It’s a quiet November evening, and while an audience is chattily finding their way to their seats, FIS’s cast of Almost, Maine is ready and waiting, whispering and rushing around, making last minute hair and makeup changes. The ensemble has been preparing this performance for months, giving their all towards making a beautiful show.
“A normal rehearsal consists of a quick talk and a warm-up,” Zach, an actor from Cast Moose (the 9-10th grade cast) explains. “Then we go to one of our scene partners and practice with them. Around halfway through, we switch and practice with our partner from a different scene.”
“That’s how most rehearsals went,” Sukanya, another Cast Moose actor, agrees, “but near the end we had dress rehearsals and run-throughs, and those were in the auditorium.”
This is where the crew of the production came in; while the cast was preparing, the crew was finishing setting up any last-minute props.
“For example, there’s a painting that needs to be rewrapped before every show,” Sophia, one of the crew members, elaborates. “[Then we would] organize which set pieces go where on the stage.”
Then, the rehearsal would begin, and the actors would begin going through their scenes. They practiced each part, going through movements and intonation for each line until it was down pat. They also had to work at truly becoming their character.
“Another hard thing can be trying to adapt and become a character that you are not like at all,” Zach elaborates. “I played two parts, Pete from the prologue, interlogue and epilogue, [and] I also played Steve from the scene This Hurts.”
Sukanya also had to carefully craft her character, a woman named Rhonda from the scene Seeing the Thing. “She’s basically really tough and confident,” she explains. “She doesn’t understand what love is, and so in the process of the story she has to learn what love is.”
And so these actors put their heart and soul into really bringing these characters to life, finding the best ways to express their thoughts and beliefs. It’s certainly a challenge, but it’s overpowered by these student’s passion for what they do.
“I love theater and I make it a point to join every school theater production that there is,” Sukanya expressed. She loved “just getting to be a part of it”.
“My personal highlights was just how I managed to get two characters in this play. In past plays I have been in ensemble…and then this year I memorized and performed two characters,” Zach said. “The hardest part of rehearsing is always memorizing, it can get a little overwhelming but as soon as you have it all in your brain, it’s pretty breezy and easy.”
“It’s a big time commitment,” Sophia agrees, but she decided in the end her favorite part was, “being able to see the show so close up was really cool, because it’s a really, really good show.”
And it just so happens that this observation wasn’t just made by Sophia, but many others in the audience, the performances being intricate, heartfelt, and full of hope. And so as they take their final bow, all of their hard work finally having paid off, this ensemble can certainly say it was a job well done.
