West musical takes appreciative audiences to Windy City bliss

Pop. Six. Squish. Uh uh. Cicero. Lipschitz. Chicago offers up a 1920s jazz-style musical filled with murder, betrayal, and treachery. The West music department triggered a bit of controversy with their choice of Chicago: Teen Edition as Chicago isn’t exactly a ‘school friendly show’ for the run that just finished in the Alberta Kimball Auditorium. 

The choice even led choir director Bethany Meyer to joke that this will be the year she gets fired. Chicago is Meyer’s ninth musical, and in the weeks leading up to showtime, she believed it would be a hit like all the others.

“We work really, really hard, and I think now that we're seeing the pieces put together, it’s just going to continue our progress,” she said.  

There is a major difference between Chicago and other musicals: the costumes, songs, themes, and aesthetic as a whole are much more mature.

“Chicago is shorter than others, and it’s the Teen Edition so it’s not the full Chicago musical,” Meyer said. “It’s a little less racy and a little more appropriate for high school age students, and it’s about a 90-minute show instead of the usual two hours.”

Students have been working on learning their parts since the beginning of November. In that time, the cast worked hard nonstop to prepare for the show. Senior Angelina Vu, no stranger to musical theater with a total of seven shows under her belt, went straight to work as soon as she got her script.

“I immediately started making a Quizlet of all my lines,” she said. “I also do another memorization technique where I write the first letter of every one of my lines down and read them off with just the first letter of every word, and that really nails down the memorization of the lines.”

Senior Persephone McDougal, with 11 years of singing experience and 14 musicals, takes advice from Vu to help run a smooth performance.

“Even though it’s overstated, just practice, practice, practice, and if something isn’t working, just keep on trying. Lina’s really the boss of how to memorize and how to prepare,” she said.

Junior Violet Krautkramer has been singing since 4K, with this being her twentieth musical. She is greatly committed to the rehearsal process and has her own strategies for preparation.

 “Practice is key, and for me, I started memorizing lines the moment I got the script. I read through them every night,” she said. “But I also look at the recordings of musicals, not just Chicago, but other musicals and see how I can change my voice to sound more mature, because I’m Matron Mama Morton.”

Memorization and practice helped the actors greatly in the long run with everything they needed to learn.

“Doing all of the prep work as early as you can and as much as you can is key so that you can use the end of your time to focus on perfection instead of memorization,” Vu said.

It’s not just the lines for Vu, but also the large amount of choreography. 

“I have to do all of this dancing while singing, so what I’ve been doing was inspired by Taylor Swift: I saw that she ran on a treadmill and sang her whole set list, so that’s what I’ve been doing,” she said.

Senior Kendall Larson has been dancing since she was five, and this is her first official choreographing job.

“I was given a list of routines I needed to choreograph for the musical, which included formation changes, the number of people in it, and difficulty, so some groups I have doing higher skill levels, and others are doing simpler moves, but regardless, everyone is doing important things in the routines,” she said.

This dance-intensive musical demands more of the actors than they’ve been used to.

“It’s interesting because we have a lot more choreography than usual, which is fun, and it allows us to push ourselves farther than we thought we would be able to,” Krautkramer said.

Krautkramer values the experience gained by portraying personas other than their own.

“It’s really fun to see another viewpoint in life compared to what your life is,” she said.

Of course, the musical would never be able to be performed without the pit orchestra conducted by band teacher Daniel Singer, who has worked on 12 musicals. In the weeks leading up to the show, Singer believed that it was moving along very well. It’s more than just conducting though, it takes work from all the pit members.

“Pit orchestra starts at the same time as cast, several months before the show, and we do twice a week rehearsals with just the pit orchestra to start learning the music. It takes a lot of rehearsal time and individual practice to prepare,” he said.

Singer believes that there are some big differences between Chicago and past musicals. 

“Some parts are more challenging musically than some other shows, but I think that it’s a lot of fun because of the jazziness of the show. I really like jazz, so it fits well for me. I think that audiences will really appreciate the performance,” he said.

Senior Charlotte Stellpflug has been playing the violin for 13 years. This is Stellpflug’s first time taking part in the pit orchestra.

“It’s been a lot of fun putting it together with everyone else, and I’ve always wanted to be in pit,” she said. “I’ve never had the time but now that it’s senior year, I don’t have as many classes so I’m able to do this and that makes me happy.” 

Stellpflug sees significant differences between playing in a pit orchestra and in a normal orchestra class.

“It’s a lot more confusing at first, it’s definitely more difficult at first than pieces we would play in a school orchestra, but it’s also easier to put together because it’s people that want to be in it and are good and committed.”

Senior Jackson Clarke, who’s been playing string instruments for 13 years and has been in two pits, agrees on the shift.

“Everything’s smaller and you have to be on point and know what you’re doing a lot more than in a normal orchestra,” he said. “You’re probably the only one playing the instrument; no one else will cover for you, no one else will play what you play.”

Senior Katie Block has been playing the flute since sixth grade. Chicago was the second musical Block has been a part of, in which she played the piccolo.

“The music you’re playing is very challenging, and it’s nothing that you’re going to play in class, and you can get so much better by playing it, as well as just the group of people is fun.”

Senior Ethan Brayshaw has been in band for seven years and this is his third musical. Brayshaw believes that the final week of pit makes everything feel worth it in the end. 

“The last week of pit is the most fun because all of your work pays off and you get to put on a show for everybody,” he said.

Senior Olivia Willison played for seven years, with this being her first year of bass clarinet and second musical. Willison isn’t as carefree as Clarke about playing an instrument she’s not used to.

 “It's a little stressful because it's the same instrument but lower and it just doesn't always turn out the way I want to, but it's really fun and I get more opportunities playing bass rather than the melody.”

As a senior, Block ended her high school career with Chicago, and it was a big jump from last year’s SpongeBob: the Musical.

“There are a lot better choices that I would have gone with, but it is a fun jazz musical, and we went from SpongeBob, which was very fun, outgoing, and colorful, to Chicago,” she said.

Senior Elaynah Jaschob has been in three musicals and is Chicago’s stage manager. 

“Preparation depends on the role, but when we all get together and run through the show, especially with the backstage people, we get familiar with how to move things around and let the lighting people play around with the lights to learn how to work the spotlights and what the cues are,” she said.

Even though it’s one of the furthest things away, it’s always at the forefront of Meyer’s mind.

“I have to be there almost a month earlier than the rest of the crew, so that I can write down every single blocking detail under the sun, and I sit there and observe and write notes,” Jaschob said. “Then I am on headset and control everything that’s going on behind the scenes, and troubleshoot problems, and am basically Meyer’s right hand man and do anything I can to ease some of the stress from putting on the show.”

Though technicality is important, the cast and crew enjoy finding others with common interests. Senior Christian Brazeau finds community and solace within the people of the musical. 

“My favorite part is that the musical is like another family. It’s a space where you can just be yourself and connect with others who share the love of music just as much as you do,” he said.

According to Vu, musicals are one of the greatest places to make memories. She loves spreading the joy she gets from musicals to those who come to watch the performances. 

“I’m fortunate enough to be in the musical every year and create all of these really awesome friendships,” she said. “Even though you think you might look stupid during the dances, at the end of the day it’s really cool to be able to give audiences an experience and help people love the show as much as you love it.”

by Jorie Mugerauer and Ashley

Published January 29 2024

Oshkosh West Index volume 120 issue IV