We opened our 2019 -2020 season with Fosse, Kander and Ebbs wonderfully satirical and darkly humorous book and score of Chicago. Similar to 1975 (when it first hit the stage on Broadway) it was a huge hit for the WGHS audiences in the Jerry R. Knight Auditorium.
WATCH a montage of this production
by following this YouTube link:
Banner design and senior entrance display by Millie Thum
AUDITIONS
Auditions were held in August for four days after school.
We saw a lot of actors and they all had to show us they could sing, dance and act. Mrs Radick (Music Director/ Pianist) played for the auditions and helped test our singers on several of the solos in the show.
The actors had access to the music in the department before the auditions and were asked to be prepared to sing the portion cut for the auditions. Mr. Schaefer (Director) was concerned that whoever received the part could sing the top and bottom notes for any song by that character.
After it was all said and done we ended up with a cast of 21. There were so many talented performers. We got an amazing cast and they all fit their parts perfectly!
CONTRACTS
All actors had to complete a contract for the show which provided the production staff with a conflict calendar and a parent signature.
This helped curb some of the absences from the cast and allowed the stage managers track the actor's attendance easier. Everyone is so busy and it can be quite a task getting everyone to rehearsals.
REHEARSALS
We started rehearsals immediately. We used all of the rooms in the department and had groups working on several things at once. This allowed us to hold shorter rehearsal periods and get more done in the time allowed. Many members of the cast were involved in other shows, jobs, voice lessons and/or dance lessons. We also had members of WGHS Acapella in the cast and they meet 2 to 3 times a week with Mr Dunn.
Mr Schaefer created the schedule, ensuring that we worked around
everyone's conflicts as much as possible.
everyone's conflicts as much as possible.
The scores arrive right before we begin the process so it is hard to start working on stuff before hand, but several of the leads already knew major parts of their music.
Once we thought we knew a song well enough we could move on to the basic staging of that number.
Ava, Ashley and Rissa working on a number at the very start of our rehearsals in Sept
The cast started blocking All That Jazz first and we used that number, which included almost the entire cast, to build some community and set the tone for the whole show. It was difficult picturing the staging with a set when we worked for several weeks on a flat floor. We didn't get the platforms up until we had been in rehearsal for a couple of weeks.
Once we had "All That Jazz Staged"staged, the show was off and running...
The cast beginning their work on the song "Reach For the Gun", which turned out to be one of the best numbers in the show. It was really cool watching how this one came together. Lots of people and several different inspirations lead to the final number.
There was a lot of opportunity for the cast to take the reigns and help stage a song or a scene. Several students were quickly placed in leadership roles from the beginning of the process. This usually happens after auditions and once a cast is determined.
THE INITIAL SET DESIGN
The Spring 2019 Advanced Technical Theater class took on the initial designs for Chicago when we were first considering the show and trying to determine whether or not we should produce the show the following season.
The set design was drawn and modeled by over 15 students and the results proved to be fruitful, with two designs in particular being chosen as the main inspirations for our set. We hadn't done any real planning for our production at this point, but these became the first inspirations for how we going stage the story. (We thought we'd be doing the bed and car in the opening, but that was one of many ideas that changed once we started working)
Sisi Desuza's design and model for Chicago
Claire McCarthy (Props Designer/ Running crew) also produced an amazing design for the show in that same class. She brought the shell motive into consideration.
The shapes both models presented worked well as a springboard for the Tech classes in the Fall to build upon. We needed some ideas in place before school started in the Fall so we could plan for staffing, the set and space, staging, the pianist, the band/pit, and all of the choreography.
CHOREOGRAPHY
We decided to do Chicago partly because we had not produced a Fosse-style musical before. The dancing is stylized and it requires a lot of work to achieve the look. Webster Groves High School doesn't have a formal dance class offered in the curriculum and attempt shows like this knowing not all of the actors have training in this area.
We always like a good challenge! The students worked very hard and in very short time (around 7 weeks) and we made something very slick. It definitely was in the style of the vaudeville and had a real splash of Fosse.
We had a lot of dancing to cover in the show
Sam (Roxie) and Alex (Fred) working on the opening number...
...and The Cell Block Girls posing!
Mr Schaefer getting his Fosse on!
Ava used lots of transitions, bold movements and it was fast. The song has lots of different parts to it and they made it look easy. It was fun for everyone in the room to watch the musical numbers take shape and find their way.
We also were fortunate to have Josiah Gundersen (Webster U dance Graduate) join us for a couple of numbers. He worked with Roxie and Velma and choreographed "The Honey Rag" for our finale, and he also choreographed and worked with our dancing boys in "Roxie"
It was wonderful having another adult in the room working with the students. They really responded well to his direction and the dancing worked out great in both of the show numbers Josiah created for us.
We feel that it is important for actors to work with as many different directors, choreographers and theater people in order to build a varied skill set. We also know that it helps to build an understanding that when we make art/theater it helps to bring a lot of voices into the room. Each and every one of those voices helps create something very unique and new.
Our job is to bring something new, and this production did just that. We gave our audiences a Chicago that nobody has ever done before...
...And all that jazz!
Tim, Alex, Owen, Sam and Ian
working on "Roxie" under the lights!
The Cell Block Tango
Once we got onto the set, things started to change.
Once we added the lights...things changed again!
"We want Billy!"
(Kate, Emma, Alex, Sisi, and Julia)
The Female Reporters wait for the famous lawyer to enter
Ian McCann (Billy)brought a cool attitude and a fierce personality to Billy and the audiences responded to his vaudevillian style. He really made Billy a likable villain in the story.
The props were brought in closer to the opening so they didn't get broken early on...
Sisi also helped with some of the Choreography in the show.
So did Emma...
They both worked on the song "Reach for the Gun" and helped get the song polished
...and it looked even cooler once Amelia started adding the lighting during our cue to cue.
Zoie striking a pose during a rehearsal to find her "Fosse" look!
The book for Chicago is bot easy to stage. They are written to be woven, seamlessly between numbers and even woven within certain numbers. It is a complex web of songs and scenes. Some are reality and some are fantasy. Some are a mix of reality and fantasy. It is tough to pull off and the actors and crew really brought their A game.
Zia Massena (Student Director) worked on getting some of the moments in a scene polished before opening, helped get actors ready the nights of the show, and worked through some staging with the actors when they needed it.
Alex (Fred) waiting for his scene and Max (Amos) getting notes for his scene with Roxie.
The actors were asked to get memorized as soon as a scene was blocked.
This is the way he gets actors to own their work. The characters tend to be more believable when the actor finds that character through a physical exploration and vocal exploration. He doesn't like actors to be memorized before rehearsals. This can cause an actor to find the wrong interpretation. Most of this must be found with the other actors and the director present, at least at first. Too many decisions made before rehearsals can cause an actor to tell a different story that the others on the project.
Cat (Props Designer / Running Crew) and Elsa (Stage Manager)
watching intently to the rehearsal and taking lots of notes.
The cast and crew worked well together in rehearsal and really created a great environment for learning and creating.
Achieving the style of the show as it was intended is tough. It was a fine line between cartoon and truth. We spent a lot of time talking through the backstory and the reasons these characters make the choices they make and all of the circumstances that make up this web of a plot.
Ashley (Mama) writing down her blocking from the scene that had just worked on.
We worked on pacing, volume, tone and physicality with the character of Mama. Ashleyt found a real heft for Mama and made her funny as she should be!
Annalise (Velma) always brought something new to rehearsals, surprising us with new little bits of Velma all throughout the process. She was always such a professional and carried herself in a way that modeled for the younger actors exactly what we should expect from the lead in a musical....absolute focus when necessary.
Samantha Massena (Roxie) had never taken on anything like this before and she was a work horse in the evenings. Her character work was exactly what made Roxie who she was each night and the audiences could get enough!
Lauren Perry (Cell Block Girl) in rehearsal. She brought a lot of performance experience to the show. Lauren has been on stage many times before.
Owen Mitchell worked onstage as an actor and also played sax in the pit. He dedicated a ton of his personal time for the production!
Tim Schmidt (Male Reporter/Cop/Male Dancer) is a German Exchange student and was a Drama I student with Mr Schaefer's class. We were so grateful to him for joining the cast and bringing his creativity and energy to the show. It is nice to have this kind of involvement from the students.
Alex Bahr (female Reporter/Kitty) having fun in rehearsal.
Annalise had several costumes to figure out. This corsette was considered for several numbers, and ended up in "I Can't do it Alone". She was also in a wig for the whole show.
Max Klement (Amos) had never performed in a musical like this before and did a great job keeping up on his work getting his performance ready. His character turned out exactly as Fosse had intended. Amos was the sad clown we needed in the end to sell the message. Max played it beautifully each and every night. His voice was perfect for the role and he brought a real heart to our show (on and off stage).
Aliyah and Ava making faces!
SITZPROBE
Kevin Cole (Pit Conductor/Jazz Band Teacher) joined the show when he heard that we were doing a jazzI musical. It was awesome that we got the music department involved once again with the musical and it proved to be the best decision we ever made.
Mr. Cole started working on the music at the start of the year, but really got cracking at our first sitzprobe in the band room about 2 and 1/2 weeks out from opening.
Sadie Moore was working sound for the show and Annalise wowed the room when she got to sing with the pit and we got to hear "All That Jazz" for the first time.
Max, Sam and Ian working through the dialogue/song mashup in "Funny Honey"
Mrs. Radick helping the band with all of the nuances and notes we had for the band in the score. The Cell Block Girls and Roxie getting a run of the tango.
It was wonderful to finally hear "All I Care About is Love" with the band. Ian and the girls sounded awesome on the number and this rehearsal helped inspire them to get the rest of the choreo polished.
We moved the second half of the show's Sitzprobe into the auditorium and the pit began to feel the space a bit. The cast got to sing through the remaining numbers.
The pit was made up of some of the best players in the high school and they were amazing!
Never a dull moment with this crew!
THE SET DESIGN
The set was inspired lots of pictures of old Vaudeville theaters from the internet, but Mr Schaefer also made a trip to New York and got to go into the Studio 54 Theater and see an actual Vaudeville Theater that is still being used today. It was beautiful and had all of the elements we wanted for our set.
The Fall 2019 Technical Theater classes were given the plot and some history of the time period in class. They also watched several archive films about vaudeville and the performers. We read all of the descriptions from the authors and looked at what the show required technically from the set to allow for quick transitions between scenes and songs.
This produced a plethora of drawings and things to consider. Some drawings were done of the whole stage and some were done to show specific features of the set and design.
They also used the architectural features of our auditorium to create certain shapes on the set that mimic actual features of the space we were using for the show.
Thee ideas were then put into play once the set was constructed and the fake proscenium was finally erected.
The set remained in construction mode up to the weekend before and then it began to be painted with browns and copper accents. This was to mimic the bronze/copper tones of the auditorium.
The set was finally finished and the curtains hung during hell week and right before opening night.
LIGHTING
The lights were designed by Amelia Griesedieck and she had a team that helped her get it done.
The lights used a lot of extreme warms and cools for drama, but also utilized a light lavender back light in each area to build each scene from the back forward for reveal. It was a beautiful and seamless transition in and out of the scenes and songs exactly as we had hoped.
We did some need lighting accents on the set that helped push the dynamics and depth. We added lights under the deck, we added lights over the arches, we added twinkled lights to the fake proscenium arches, we added footlights at the edge of the stage and we put a spot light on all of the vaudeville numbers.
Luca was there to pick up a few things when he could but he was in the pit for the show.
Seneca was assistant to the designer and Letta worked our spotlight.
Amelia and her team really made the lighting look amazing!
Amelia, Katherine and Annalise getting ready to go!
COSTUMES
The costumes were designed and managed by a team of students and lead by Caroline Gillow.
They were developed over the length of the rehearsal process and there was a ton of work that went into the designs.
Astrid Thorn did a lot of sewing on many of the costumes and specifically the detailing on Mama's vaudeville look.
It was constructed out of full-length ballgown that we deconstructed and turned into a tear-away. The reveal was fabulous!
Caroline and Mckenna working through mock-ups for for "Razzle Dazzle"
McKenna in the costume stock room with both corsettes and a "Cell Block" costume piece.
Red was used as an accent in the whole show.
Lots of drawings were created by the costume team and they were used as inspiration, ways to communicate with the director and a way to track the work that still needed to be completed by opening night.
Cell Block costumes had to allow the dancers to move...
The "Razzle Dazzle" costumes were also used in
"All I Care About Is Love"
Billy changed coats more than anyone else in the show.
The feathers headbands and feather fans were constructed and designed by the props teams and specifically Claire Mccarthy and Cat
Caroline designed and constructed an outfit that initially was going to be used for Roxie and instead got moved to Hunyak for the hanging scene. It worked out great in the end and the dress looked like a ballerina's dream.
Caroline's masterpiece!
The men's costumes were designed mostly by Mr. Schaefer.
Many of the men in the show had multiple costume changes and some had some really fast changes backstage during the show.
Some of the men had to play multiple roles and some didn't.
Max had to do a very fast change into his clown outfit for "Mr. Cellophane"
The costumes added a ton of texture to the show and the look on stage. We stayed in a muted palette but allowed for splashes of color when it helped push the theme or moment.
The clothing was a mix of stock from our collection, raw fabric and trim from the store or purchased items like the prison garb and the flapper dresses.
We reworked the vest from our stock to get the boys matching vests for the dancing moments.
These were old tux vests that we spray painted and Mrs Romanowski added some bedazzling.
We also pulled out every trench coat we could find for some moments were we needed the cast to become reporters.
EVERYONE LOOKED GREAT IN THEIR COSTUMES!
(Katherine, Claire, Sisi,Caroline, Lauren, Aliyah, Emma, Zoie, McKenna, and Astrid)
PROPS
Claire McCarthy and Cat worked very hard getting all of the props ready for the show, and there were quite a few. We had to also be very conscience of time period.
Claire working on the feather fans.
Cat made the guns, radio and cameras by hand
and learned about a lot of the tools we have in the scene shop.
The cameras had to actually flash on stage, the radio had to light up and the fans were used in two numbers in the show. They were all finished right on time and they looked great on stage.
Just in the in this alone we had a doctor's bag, a stethoscope, several cameras, note pads and pencils, a briefcase, and a set of jail bars.
The newspapers were the coolest prop the team created and they were used strategically throughout the entire show. They were designed by Cat and then printed with assistance from the Alumni Office and Shannon Daniels.
It was neat to have the real headlines on the papers and to have real photos and ads from the 1920's on the pages.
The girls even got a set of glittered tommy-guns we stole from a moment in the movie version of this musical.
We used hand guns in the show in two separate scenes and the shots were performed by the band. First Roxie shoots Fred in the opening number and then we see Kitty shoot her husband and his mistress in a similar way in ACT II.
The prop gun we used was actually one that was built for a show we did several years ago.
OUR ANNOUNCERS
THE PROGRAM
The playbill was completed by Elsa Serfas and was assembled mostly after several hours in the theater classroom on one of the computers.
The song list was created to mimic the way vaudeville acts would have been listed. We stole this from New Line Theater's program when they did the show almost a decade ago.
CAST and THE PIT
The cast took up the whole stage during the curtain call and had to stretch across the whole apron to fit everyone for the bows.
Eli played banjo in the pit.
The pit was amazing and Mr Cole was an awesome conductor for the show,
and he managed to keep us all together.
THE PRODUCTION STAFF
Katherine, Claire and McKenna
working hard backstage during the run.
MARKETING MATERIALS
The T-shirt design was created by Isabelle O'Neal in tech Theater class and was also used on the tickets.
One of the posters was designed by Mr Schaefer
The ECHO Flyer designed by Zeke La Mantia
The ECHO Article about the show and Zia Massena
SOUND DESIGN and OPERATION
The sound crew was great on this show and they divided up the work between several people. Zeke La Mantia really took lead on stage and managed to map out the show with very few mics. We ended renting some mics for the show, but some of them broke during the first night and we still made it work for the last night.
Zeke and his crew hung the choir mics over the apron of the stage by dangling it from fishing line tied to the balcony. Worked great!
Zeke, Jayden, John and Jason (not pictured here) all worked very hard to make the actors heard on stage over the band.
All of the mics had to be mapped and several passed between actors. This is the script that was created to track all of the cues before maps were constructed.
On the board in the sound booth, Sadie Moore was on the sliders.
The sound on stage was mostly picked up the hanging mics, condensers we borrowed from Amen and Aladies, some floor mics and all of the lapel mics.
John worked with Zeke backstage to help actors get into their mics and do sound checks.
THE CAST PARTY and AWARDS
The cast met in the PV commons after Sat night's show to receive some Drama Department awards and other acknowledgements from Mr Schaefer. The Drama Mamas and Papas provided food and bev and it was a great way for us to close out the show and begin our decompression from a great run.
There was pizza, snacks, cookies, desserts, and lots of soda.
Mr Schaefer made the terrible mistake of giving the students FunDips...they were blue "razz" (for a Razzle Dazzle show reference). It got crazy up in there!
We knighted the MVT - Zeke la Mantia
The Thespian Pig was passed on to - Cat
OTHER PICTURES from the show!!!
"And all that Jazz"
...we're playing fast and loose
A sweet note left with a box of baked goods backstage by Mama to her cast and crew...
GO SEE A MUSICAL!!!
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