Disney’s High School Musical is on stage
When accepting the offer to direct the upcoming musical at Minneota, it didn't take Aubree Cheadle long to decide on Disney's High School Musical.
"I had heard a lot of buzz about students wanting to do Disney's High School Musical," she explained.
"As I thought about it, I thought it would be a good fit for our students since the story is modern and relates to them. And many of them are already familiar with the music and story line from watching the Disney movie.”
Cheadle also said that an added benefit is that most of the characters in High School Musical are high school students.
"So in that regard, it's not too much of a stretch for students to play roles in the show," she added.
Cheadle, a 2010 Minneota graduate, has an abundance of theatrical experience. She directed “Anne of Green Gables” this past spring. This will be the first musical she has directed, although she has performed in six musicals (as well as five plays) while in high school and five musicals (also one play) in community theatres in Brookings and Lake Benton.
"Officially, I'm directing this show alone," said Cheadle. "However, I've been grateful to receive help from a handful of people with various aspects such as choreography and set building."
Disney's High School Musical tells the story of two high school students, Troy Bolton (played by Jacob Haen), who is the captain and star of the basketball team; and Gabriella Montez (played by Cecilia Rabaey), who is a new girl and a brainiac who is involved with her school's decathlon team. "
Troy and Gabriella fall for each other while stumbling into auditions for their school's musical," Cheadle said. "They both discover a love of singing, but they are conflicted when they discover that callbacks for the musical falls at the same time as a league championship basketball game, as well as the decathlon."
The lovebirds are pressured by friends to "Stick to the Status Quo" and stay true to what they know an not branch out and try new things. "I think the overall message of the show is a great message for students and is especially relevant in a small school, such as ours," said Cheadle, a stay-at-home mother who also is a substitute teacher at the high school.
"It's a good reminder to students that it's okay if you want to play basketball and sing, and really be true to yourself in all your areas of interest." Costuming this particular musical required students to look into their own closets.
"Luckily, most of our costumes were pretty easy to track down as the show takes place in modern American high school," explained Cheadle. "Most of the cast has found costume pieces from their own wardrobe to fit with the clique they're playing in the show.”
"There were a few pieces, such as basketball uniforms, that we purchased from Lac qui Parle Valley High School, who did this show a few years ago. The rest were found online or at thrift stores."
Rehearsals were typically held on weeknights, although the cast met for a few weekend practices to make up for rehearsals having to be postponed due to football and volleyball games and other conflicts. With her extensive theatrical experience, Cheadle was able to come up with the ideas for most of the set designs for this musical.
"Jeff Van Keulen was the chief architect in making it all come to life," she said. "Along with a handful of students who gladly lent a hand to help build the sets.”
"I tried to think of a set that could be used in various ways that would be versatile enough to use for the whole show, so we could portray various locales within the school with minimal set changes."
One of the things those in attendance will notice is a lot of red and white colors. "The set itself highlights the red and white school colors in the show," Cheadle noted. "You will see a lot of these colors in the show from the sets to the costumes, highlighting the iconic East High Wildcat colors made famous in the movie."
Cast list
THE JOCKS
Troy Bolton – Jacob Haen
Chad Danforth – Thomas Hennen
Zeke Baylor – Nolan Boerboom
Jason – Mitchell Rost
Other jocks – Jacob Hennen, Jared Josephson, Cole Sanow
THE THESPIANS
Sharpay Evans – Natalie Bot
Ryan Evans – Jackson Jeremiason
James – Ben Engels
Susan – Rachel Vlaminck
Cathy – Joey Clark
Allie – Sylvia Rabaey
Cyndra – Reese Gillund
Performance Arts kids – Audra Buysse, Isabelle Hennen, Katie Landrus, Samantha Landrus
THE BRAINIACS
Gabriella Montez – Cecilia Rabaey
Taylor McKessie – Emma Lipinski
Martha Cox – Kimberly Bloch
Kratnoff – Zachary Van Keulen
Other brainiacs – Klaire Banks, Jodi Buysse, Abby Hennen, Morgan Hennen, Olivia Mahan-Deitte, Abigail Rost, Madison Sorensen.
THE SKATERS
Ripper – Joseph Verschelde
Mongo – Sophia Fischer
Other skater – Cora Fischer
OTHER STUDENTS
Jackie Scott – Autumn Dovre
Kelsi Nelson – Therese Speltz
Wildcat cheerleaders – Lizzy Gillingham, Morgan Kockelman, Sydney Larson, Brooklyn Nelson, Emily Pohlen.
THE ADULTS
Ms. Darbus – Tara Thooft
Coach Bolton – Brenden Kimpe