Musical:

While the season of spring is commonly recognized for the beginning of sports like lacrosse and tennis, another group of ELHS emerges from backstage. As the birds start to sing, the members of ELHS’s theater program take to the stage, practicing notes of their own.  

This year’s musical will be a spin-off of the long-time classic “The Princess and The Pea” which tells the tale of a prince searching for his princess. The princess must complete a set of tests, one of which being sleeping on many mattresses and picking the one with the pea in it to establish her sensitivity and necessary skill to marry the prince. This musical is called “Once Upon a Mattress.” This production would not be possible without the devoted members of the ELHS cast, tech crew and pit, each of which have diverse responsibilities and work cohesively to create our beloved musical.

Actors: 

Lights glare in his eyes as the curtains open for the first show. He feels a spur of energy in the midst of all the nerves. This is what Charles Sparrow (12) is most anticipating in his upcoming performances. 

Sparrow began to take an interest in the ELHS theater program during the 2023-2024 school year when he auditioned for “Noises Off,” the 2023 fall play. 

“I did it last year and really liked it.” Sparrow said, “Then I did the musical [in 2024] and thought it was even more fun so I knew I would do it again this year.”

The first step into this musical was his audition. Regardless of past history with the theater program, every person who cares to be in the cast must audition. This year’s audition consisted of a monologue as well as a singing and dancing number. 

Sparrow’s audition left him with mixed emotions, but he ultimately secured the leading male role — the one he was hoping for. 

“My monologue was good, but [in] my dancing I felt like I missed a step and then there was a piano player, and you had to sing with them.” Sparrow said, “I felt like they couldn’t keep tempo, and so I thought it was kind of bad, and I kind of skipped around a little bit.”

For Rachel Capriotti (12), this will be her final show after partaking in the ELHS theater program for the last four years. Alongside Sparrow, Capriotti is looking forward to having her hard work recognized as the performances begin.

“I’m excited to finally have an audience.” Capriotti said, “It’s a lot of rehearsal, and it’s really rewarding to finally be able to perform in front of people, even if it’s just for a few days.”

Pit:

Musicals cannot be brought to life without the help of music. Every film, singing or not, has music. Music builds tensions, brings joy, and can orchestrate a solemn feeling for the viewers. For ELHS, the musical recruits the band and orchestra students to add life to their production.

This is what is known as the pit orchestra, more commonly called the pit.

One such member of the pit is Matthew Marlatt (12), who has spent the last several years devoted to his instrument, the trumpet. In the 2023 spring musical, “Chicago,” Marlatt was third trumpet. This year, he’s first. 

“We get sheet music around a month or two after the actors around the time they get off book and we usually listen to reference recordings while we rehearse,” Marlatt said. “We usually get three to four weeks to rehearse until our first show and a preview.”

With this being his second production as a member of pit, Marlatt believes that despite minor kinks, the show is running on track.

“We had a few things with the stage, a few things with the props, but that should be fixed.” Marlatt said. “Overall, it’s gone pretty smoothly.”

For Sophie Bellon (11), who’s a first year in the pit, the new experience has been fun, but has presented some challenges along the way.

“It’s definitely hard music, and some of the songs are just very difficult in terms of when people come in.” Bellon said. “We’ll get it together, it’s just a process.”

Tech:

Bringing the ambience to stage is the respective duty of the tech crew. In charge of everything from costumes, to props, to lighting; tech adds these necessary touches. For this production, costumes were sewn and hemmed by ELHS students to fit each actor.

One such student is Rose Furtaw (10), whose older brother, John Furtaw (12), is acting as a knight in the musical.

“I kind of just wanted to try out costumes and my brother’s in the musical too.” Furtaw said.

This is Rose’s first year on costumes but second year on tech as a whole. Overall, she prefers costumes and has enjoyed working on a production that her older brother will be performing in. 

“I like the sewing part and I’ve improved a lot this year,” Rose said. “I really like the people too and it’s a lot of fun.”

For Paige Hoort (10), her motivation to join tech was driven by the idea of learning new skills. In having some minor sewing experience but wanting to learn how to make her own clothes, Hoort decided to try out costumes.

“We have to cut them out, size them out,” Hoort said. “I’m really proud of the princess dresses we’ve had to make, they’re really cool.” 

Along with learning new skills, Hoort unexpectedly joined a new community of supportive people. For her, creating these bonds has helped foster the cohesiveness of the production and aided in its success. 

“Everything flows together really well and everyone just loves each other.” Hoort said.

While things have been overall running smoothly between each individual part of production, deadlines have been tight, building up the stress and tension as opening night nears. 

“We had to get certain costumes made so I had to come in on the weekend for like seven hours” Hoort said, “The harsh deadlines made us a little behind but it worked out.”