RBHS’s seventh annual theatrical showcase had scenes from classics such as The Little Mermaid and Snow White, to more recent productions like into the woods. This years theme was “Scenes for the young and the young of heart.” The show was full of songs to help bring back the childhood memories of anyone who attended.
Directors Holly Kerns and Mike Pierson think it’s important to keep up with your inner child no matter your age. They also put on this production to give students a taste of what they would find if this chose to pursue a career in theater.
“I feel like they get a sense of how professional theatre moves really fast,” Kerns said. “Honestly, though, the really best part is how proud they are that they did this thing. As kids move toward graduation and the end of the year, this project becomes a celebration of performing arts and how our school puts priority on students developing this way.”
The students have been working hard since March to put on this production. For some like senior Sarah Merrifield, this spectacle is their last before they move on from RBHS. Merrifield has spent most of her years at RBHS involved in as many theatrical productions she could. Merrifield was excited to be involved in this production which featured bits and pieces from shows that started her love for theater. While Merrifield will not be majoring in theater, she still wants to participate in community productions.
“It brings me so much joy that I haven’t found in any other extra curricular activity I’ve tried,” Merrifield said. “The people I’ve met are so genuine and the experiences I’ve come across have been some of the best in my life.”
Merrifield gives credit to the fact that theater helped her learn to manage to work under extreme stress levels, think on her feet if something doesn’t go quite right on stage, and work with people she may not get along with very well. Kerns promises the skills these students learn in advanced acting and musical theater will apply to life off the stage as well.
“ If you even think for a moment that you would like to build your performance skills,” Kerns said. “I can promise that performing arts classes will meet you where you are and that your life will be benefited by your work to communicate.”
Every show is a fragile construction you never know what a performance or an audience will be like but that’s what makes theater fun, that every performance is a surprise.
“Every live event is a unique and magical thing,” Kerns said. “That’s why we go to a concert, “to hear a show we know, so that the live event can take over and change what we expect. This show was a once-in-a-lifetime-magical-event.”