San Benito High School’s auditorium was overrun mid-week with students trying on their nun costumes for the upcoming performance of “Sound of Music,” opening Wednesday.
Deanna Larsen, a parent volunteer, said four seamstresses were working to make sure all the students had their costumes this week as dress rehearsals get under way for the musical. The spring musical features 50 San Benito High School students and from the looks of the auditorium on Wednesday afternoon, many of those students are playing nuns.
The play is about a nun, Maria, who is sent away from the nunnery and takes a job as a nanny to a man left to care for his seven children after his wife dies.
“We needed ones with a big cast,” said Kristen Porter, the drama teacher, of selecting the play. “Some kids had mentioned an interest in it.”
Porter said it is always a challenge to work with such a large cast of students, but she said “the kids are a really good group.”
Leading into dress rehearsals and tech week, Porter said she was still concerned about the microphones because some of them had not been working properly. She said they may end up renting some before opening night.
The cast includes students from every grade, with many of the freshmen playing ensemble parts as nuns or Nazis in the musical that is set during World War II.
Betsy Molchan, a freshman, said she had performed in San Benito Stage Company shows before but she said she was excited to be part of her first high school production.
She plays a nun and a party guest in the show.
“Not having such a big part, I’m excited to hang out with people backstage,” she said. “It’s like a big family. I like the rush of being on stage.”
Dacoda Miracle, a sophomore, plays a baron and is also the stage manager.
He said it has been stressful directing people back stage and making sure the scenes are ready, but he said he thought with a few more tech rehearsal, things would run smoothly by opening night.
“It’s really fun,” Miracle said. “I would encourage anyone to do it.”
Afton Meyer, a senior, is playing Liesl, the oldest daughter of Capt. Von Trapp, opposite her real-life boyfriend. She said her favorite part of the play is singing the song “16 Going on 17.”
“At the beginning I had to coordinate between cheerleading and the play so it was hard to be at all the practices,” Meyer said.
She said the musical is a little different from the feature film starring Julie Andrews, especially because it is shorter than the film.
“But it’s going to be good,” she said.
PLAY PREVIEW:
“Sound of Music”
San Benito High School students will perform the show March 13, 14, 21, 22 and 23 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $9 at the door or $8 with a student ID card if purchased in advance at the student payment center.
