Newspaper Article 2

Musical Opportunities

By staff writer Ben Zuegel

Peter Pan was an immediate hit, with talented actors, superb costumes, elaborate sets, and excellent music. Everyone who came on opening night was charmed and raving about it the next day. Andrea Zuegel “Most SOTA musical’s are good, but Peter Pan made me want to recommend it to all of my friends.”  But, so much more goes into a musical than singing and acting.

Actors are important in a musical, obviously, but so are customers, musicians, tech people, and just busybodies to do an assortment of small tasks for the director. So much goes on in a production that it’s hard to not find a spot somewhere in the show to help and participate.

Costumes at SOTA are always elaborate and very well made. They also take countless hours to make, and mend if the occasion calls for it. Mrs. Olender makes nearly all of the costumes for all the productions, because they would cost too much to buy. Even though she spends all year doing it though, sometimes she needs extra hands for all the work. So if you can sew, one way to work on a show is to help Mrs. Olender put together all the costumes. Believe me, she’ll be grateful.

Another seemingly small task is building the set for the show. The theater tech majors pitch in to help build the backgrounds, props, and furniture, but painting it all is a monstrous task. Almost anyone can hold a brush, so if you want to make a small but important contribution, talk with one of the theater tech teachers (Mr. Myers or Mr. Canfield) about coming in to help them paint.

What’s a crucial part of a musical? Music. Who makes most of the music in a musical? The pit orchestra.

Pit orchestra musicians are an integral part of any musical, and work very hard to know every single song, cue, and piece of background music that comes their way.

The pit orchestra starts rehearsing almost as soon as the cast members, but they do it in the morning before anyone gets to school. But still, several pit orchestra musicians such as “insert quote here”.  So if you have some talent with an instrument, ask one of the music teachers if there’s a part in the next musical for you, because you’re needed.

Musicals are complicated things to organize, and all of the various directors need help doing something. If you don’t want to paint, can’t sew, or play a musical instrument, just ask one of the teachers if there’s anything else they need done. They all have a lot on their plates and could surely use extra help, so why not offer it?

Anyone can participate in the school musical, because there’s so much that goes into its production. Actors only make up part of the crew, and while they’re essential, they couldn’t put on a musical by themselves. So, if you want a job, ask around because there are so many opportunities for those who know