After the bell rings 2:05, a mass of students rushes to the black box to prep for what will be one of the highlights of the fall season. In november the McLean Theater Production will be performing the musical of “Annie”. While I know we all love to come see the show, we rarely come to think of what it really takes to create a production such as this one. Let me tell you, from what I hear it is strenuous and hard work.
The director, Ms. Poe admits that creating a show is arduous. “The most difficult part is giving attention to every single piece of the puzzle. Finding the balance of spending the same amount of time on the music, the tech, and the acting, so that everything works in unison is very hard to do”, she says.
The show will have 12 leads, meaning that the cast is exceptionally large for this production. “It is hard to keep everyone organized, because it is such a huge cast. A lot of times rehearsals can be delayed because of it”, Senior Carla Calderon, one of the leads, said.
While it is strenuous to create something as elaborate as “Annie’, the students are sure that all of their hard work will pay off with the end result of the show. “Even though it is so time-consuming and hard, I love singing and being part of this crew. It is really exciting to know that the show will be fantastic”, Calderon said.
Another challenging aspect of creating such an extensive show is designing the stage. For this musical Emily Pruyn is the stage manager and therefore in charge of the whole set. Being very dedicated, Pruyn is expecting big things for this production. “We have been designing like crazy. We have a whole notebook full of designs, so you can definitely expect something out of the ordinary”, she says. Ben French, the stage designer, has a similar view. Even though the crew has intriguing ideas, “the hardest part is turning your ideas into something that will physically work on stage”, he said.
Having discussed all of the difficulties and hardships that come with the production of “Annie” it is important to note the fun and exciting parts of the creation of a show. Abby Huston, who plays Lily in the musical, is enthusiastic about being able to work with all the different students in the cast. “The most fun part is getting to meet all the freshmen, because they are so cute. My Understudy is a freshmen and she is really adorable”, she said.
Even the 2013 Graduates are excited for the upcoming production. “They are keeping the show secretive, but it will be brilliant”, Patrick McCormick, who is a freshmen at Virginia Common Wealth University, said.
A fellow 2013 graduate, Max Lindsey, who is attending Virginia Tech this year, agrees with him. “The McLean Theater Company, as it always does, is working hard to push boundaries and to explore new territory. It is trying to expand what it can do and learning a lot in the process. The cast is really trying to widen the scope of what they can do”.
The director, Ms. Poe, bases the show on the 1920’s Comic Strip of Orphan Annie. “We are using a lot of Newspaper fonts, pop art, and cartoon-types of drawings in the set design, the lighting, and the costume design”, she says. “It will look and feel like the usual theater productions, but it is different in that I am not one to usually do classic musicals like Annie”.
”So, what can we expect? According to Tristan Froatz, who is part of the crew, “[they] will blow everyone away”. “We think outside the box, beyond tomorrow”, he adds.
