After months of practices and rehearsals, students at the Estevan Comprehensive School are ready to perform the musical Footloose for the community.
Performances will happen on Nov. 29 and 30 at 7 p.m., and Dec. 1 and 2 at 2 p.m. at the school鈥檚 cafetorium. It鈥檚 a showcase of the talents of about a hundred students and adult volunteers who are part of the cast and working behind the scenes.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in the final home stretch,鈥� said Evanne Wilhelm, who is the co-director with Arlene Lafrentz and the producer of the musical. 鈥淲e have had some 14-hour days. The kids are excited, they鈥檙e hanging in. They鈥檙e not showing fatigue or anything.鈥�
The final rehearsal was held on Sunday. They will have a performance for elementary school students on Wednesday that serves as a trial run.
鈥淭he students are ready,鈥� said Wilhelm. 鈥淭hey were ready probably a weekend ago, but we鈥檙e pushing them now to be spectacular, exceptional and challenging them more.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e asking more,鈥� added Lafrentz, who is also a voice coach for the musical. 鈥淲e鈥檙e challenging them more with their characters. Every time we see it, we ask them to do something just a little bit more to add to their characters to bring it to life.鈥�
Cast members have been working on their three-part harmony for weeks, and those have come together.
鈥淭oday was an exciting day,鈥� Lafrentz said on Saturday. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e really bringing their game.鈥�
This is the second straight year ECS has run a musical, which is a rarity, since it usually happens once every second year. Many of the kids will be in their third musical in the past four years.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 had kids that have done a third musical in likely two decades,鈥� said Wilhelm.
Footloose includes a cast of 45 students, a crew of 20 students working behind the scenes, another 20 students working on the hair and makeup, and 15 adult volunteers who have been working and coaching along the way.
This year鈥檚 musical also features a couple of changes. They have stages in the audience in addition to the stage at the front of the cafetorium. It has forced them to plan for a lot of movement and to co-ordinate with the tech crew.
鈥淲e鈥檙e on headsets and we鈥檙e calling out the timing, the cuing, and when to send somebody and when to pull somebody back 鈥� and so they鈥檙e doing a lot of tech work that nobody sees that makes it look like it鈥檚 effortless, but it isn鈥檛,鈥� said Wilhelm.
The school also has some new lights, thanks to the support of eight donors who contributed $5,000 each. The amount will be paid out each of the next two years.
Those donors saw School of Rock last year and wanted to support the school鈥檚 musical program.
Wilhelm recalled, 鈥淭hey approached us and said 鈥楾his was such a great production. We were absolutely floored by how amazing School of Rock was. What do you guys need and how can we support you?鈥欌��
Those involved with the musical created a wish list, not thinking it would ever come to fruition, and once the wish list was completed the donors stepped forward.
鈥淲e actually had some lights that had asbestos in them,鈥� said Wilhelm. 鈥淭hey were still usable as long as nothing was disturbed. But they were older and they gave off a lot of heat on the stage, so our performers would be sweating.鈥�
They also couldn鈥檛 do some of the newer things that can happen with LED lights.
Tickets are still available for all four performances of Footloose, but they are about 75-80 per cent sold out. They will be available at Pharmasave each day until about two hours before the performance, when tickets will be transferred to main entrance of the cafetorium.
All of the VIP tables have been sold out for the four performances.
The proceeds from this year鈥檚 musical will be directed to staging future musicals at the school
