
(From the program)
Setting
1986, New York millionaires, Charley & Myra
Brock host a dinner party for all their closest friends to celebrate their 10
year Wedding Anniversary.
ACT I
The party guests
ACT II
Immediately after dinner is served
Director’s Note
Rumors takes us on one evening’s roller
coaster ride of unfortunate mishaps and situational humor. Neil Simon gives us
a much needed opportunity to laugh at the absurdity of human behavior. This
play’s brilliant writing has given our
students the incredible opportunity to learn the structure and formula of
staged comedy from one of the greatest Tony & Pulitzer Prize-winning
American playwrights of our time. The cast and crew have worked diligently to
craft an exciting evening of theater for you.
Sit
back and enjoy the ride!
BACKSTAGE
The cast and crew circling up before the run!
All of the actors had to get dressed-up for these roles.
The hair and make-up team were going strong!
Many actors did their own prep...here is Bex in the make-up mirrors.
It was a very tight team running this show each night, and each time they ran it, the show got tighter and tighter. The cast owned it by opening night... and then on Sat they had to say goodbye.
The cast was definitely tired after each night's run
The audience really loved the humor and the crazy characters in this play. This was a great choice for the season, we all need to laugh right now. Lots of students came out, but also many community members as well. We always get a handful of staff, but due to the small cast we had less teachers than normal.
So many moments that got laughs!
Opening of ACT II
Lenny's final monologue
Curtain call!
Give it up to the Techies!
The STRIKE TEAM
We had a great crew of Tech Theater students show up to strike the set. This is very unusual, but this tech class bonded on this show's build. They did the whole strike in less than 4 hours.
Adan, Austin, Amelia, Zoe, Colin, Charlotte, Ben and Elise
Nothing left but a couple of chairs...
SPECIAL THANKS
We would like to thank Dr. Irvin and the WGHS
Administration for their constant support of our program, Elaine Hartmann in
the copy center for being a queen, ECHO for their coverage of our shows, Brian
Claussen for help with our T-Shirts,
parents and guardians for rides to and from rehearsals, friends and
family for their patronage and support for the arts, everyone who helped us
with the stage lighting, everyone who
helped with striking the set after we close the show, and of course, Neil Simon
for this amazingly funny play!
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