by Ryan Collins and Will Eimas-Dietrich
The Drama Club will be putting on their annual drama show on May 19 and 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Osborne Auditorium at Jamesville-DeWitt High School. Admission is free, but donations are being accepted for a student-chosen charity organization.The Drama Club will be performing a play written and created by John Cariani called “Almost, Maine.” This production is comprised of nine short plays that explore love and loss in a remote, mythical town named Almost, Maine.
Led by adviser and English teacher Matt Phillips, the show will feature what he calls a “well regarded romantic comedy.” There are nearly 20 students involved in the production. “The scenes all take place at 9 p.m. in northern Maine,” said Mr. Phillips. All nine “vignettes” have a different student director except for two, which are directed by social studies teacher Jordan Berger, who was involved in drama in high school. “I missed being involved in the drama community,” said Mr. Berger, who enjoys being a director, saying it is “a good learning experience” for himself. The other seven vignettes are going to be directed by student directors, which Mr. Berger says is “a nice opportunity for students to feel responsible.”
This year’s production has high expectations. “People should expect a great performance and an interesting play,” said sophomore Rebecca Teitelbaum, who is playing the role of Ronda in the vignette “Seeing the Thing.” Junior Gerry Wason who is a student director and is playing the role of Glory in “Her Heart” says that the show is ”really heart-warming and super-entertaining.”
Mr. Phillips is the producer this year for the first time since over ten years, taking it on again because he thought it would be a fun experience. Towards the beginning of his teaching career he held the position and wanted to revisit drama. He decided to allow students to direct the vignettes to give them a new experience that has never been offered.
There is an original score for the show that was written by freshman Nancy O’Connor and senior Miles Chandler and that will be performed by a small pit band. O’Connor has played the piano for numerous shows and performances here at J-DHS over the past two years. Chandler has also played a large part in musicals and band during his four years at J-DHS.
The goal, according to Mr. Phillips, is to fill half of the auditorium because “we’ve never had a drama show fill half of the auditorium.”
