theater | Plaid Line + PRIZM + Scottie News

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

On March 23rd, at 6 pm, the celebration for our second annual Art Showcase was held in the lobby and auditorium of our school, with free admissions for all. The event was organized by Highland, in partnership with the Friends of Highland Arts (FHA), and a combined effort of arts, band, choir, and theater students. Highland’s Choir and Theater instructor, Kate Mendenhall, was the point person who organized the event this year, and is hoping to for this to become a tradition at HPSH.

Friends of Highland Arts (FHA) is a local non-profit group that works closely with the schools, and Highland community, to promote and further the arts in our community. They were also a tremendous help in organizing and promoting the show.

The afternoon was splendidly filled with the art of music. Stage performances in the auditorium began around 7 pm, featuring our Jazz Band, Honors Orchestra, Tremble Choir, Honors Choir, and Symphonic Band. Each of the groups performed works from their past and upcoming concerts. Some of the titles played by the Honors Band included “Adagio” by David R Holsinger and “Symphonic Dance No.3” by Clifton Williams.

Not only that, the cast of the musical, Lucky Stiff, also made an appearance at the showcase with a snippet of their upcoming spring musical which will be held on April 21-23. The Highland Theater Friends and Family were also fundraising in support for HPSH Theater. Other featured art included, Ramona White from our school’s Speech Team, who performed on stage with her creative piece.

“I feel like this event was a huge success,” said Ms. Mendenhall. “All of the groups performed really well and seemed like they were having a great time participating. Most of the times, performing groups do not get to listen to other performing groups, so it was nice that they could listen to their peers at an event like this.”

The showcase was the perfect opportunity for both our fellow peers and community to expose themselves to the talents and arts offered at Highland. During the night, students were able to present their works to the community and be appreciated for their efforts in the arts and freedom of expression. Not only was this event a wonderful source of entertainment for the open audience, but it was also a rewarding experience for our students and teachers who contributed to the show. “The most rewarding thing for me is to be able to let my students experience all different types of art,” said Ms. Mendenhall. “In choir, a lot of our focus goes into choral and vocal music. I really like that my students are able to see what other talent is here at HPSH.”

The overall Art Showcase was met with great praise from our community as well. This was evident in Ms. Mendenhall’s comment, “I noticed that community members and families really like that we provided a ‘one stop shop’ – meaning they could hear and see all of what Highland Park has to offer in our fine arts department in one night.”

Featured outside of the auditorium were the large white panels, collapsible doors, and tables filled with the collection of works from about 20 IB Visual art students. The majority of these student will use these collective pieces from both their junior and senior year to submit to IB later this month. Each of their works were linked with a cohesive theme, with their own unique sense of style. This part of the showcase itself is considered to be a huge new step for the art department, as this was Highland’s first year reserving an organized space for an art gallery of students’ masterpieces.

“The event was a huge success, despite the snowy afternoon,” said art teacher, Keri Schultz. “The gallery and audience was very full. People were excited about the wide variety of art styles that students shared.” The Saint Paul District arts coordinator, Jan Spencer Gutierrez, also showed up for the celebration.

The art gallery was a new component for IB Visual Art students, and provided students with an opportunity to first-hand experience a live art show. Mrs. Schultz also noted that the most rewarding aspect was allowing students to plan out their methods of visual presentation by finding desirable locations, lighting, and completing pre-hangings to create purpose for the organization of art collection.

“I also liked how students personalized the way they presented the titles for their work. Mazzy put her labels on rocks, which really made her environmental theme come through in a visual way. I also think that Highland complex and the Friends of Highland Arts were able to further develop our relationship, and that was very positive.”

A total of 15 under the sea watercolor paintings, from students of Highland Park Elementary, also contributed to the visual art gallery. As a group project, elementary student also created a sculpture made up of lights, plastic bottle caps, and paint, resembling a Dale Chihuly type sculpture. Along with that, there were 10 figure drawings from the middle school students. As for our high school students, they contributed 30 self-portrait paintings, 40 sculptures, and tiles from the ceramics students.

Some of Mrs. Schultz’s hopes and goals for the future of Highland’s Art Showcase is to incorporate more activity tables to engage the youth of our community, and have them share their art as a part of our community. “I think it might be fun to have high school students there to teach techniques or little projects to other people (young and old) from our communities.” The art department is also hoping to seek more grant money for permanent lighting solutions in the space of display.

Similarly, Ms. Mendenhall also has hopes for the future of the Arts Showcase to be an event that HPSH students look forward to attending, not just families and community members. “I think this is a great way to support your peers in their artistic endeavors, and maybe even become involved with a group yourself!”

“In terms of the art, I was just really proud of how nicely students were able to share their creative efforts,” Mrs. Schultz said. “I also wanted to thank Kate Mendenhall for being the liaison between Highland and FHA Friends of Highland. It went great!”