WGHS Theater Past Shows (Fall 2006-Present): 2025 Summer Musical "A New Brain"

The WGHS Theater Department was eager to try a musical in the new Frick Theater on campus and decided to produce William Finn's amazing fantasia, A New Brain. It is a show that can be staged minimally and could be done with solo piano. Everything lined up just right. We had a set of graduating seniors who were willing to give up their first month of Summer and Mr. Schaefer was up for directing and also wanted to play Mr. Bungee. We secured our pianist Hank Yau (after having him run our pit for Cabaret we knew he'd be great with this score). Parker Collier came into the project having most of Gordo's part memorized, so we were starting the project ahead of where we would normally be in learning the material for a show.

This will go down as our very first summer/alumni show.

The first version of the video we used to promote the show

And They're Off!

Poster Design by James Duckett ('24)

There were no auditions. Mr. Schaefer and Parker had a few conversations about casting and finally settled on specific actors to play these roles. Once everyone agreed to accept their roles, we moved onto the first leg of the rehearsal process; learn the group songs.

We only had one actor who had to leave the show, and we immediately replaced that actor

with another student (the only non-graduate in the cast)

The FRICK Players presents their first show!

REHEARSALS

We met one day a week through March and into April. That time was spent entirely on learning the ensemble numbers.

We were so fortunate to have the amazing Taylor Pietz as our Choral Director. These songs had some real chunky chord progressions. It required some attention to detail. She spent time warming us up, got us focused and ran the sessions. (we even got some talking to about safety and vocal health). She is a professional voice instructor and multi-faceted musician / performer and she brought all of that expertise into the room each and every time we met; challenging the students to level up. It was a masterclass we will never forget. The show sounded awesome because of this particular collab!

So much fun to work our brains this way

The harmonies for these songs are crazy!!!

We worked in the choir room for these rehearsals so that we could be around a proper piano, and Ms. Pietz could really hammer out our parts on these rather complex songs. The cast worked great together. and we cast the top tier choir students to play several of the roles, it allowed us to move rather quickly through much of this music. The cast took the work home and put in a lot of time practicing. She also tracked a bunch of the songs for us and broke out vocal parts to help with the difficult harmonies so that the actors could work on their own.

REHEARSALS (Phase 2)

Staging the show in the Black Box Theater was perfect. This space works great for staging/blocking and we had everything we needed in their to get the work done.

The cast of the starting to work through "Specials / 911 Emergency"

We planned to use most of the black stock furniture to stage the show because you can't construct a set in the Frick. Nothing can be screwed directly to the floor. So we utilized all of our acting boxes, benches, stools and a sturdy table to create our set. Then we planned to dressed it up once we got loaded into the Frick.

The electric piano (So nicely lended to us from the WGHS Music Dept.) allowed Hank to begin joining us for the rehearsals and we got to sing with our pianist

as we tested staging on the musical numbers.

Carl also helped figure out some of the music

(he plans to become a choir teacher)

Parker came in prep'd on this role and allowed us to really move through the staging with some confidence. He was able to sing a lot of the music in these early rehearsals, so the directors could push blocking at the rest of the cast quickly.

Amelia Wilson (left) had never done a full musical before and was taking it all in...

Rhoda was a great first part to tackle, it offered a lot of variety in the performance.

The wheelchair was used in several scenes and everyone wanted a turn!

Freya Adkisson and James Duckett both choreographed a number in the show and also acted as associate directors for the production, adding a ton to the conversation in rehearsal. The collaboration was fabulous and made for a very original final product. The actors loved working with them in the director's chair.

This was Addie Hahn's (center) first musical as well.

She did a great job with Mother, and was also soaking it all in during those first rehearsals

Staging and choreo development for "And They're Off"

Freya wanted to take a stab at some choreography in the show

and this song offered a lot of opportunity for a lot of movement, transitions and stage pictures!

Story songs are a great place to learn how to stage a song in a musical.

REHEARSALS (Phase 2)

Into the Frick we go...

We had to get everything moved down to the space from the department. This took some wheels. The space then needed to be set up. The cast helped load in all of the scenic units. Then we had to move the piano up stage center so that everything would be balanced off of where Hank would be placed on the set.

Carl had a friend in town from Texas during a week of rehearsals

THE TECHIES

Freya Adkisson

(Associate Director/Stage Manager)

Charlotte, James, Casey, and Hank

(Mira Not Pictured)

TECHNICAL REHEARSALS and DRESS

We were very fortunate to have had the whole year to learn the ins and outs of the Frick Theater. It has some limitations that we had to work around, but with some equipment brought down from the Theater Department we were able to make a beautiful looking show.

The lobby was a great place to have our lunches. The lunches provided a good break from the work. We didn't need a lot of "bonding" time - this group was already very bonded.

The cast decided to hold many of the rehearsals in the mornings and early afternoons once school let out. This felt very different, but we always had great energy. Everyone worked hard, but there was a distinct "summertime" vibe. When school let out everything felt light and at ease in the rehearsal room. We didn't push to "lock in" until the last couple of weeks which kept everything pretty chill throughout.

We made a gurney for the show that would allow Parker to stand on it so that we could spin him around during "Heart and Music".

The gurney had to house quite a few medical props and move around the set quite a bit during the show.

The list Luca made for the backstage walls to help them track

all of the places they have to move the gurney

LIGHTING

The lights we used for this show really utilized the new DMX system in the Frick. We had purchased a new ETC Colorsource lightboard to use in this space for all of the shows and concerts we produced this year, and this musical opened up the opportunity to really tell a story with color.

The Booth was installed just for this show.

Lights/Sound/Projection/Follow spot

It had all of the elements of a traditional tech booth.

(Unfortunately it is one of the biggest problems with the Frick, it has no tech booth.)

James Duckett was our amazing Board Op and Assistant Lighting Designer.

Mr. Schaefer did the focus and called the cue to cue. Together they created a series of over 150 cues that took the audience on a colorful journey.

We used all stock furniture we had in the Theater Department

We had to get the audience to follow a very interesting and complex plot; the lighting definitely assisted. The set was mostly fixed but textured. We used the area specific lighting and all kinds of color mixing to build a ton of interesting stage pictures.

PROPERTIES

Charlotte Snell helped pull and organize the props for the show. It had several unique items that had to be created. We also had to find a way to hide them from the audience. (There is no backstage in the Frick).

Some fake food (Mr S.) and our specials board (Charlotte S.) designed for Iona's Song at the beginning of the show.

We created two wings with some folding gallery wall units that we angled and then covered in blacks. It worked great...the last row in the house could see our heads over the walls occasionally.

The backstage props and wing space for actors to hide during scenes.

Casey and the actors did a great job keeping the props organized.

Casey Drillingas was our Stage Running Crew during the show and did all of the scene changes. He was quick and efficient! There were a lot of props and set pieces to track and he did a great job keeping the show flowing smoothly. The cast trusted that things would be where they needed to be and he made sure that was consistent throughout the whole run.

The X-ray prop James made for Luca's "Craniotomy" song

THE PUPPETS

Were a group effort...Mr S and Charlotte started them but we're missing a picture of the massive team that came in to help finish creating them.

Charlotte working on the initial cut outs and mouth boards

We had about half of the frogs from the previous production, but made an additional six new ones so that every actor in the scene could have one for each hand. They turned out great!

Lisa (Cami Smith) had her very own trolley for "On The Street"

MARKETING THE SHOW

The Frick Players was created to present the show. Since it was taken place in the Frick Theater with a special group of graduating seniors we decided to make it a "company" that would exist as an arm to the WGHS Theater Department, but with the potential to reach out into the community as well. The show did involve a couple of outside community members.

The QR Code we used to get to the blog page with the show information

(go ahead and try it...it still works)

James Duckett played lead designer for the PR tools. He designed the poster first, then the Postcard and t-shirt designs. We used them for Instagram and Facebook posts and we printed some posters to hang around the community. The production sold a good number of tickets being the first Summer stock show.

We also had a PRIDE version since the The main character in the story is gay
and we played on Pride weekend June 2025

James would attend rehearsals to watch, be inspired, direct, or design PR materials

COSTUMES

The costumes were intentionally curated to have a pop of color on everyone and for the whole experience to have a slight "Sesame Street" feel. The show was dealing with very tough topics through the lens of a children's TV show.

The colorfully layered costumes were mostly pulled from our stock and actually we didn't have to shop for much of anything this time around. Some of the actors brought in shoes and undergarments.

THE SOUND

The actors all wore cordless mics either fed through their hair or on their shirts. We used the mics we have in our Black Box for the show. The Frick only came with 4 and we needed 10.

The cart that housed our tech back stage, made it easy to get ready before the show.

It lived right out side the dressing room.

We had two wigs in the show as well!

The SET DESIGN

The set consisted of two sculptures on either side of the playing place. This would give the ensemble a place to hang out during center scenes. It also allowed for the action of the play to play on one side of the stage or the other allowing a character to watch from a distance and then take the scene.

The greenery was from our stock and we also borrowed some real plants from the main office to put around the piano to make everything feel a little more real. We painted some lily pads and greenery patterns on the sculptures to make them feel more organic.

We also cut out black foam core to hide the pots for each of the potted trees

The backdrop sillouette was created by James Duckett and used large strips of black fleece.

They were several different pieces that all got put together on the wall.

The acting boxes, stools, benches and table we used were our black stock furniture in the theater department. We use it in classes and for one act festivals mostly. It worked well cause we were able to make some unique shapes by stacking and arranging them. We used metal bracets to secure them together. Then we dressed them all with pond attributes.

...Once the pond noises started playing during the preshow, the space felt very inviting.

The second promotional video we used on Instagram and Facebook to get the community hyped!

THE SHOW

William Finn (composer/lyricist) always writes musical puzzles and then asks his actors to figure out how it all works together. He writes for the group. The ensemble has to work together all the way through. They pass the baton throughout the show, only getting short breaks backstage before going back out for a number or moment (minus Gordo of course). It is always connected with a Finn show. Everyone has to lock in!

Willam Finn passed during our production and it made the material carry a different weight.

Like many of the great composers of our time. He understood that the ensemble reflects humanity so beautifully. He created characters who commented on the act of being an artist...what it takes to do the work, the depth of the experience, the sacrifices we make, and all of the people around us that are effected by our work. He touches on the journey of the maker and this story is profoundly relevant to those who struggle to appreciate the room they occupy Being an artist is very complex thing if you are doing fully. We return to his work because he is always hopeful in the end, even when things can look pretty grim; Finn ends with a smile each and every time.

"Time and music makes the song!"

The Box Office set up was in the lobby of the Frick.

Shout out to Mira Thies, Alley Dickens, Freya Adkisson, James Duckett, Atticus W.

and Charlotte Snell for running our Box Office during the run.

The wall inside the Frick that had all of the headshots and we had the marquee outside

THE MUSIC

Hank had played tracks for Grease and Little Shop of Horrors. He came back this year and played piano and led the pit in our production of Cabaret in the WG Black Box, and we were incredible fortunate to have him on the keys for this awesome score! His skills shined during this run. Hank was awarded the Thespian Pig for his exceptional work on this production.

The Show PICTURES

(Pictures courtesy of Tristan Harcourt and others)

Frogs have so much spring in them...

Pennies, nickels, or dimes...

Sorry I'm late Rhoda

Mr. Bungee is aquatic and despotic

The Specials today though not many are especially good...

I should try and locate Roger Is he HIV positive?

Stories of friendship

Everyone talks about change

If I only had the time

Heart and music makes the song

Trouble in his BRAIN!!!

Mother's gonna make things fine!

I'd rather be sailing...yes I would

and then come home to you...

They need a family history

The bad trait will always predominate

Gordo's Law of genetics!

I am the nice nurse

And did you notice I sweat?

You're poor, unsuccessful and dumb...and untalented:)

No, No No!

Sitting Becalmed...

Wait I hear it!

The race was soon beginning!

Ponies in the sun

There was blood on the ground

Move like a herd

Craniotomy is indicated...right?

Just Go! Schmo!

Stories of passion!

Change!

Yes is a good word!

Take it in your hand!

No, No, No!...Get off stage!

Nobody asked my opinion...but!


Bungee's calling to say, that although he knows you are about to sedate...


What's a Mom to do?


In the middle of my room

Yes sir, he's an asshole...
Throw it out!


But I'll merely say good bye