Carterville high school’s spring musical wrapped up its final show last Saturday. The comically dark show featured the talents of many high school and junior high students both on and off stage. The musical was well received by the students and the public with many Carterville students saying it was the best musical they have seen so far. “Little Shop of Horrors was a very exciting musical to watch. Our classmates did an amazing job and they are very talented,” sophomore Addison Schnicker said.
Even with the success of the musical there were challenges. One of the most difficult challenges was the crew rotating the entire set during a short period of time when the lights were off. The process of rotating the set required a lot of patience and teamwork to successfully move the set into the correct place. Some of the cast members leant a helping hand when the crew needed help rotating the set piece. “Moving the big set piece around the stage when it was dark was difficult, but after a few rehearsals practicing moving it around, we were ready to move it during the shows in front of everyone,” sophomore Ruthie Hornik said.
Even with the challenges of the show, the performances went on without too many issues. The first performance with an audience was a senior preview. This show was performed in front of a small but very enthusiastic crowd. Even with the addition of an audience, the cast performed with any trace of nervousness despite the pressure of presenting their hard work to the public for the very first time.
After the success of the very first show the cast and crew came back to the stage the next day to perform for the smallest audience yet, Tri-C and the intermediate school. Because of some of the more mature topics in the show the younger kids watched a preview of the show. This preview featured songs and dance numbers from the show as well as interviews with the cast and crew. The kids were walked through the process of how the plant puppets worked during the show.
After the second day of shows the full performance runs were performed in front of the junior high and the high school and after those two performances the first full public performance. After a long day of performing the cast and crew finally got a day to rest for a while before performing the very last show. The end of the show was bittersweet for the seniors who took their last bow ever on the Carterville high school stage. While some will not be able to return for next year’s musical, the memories made will stay with the cast and crew for years to come.
