By Maddie Galligan ’18
Every school year, the Masquers club puts together a play and musical to be performed at school. This year’s production of “Almost, Maine” in November will be even more challenging than plays in past years because rather than a straightforward sequence of events, this production includes a variety of storylines from different character perspectives.
“Almost Maine” follows a story about residents of a small town who fall in and out of love. Auditions began the second week of September and were held by club advisor Ms. Rizzo. The auditioning process is stressful for both the actor and the director. “As an actor you feel very exposed and vulnerable,” Ms. Rizzo said. “As a director, you have to make tough calls in order to get the balance of the production just right.”
Although the worry of casting is over, the cast and crew still have much more to do in terms of preparation for the show’s production.
“Almost, Maine” is the number one play produced in high schools over the last 10 years, according to StageAgent.com. The Masquers Club felt that their cast and crew could take on the challenge and make the play come to life.
“I think that audiences and actors can really connect to the “realness” of the dialogue,” Ms. Rizzo said. “It showcases all of the different aspects that relationships are made of, the good and the ugly.”
“It’s an interesting format because it’s not so much of a whole plot as it is a bunch of little different plots,” junior Paige Wasserman said. “Everyone alternates and has their own scenes of different characters.” Paige has been a crucial part of past school productions, including spring musicals “Legally Blonde” and last year’s “The Addams Family.”
The cast includes seniors Matt Uhlendorf, Daniella Ignacio and Julia Miller; juniors Sarah Candido, Paige Wasserman and Samantha Luk; and sophomore Teddy Press. Because of the dimension of the play’s storyline, each student will have to take on the role of multiple different characters.
“It’s a challenge for the students in the production because they have to learn and become more than one person, and make them all unique,” Ms. Rizzo said. “It’s been a long time since we’ve done a play like this.”
According to Wasserman, this play will pose a particular challenge to the Masquers. Each character has lots of dialogue, so she will need to be running lines and preparing even more than she would have for a different play.
“The rehearsal process hasn’t really started but we have a super talented cast,” Wasserman said. “Everything is looking up, so we are all expecting a great show.”
The cast has worked on plays together in the past and has never disappointed its audience. There is no doubt that they will impress this fall.
The play’s production will take place on Nov. 4 and 5 in the high school auditorium.
