聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Theatre fans packed Carlyle Memorial Hall on Tuesday, April 12 as the Gordon F. Kells High School Drama Club previewed their festival performances before taking them on the road to Redvers to the Region One Drama Festival. In Redvers, the senior cast and crew earned Best Overall Production runner up for 鈥淎voiding the Pitfalls of High School Dating鈥� as well as Best Visual Production Runner Up and Best Technical Crew, while the junior group captured an Award of Merit for Best Set Decorations for their production, 鈥淓pic Adventures in a Rinky Dink Art Museum.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Individual awards were as follows: Technical Award of Merit: Kelly Hume, Best Actor Runner Up: Jillian Heitenan, Acting Award of Excellence: Madison Hourd and Acting Awards of Merit: Joash Rushton, Judah Wardrope, Morgan Robertson and Matthew Forcier.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Teacher and director Darcy Howe says: 鈥淲e entertained. Our goal was to entertain and we did that. I'm very proud of the kids-both the senior and the junior groups-and their performances.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Both the junior and senior casts and crews demonstrated talent, professionalism and a flair for comedy during their preview performances in Carlyle.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淓pic Adventures in a Rinky-Dinky Art Museum鈥� by Ken Preuss showcased the junior cast and crew's comedic timing and talent as they told the story of a class of reluctant high-school field-trippers on a visit to the local museum, run by the mysterious Mr. Briggs (Brayden Hill). Pop-culture referencing teacher, Ms. Bell (Brooke Smith) and her students Abby (Morgan Robertson), Kaitlin (Sydney Flynn), Caleb (Colby Cyr), Monique (Kyra Cochrane), Irene (Emily Bouchard), Jenna (Madison Paulo), Seth (Judah Wardrope) and Duncan (Kyle Bye) shine in this character-driven comedy聽 that features mystery and romance involving faithful security guard Higgins (Kaysha Turner) and the mysterious Lady (Anna Doty).聽
听听听听听听听听听听听 The production proceeded flawlessly, thanks to the efforts of stage managers and prompters Brittany Rowe and Kelly Hume, who oversaw lights and sound. And the different 鈥渞ooms鈥� of the museum were created by the imaginative use of artwork created by Carlyle students.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Directors-and teachers- Thomas Broccolo and Justine Kyle praised the troup's work ethic and enthusiasm.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淲e're so excited for all of you to be here with us tonight,鈥� said Broccolo. 鈥淚t's a comedy for all ages and the kids are really fired up.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 The senior drama group continued the evening's comedic theme as they presented Bobby Keniston's 鈥淎voiding the Pitfalls of High School Dating.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 The play is the story of bickering-and slightly smarmy-dating coaches Lucky Day (Joash Rushton) and Starry Night (Jillian Hietanen) who are pitching a program that will transform the romantic lives of teenage wallflowers -and rescue the dating coaches financially.
听听听听听听听听听听听 With a pitch like: 鈥淒ating isn't easy-and neither is high school-so imagine combining the two,鈥� the pair set up the hapless Lenny (Matthew Forcier) and death-obsessed Matilda (Madison Hourd) on blind dates with the unsuspecting Katie (Bryanne Forcier), Kaylynn (Payton Humphries) and Dan and Buddy (both played by Marissa Owens).聽聽
听听听听听听听听听听听 The dates reach the height of hilarity when Matilda invites her parents-played by Kaelie Bouchard as her fussy mother and Lee-Amber Laderoute as her boorish dad.
听听听听听听听听听听听 The stage set-up for this play was another challenge for the seniors at the competition level. Stage managers Shelbey McNair and Brittany Rowe, lights and sound managers Logan Lemieux and Hailey Hoffman, prompter Mackenzie Valentine and crew members Jordan Patriquin, Jeanette Opena, Halle Doty and Julyco Opena were required to assemble the complex set -which features a large neon heart-in 10 minutes and take it down in five minutes.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚t's all part of the festival,鈥� says teacher Darcy Howe, who along with fellow GFK teacher, Kevin Dyck, directed 鈥淎voiding the Pitfalls of High School Dating.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚t's always really exciting,鈥� adds co-director Dyck. 鈥淭he kids are always so energetic and that energy kind of feeds off each other.鈥�
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