By: Persephone Pond & Beverly Stinson

If you’re someone who loves acting, singing, crew work, or just the art of theater in general, we’d encourage you to join Highland’s amazing theater community. Theater in general is an amazing community to be in, Highland being a great example.

Whether you’re new to theater or have experience, we highly recommend you join as you could make new friends, learn new skills and just have a great time.

In this article we will cover the upcoming 2024-2025 shows, how to get involved, the experiences you could make, and how theater can benefit you in the long run.

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Schedule

In the fall, our theater program performs two well known plays, which are worked on throughout the first few months. Auditions are held the third week of school, and with our no cut policy, everyone who auditions gets to have a role! In addition to acting on stage, there are also opportunities to help backstage with set building, costuming, prop building, and so much more!

Our first fall show this year will be ‘And Then There Were None’ by Agatha Christie. This show is a stage adaptation of the author’s original best selling murder mystery novel which follows ten strangers who are brought to an island by a mysterious host who accuses each of murder. The performances will take place November 14th, 15th and 16th.

Our second fall production will be ‘The School for Scandal’ by Richard B. Sheridan. This comedy of manners stage adaptation follows a wealthy man named Sir Oliver, who is struggling to decide which of his nephews to leave his fortune to. He decides to find out as much about their characters as possible, and meanwhile, the nephews, Charles and Joseph, are both in love with the same girl, Maria. Performances will be December 5th, 6th and 7th.

Auditions for both fall shows were held September 17th and 18th after school, posters with the audition information were posted around the school and on Highland Park’s Theater social media @hptheatrearts.

The next set of shows are the winter one acts, which will be a weekend on student directed one acts which will be performed mid February. Auditions are held shortly after the fall season ends, and each person who auditions will be cast by students and directed by students. There will also be many tech opportunities to help with each individual act.

The spring musical is typically our largest production of the year. The musical is voted upon by students interested in working on it, so there is no confirmed musical yet. Everyone who auditions will be cast, and in addition to numerous singing, dancing and acting rehearsals through the spring months, there will also be the most tech opportunities of any show. Performances will take place late April.

The final show of the year is a spring play, which is typically the smallest production, mostly reserved for upperclassmen. Everyone is welcome to audition, but there are cuts and seniority plays a large role in the casting process. Tech is open to anyone who wants to help, and the performances will take place early-mid May.

Other theater events take place throughout the year which don’t require an after school commitment, like our monthly theater club meetings where we all meet up, talk about scheduling and build community. At the end of the year we host a senior send off talent show to honor the graduating seniors, and we also host a potluck picnic over the summer.

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Community

Highland’s theater community is one like no other; you’re guaranteed to find someone who shares your interests and feels welcomed.

Our director, Nancy Michaels, makes sure that newcomers feel at home and comfortable, if you have problems, she tends to them. She truly is both an amazing director and teacher.

For me (Beverly), I joined theater last year near the end of the school year. I had waited so long because I was scared of not being fit for it. But after doing my first show (‘Beauty and the Beast’) I quickly became comfortable in the community, especially with the help of Nancy.

Our theater is safe for people of all backgrounds.

After the last showing of every show there are cast parties which I know sounds a little intimidating but the parties are usually really chill and it’s just a great time to wind down with your cast and crew after working so hard on the shows.

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Benefits

Being in theater can help with so many things in your life, both currently and in the future. As of right now it can help with skills you wish to learn including Acting, Singing, Socializing, Production, and Time Management.

In the future, being in theater could help with college admissions and job applications, whether you’re an actor, director, or tech crew. It especially will help if you ever direct a show like one of the one acts, which are all directed by seniors and sometimes juniors.

It’s really easy to get to know people in theater since you’re almost always talking to someone; it is incredibly social.

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Wrap-Up

Like we said, theater is an amazing community to be in and it really can help you so much in the long run. And it’s always nice to see new faces and teach them about theater if they don’t already know how it works.

So, if you’re looking for a new career choice, new friends, or just something fun to do after-school then we would love it if you gave theater a chance!

We can’t wait to see new faces!

• Sincerely, Persephone and Beverly