High school musical season is again up in the air as pandemic continues
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To stage or not to stage, that is the question for area high schools as musical season approaches.
As many productions fell prey last year to the pandemic, school personnel and students didn’t think they would be facing the same challenge this year. But they are.
With gathering size and social distancing rules still in place, many schools are still figuring out what to do and how to do it. But the consensus seems to be that virtual is the way to go, and any live audience necessarily will be limited in size.
“It is very stressful, that’s for sure,” said Ashley Matse, first-year musical director at Greensburg Central Catholic High School.
GCC is planning to present “The Addams Family,” but when and how have yet to be determined, she said. They’ll stage the show in late April or early May, either live or livestreamed, in its entirety or in a “quarantine dramatic concert version.”
The concert version “is built for this situation,” Matse said. “It’s shortened, so there’s no need for intermission or bathroom breaks. The kids want to do the full version, so if things are looking up, we’ll try to go with that.”
The decision could be made by mid-February, she said.
Valley High School has been working on its production of “Peter and the Starcatcher” since November, said director Chris Pastrick.
“We decided to go with a smaller-scale musical with a minimal cast, mostly for safety reasons,” he said. Pastrick is an online editor with TribLIVE.
Early rehearsals have been via Zoom, to get the actors familiar with the script and their characters before moving to in-person stage work.
“We have made the decision to have the kids perform in masks, making them an extension of their characters,” Pastrick said.
The production will be staged live March 26-27, with an audience limited to two members from each cast member’s household. An online streamed version will be made available sometime within the following week.
Greater Latrobe Senior High Drama Club will present “Bright Star — Concert Version” as a virtual performance on April 23-25.
“For safety, we are rehearsing in masks and keeping students socially distant and presenting our performance virtually,” said director Allison Duda. “Our cast is about half the size it normally is, and the concert version of the musical is much shorter than the full musical.
“The GLSH Drama Club is excited to have on board local, award-winning filmmaker Matt Fridg and his production team from Headspace Media to film and produce a high-quality production worth watching,” she said. “We think what will set our show apart is having a professional filmmaker on board, as well as someone who will be professionally mixing the sound.”
Tickets are not available yet, she added, but will be sold for $25 per device at latrobedramaclub.com.
Livestream or live
Jeannette High School will not be doing a musical this spring.
“Yough is still in a holding pattern with no specific plans,” said director Tracy Kelley.
That’s also the situation at Ligonier Valley.
“We’re currently looking at the best options for our school, but have not made an official decision,” said director Brianna Grimm. “We did have a play we were planning on livestreaming at the beginning of December, which got postponed due to our move to remote learning; but with slowly phasing back to a hybrid, we are looking at options to have the play still be livestreamed and (have) something equivalent to a musical happen.”
Monessen High School will stream “Ranked” via ShowTix4u, according to director Hilary Brown. With dates set for March 25-28, the musical is about the pressure good grades and high test scores puts on a trio of students.
Burrell High School has chosen April 22-24 for its production of “Little Women.”
“We will definitely have a livestream,” said director Martin Connolly. “In-person seating will most likely be limited to family members. We will determine availability of in-house tickets closer to opening.”
“Kiski is not staging a full musical this year,” said director Martin Connolly. “We are planning to have students perform a showcase of various Broadway numbers in a cabaret-style performance, which will be pre-recorded and then streamed over the internet. Tentative dates for the streaming are March 19 and 20.”
Meanwhile, Stage Right School for the Performing Arts in Greensburg is planning for its homeschoolers group to stage “The Wizard of Oz” April 30 and May 1 in Science Hall Theater on the Westmoreland County Community College Youngwood campus.
Stage Right co-founder Tony Marino said there will be a live audience, as allowed by gathering size and social distancing guidelines in place at the time.
“The kids are saying to me they’d rather perform for a small live audience than do one more livestream, and audience members want to see shows live,” Marino said.
“I really give all these schools a lot of credit for doing the livestream,” he said. “There’s a lot to learn, and it’s not for the faint of heart. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned through this pandemic, it’s that nothing can replace live theater.”