This year, the drama club’s fall play was “A Christmas Carol.” Students and advisers worked for months to make this play be as successful as they could. 

Drama club director Ben Cossitor chose “A Christmas Carol” for the play because this year, everyone finally got to be together. 

“We picked it because it was really the first play we got to do with as many people in the audience that wanted to come,” Cossitor said. “We wanted to pick a play that everyone would know, and also we know that everyone likes celebrating the holidays so it was a good first play.” 

According to Cossitor, the cast has been working hard following up to the last days before the play.

“We start rehearsing at the end of September, so we had about six weeks of rehearsal that leads up to the show,” Cossitor said. “With the actors helping them learn their lines but also that’s when we build the sets and make the costumes.” 

According to Cossitor, the audition process comes with lots of thinking about who should play a certain character in the play. 

“For the play auditions, everyone is given a little speech to read, so we picked one of Scrooge’s speeches and everyone had to get up and speak it. We kind of see who acts it out the most and then from there we figure out if we want to hear them again, and we give them more stuff to read through what they can read,” Cossitor said. “That’s where we figure out where they will fit best in our show.”

The lead role of Scrooge was played by senior Luke Rokosky. 

“It’s a lot of fun,” Rokosky said. “It’s very exciting, and it’s also a lot of work. I don’t necessarily get nervous whenever I have a lead role in a play, and I’m not afraid of the work. It’s mainly exciting for me.” 

With being the lead role in the play, most of the focus would be on him. 

“It definitely was [a responsibility] because I need to know a lot of lines,” Rokosky said. “Most of the show is just me talking, so I had to learn a lot and if I wouldn’t have learned those lines, the show would’ve fallen apart.”

Rokosky was excited when he found out he was chosen to play Scrooge. 

“I was pretty excited,” Rokosky said. “I didn’t really know if I’d get it or not. I kind of expected it because it’s a bit of a typecast for me so it was certainly exciting. It was all pretty exciting.”

Junior Luke Noel was chosen to also play the younger version of Scrooge. 

“It felt very nice to have such an important role in the play,” Noel said. “It took a lot of practice and work to get all the lines, blocking, dances, and costumes adjusted but it was all worth it in the end.”

While only playing the younger version of Scrooge, it is still a big job. 

“It was a big responsibility to play young Scrooge because I had to portray how Scrooge became the man we met at the beginning of the story,” Noel said. “Having great teachers and friends around made the characters come together.”

Noel felt surprised when the cast list had been official and he had been chosen to be such an important role. 

“I was pretty surprised when I found out I was cast as young Scrooge,” Noel said. “But I think the casting was great for me personally because I didn’t want a super large or small role in the play. Having a character like young Scrooge was perfect”

The role of Martha Cratchit was played by senior Parker Cook. 

“My favorite part about playing Martha Cratchit was the costuming,” Cook said. “It is so much fun to wear costumes from different eras because you get to represent what that character would have worn in that time period.”

Cook found her interest in drama when she was seven years old 

“I did my first ACT camp at the age of seven, but the first full production I was a part of is ‘The Little Mermaid Jr.’ when I was eight years old,” Cook said. 

Since then, Cook has been participating in plays for as long as she can remember. 

“I decided to participate in the fall play because theater has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember,” Cook said. “I like to get involved with as much as I can in the fine arts department to follow my passions.” 

Wendy was played by freshman Jillian Pierannunzio.

“It was a lot of fun,” Pierannunzio said. “My two sisters were in the play. We were all really good friends so we were excited. We were all sisters. It was also exciting to dance, but sadly I couldn’t do it in the play because of my concussion, it was just really fun doing it at all of the practices.”

Pierannunzio chose to participate in the play because she has participated in plays for several years. 

“I have done plays since I was four years old, and I was in the drama club in junior high,” Pierannunzio said. “I was always involved in theater, and I thought it would be cool to do it here” 

Costume designers have several steps to making and designing costumes. 

“The process of making costumes involves a lot of putting different pieces together to make a whole,” junior Keira Mayhue said. “You have to visualize what you’re trying to create, and then design the parts that you need to finish. For instance, during the play, we have a lot of costumes that were meant to convey wealthier people. So when creating the women’s dresses, you would sew something like a bodice, and then the skirt, then sleeves, etc. Then you would sew those pieces together to create the dress you have been visualizing from the start.”

Designing costumes for each character ranges from a few hours up to 10 hours for one costume. 

“As for the time to make each costume, it depends on the type of costume,” Mayhue said. “For example, a costume for a child would generally be smaller and might only take a few hours. A costume for an adult though, especially a wealthy adult, might take up to 10 hours. It depends on how elaborate the costume needs to be for the character.”

The stage tech members have several roles in helping with the play.

“I am in charge of the soundboard and sound effects, meaning that I am in charge of all the microphones and all of the special sounds you hear throughout the show,” senior Allison Wolfe said. 

Wolfe prepares everything the cast members need before each act. 

“Before each act, I am responsible for preparing everyone’s microphones and helping the actors put on their mic packs and wires,” Wolfe said. “We do a soundcheck before the beginning of act one.  At intermission, I am responsible for adjusting and fixing anyone’s microphones.  If there are any changes in microphones, I am responsible for switching them between actors.  At the end of the show, I put everything away and prepare them for the next day.” 

Orchestra members prepared for weeks leading up to the play.

“We had two practices after school and then two dress rehearsals and then the actual shows, so practicing and getting familiar with the music was kind of our responsibility since the dress rehearsals were mostly about learning the cues and the timings,” senior Hailey Selvage said. 

Preparing for the play involved many after school practices with and without the rest of the drama club.

“I went to the after school practices that Mrs. Detwiler held for us to go over the music that was needed to perform for the play,” senior Hannah McGuire said. “Then I went home and continued to practice my part even more.”

Performing in front of the crowd made Selvage feel the nerves. 

“It was nerve-wracking performing in front of the crowd,” Selvage said. “If we messed up it felt like everyone would blame the orchestra for ruining the play, but we just had to have support from each other to get through it confidently.”

As for McGuire, she felt as though it wasn’t scary. 

“For me, it wasn’t really scary because I have performed in front of large crowds before, but since it was for the play it was a little intimidating to get the cues right and not have the thought of messing up go through my head,” McGuire said. 

Members of the play made memories at the practices as the play slowly approached.

“For one thing, it was always a lot of fun to hang out with my friends,” Rokosky said. “Most of my friends are in the drama club so it was really interesting to see how the play evolves because, in the beginning, we thought we weren’t going to get this to work, and then by the end, you see everything coming together and you know it’s going to be a good show.”

“My favorite part about the rehearsals leading up to the show is getting the opportunity to come together with my friends and fellow castmates to have a good time putting the show together,” Cook said. “It is a lot of work to put on a play like ‘A Christmas Carol,’ but it is worth it, in the end, to see how much you have accomplished.”

Members had favorite parts of the play as well. 

“The best part of the play was all the effects and stage pieces that helped make the audience immersed in the play,” Noel said. 

“The best part of the play was hanging out backstage,” Pierannunzio said. “I got closer with a lot of my friends and even made new friends. Being on the stage was also fun and it’s just the whole friend aspect being fun.”