Footloose! Spamalot! Newsies! This year’s musical experience at West features a new kind of show unlike anything the Wildcats have done before. Choir teacher Bethany Meyer was excited to provide students with a performance experience through this year’s Musical Theater Workshop (MTW).

“Since we couldn't do a large scale production like we normally do, I wanted to make, especially for seniors, just something in the musical realm even if we couldn't have a musical,” she said. “By doing a cabaret style show it allowed us to perform regardless of us being in-person or not.”

Meyer and North choir teacher Bridgett Duffey-Ulrich teamed up to find people in the theatrical industry who could also connect to others in order to collect a group of experts to speak to the students.

“We brought those people in via Google Meet to talk about those experiences in the performing world with our students, and we allowed them to ask questions about working on Broadway and auditioning,” Meyer said. “It was a joint effort on the workshop.”

Senior Steven Reigh holds the dancing experience as his number one favorite memory from these meetings.

“My favorite part of the live sessions was learning choreography from the musical Hamilton and feeling like I was a part of the show,” he said.

To be a part of the sessions, students had to audition with a song.

“I prepped for my audition just like any other audition,” Reigh said. “I sang through my song probably about 50 times trying to find the best recording I could and finally I got the one I was looking for.”

With the show taking a cabaret-style, instead of an entire musical, the students sang songs from a variety of different musicals. After choosing students to be a part of MTW and conducting live workshops, Meyer moved on to selecting the pieces for the show, which was a challenging process.

“Honestly, picking the music was one of the hardest things,” she said. “There were certain students whose voices I have heard, and I wanted them to sing for a certain song, which was one of the easier things to pick out for the soloists.”

After Meyer assigned the students individual and group pieces, the groups began to rehearse and bring the stories to life with theatrical elements.

“To prepare for the show, I have been rehearsing the songs and choreography at home almost every day,” sophomore Myrah Lago said. “I would go over songs with my mom or dad to make sure I had the lyrics down and ready to sing. I would try and perform the songs in front of my family to make sure I was stage-ready.”

For past musicals, students would spend time each day preparing for the show, but this year was different.

“In a normal year, we would have rehearsals almost every day after school and this year we had them usually two to three times a week,” Lago said. “But everyone still put in their effort outside of school.”

While preparing for the show, most students had to work from home, including senior McKenna Hadel and junior Senja Sippert, who choreographed the ensemble pieces virtually while the rest of the cast practiced their own songs.

“Everyone was at rehearsal for the same reason, so it was easy to teach people who wanted to be there to learn and want it to look good,” Hadel said. “As long as the cast was wanting to learn and do the choreography, it went well.”

Hadel and Sippert did choreography for younger kids in JuBriCoSa and Jolly Jesters, so Meyer asked them to help out with choreography in the large number pieces.

“Usually we have to put together acting, singing and blocking, but this year it has been singing and dancing,” Hadel said.

Meyer focused on helping the students with the musical elements, but left the choreography up to their interpretations.

“There is always joy that comes with dancing and singing but I think our students just missed that this year,” she said. “My favorite part is just watching the students do the things that they loved to do, finally, because they have waited a long time.”

While Hadel enjoys the ensemble numbers for their high-energy, bringing her solo to life was a challenge, but was also rewarding.

“In preparing for my solo, I had to think about who the character is that I am performing as and how can I make her real, which is just rehearsing and rehearsing until it clicked and felt right,” she said.

Senior Emma Everett enjoyed being able to challenge herself.

“I am in ‘StepSisters Lament’ and that is my favorite because it is a duet with Abby Cheesbro,” she said. “It is really stupid and fun and we get to be weird, which is scary but also really enjoyable.”

Being able to spend time doing the MTW with like-minded peers and close friends was what Everett loved.

“My favorite part of this experience is, as always, the people,” she said. “It is nice to have friend groups doing the same activities. I also really like being able to spend time with people outside of school that I wouldn't see otherwise. It’s been nice to get to know everyone better.”

While the ensemble numbers are regarded highly by the students, the duets, trios, and quartets provided students with the challenge of learning unique harmonies while interacting closely with group members.

“I think my favorite is either ‘Holding Out For a Hero,’ ‘I Feel Pretty,’ or ‘The Telephone Hour’ because they are all just really fun to perform and the group members are great,” Lago said. “I don't think I could choose a favorite out of those three.”

With the nature of the show being a compilation of numerous different numbers, Sippert enjoyed the variety she got to experience.

“My favorite part about MTW is that it is multiple different shows so we can go from super funny, to serious, to romantic, to silly,” she said. “I like doing whole shows, but it’s nice to have different genres so we can do everything.”

Opening on April 30, the cabaret show will bring life to the stage, as the students showcase multiple characters and genres to trigger different emotions.

“With the show around the corner, I do feel like everything is where it should be,” said Lago. “We have all been working very hard and are super excited to put on this show!”

The group has come a long way since the beginning of the year, from seeing each other over screens, to finally meeting in-person, to now being able to work on something they are each passionate about.

“My favorite experience is just being able to see the students do what they love,” Meyer said. “It's been really quiet in my classroom this year and the end of last year. As much as it can sometimes be irritating when we are trying to get something accomplished at rehearsal, the chatter and excitement brings everyone together.”

By Abby Eaton and Keerthana Ambati

Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue VII

April 30th, 2021

Workshop approach returns magic of musical collaboration for students