Northern Utah high school actors take the stage in November
"Blithe Spirit" opens at Layton High School Nov. 5.
"Singing in the Rain" is the musical at Weber High School, opening Nov. 6.
"Xanadu" plays at Northridge High School beginning Nov. 12.
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EDITORS NOTE: This is the first of two stories that will run over the next two weeks previewing high school musicals and plays showing through the month of November.
OGDEN – Lovers of the theater will have their plates full this month with more than 19 high school musicals and/or plays to see at nearly every high school in Davis, Weber, Ogden and Box Elder school districts.
All types of shows ranging from comedies and love stories to serious themes will be on display.
Shows will be starting over the next three weekends and high school theater teachers are thrilled to show what their students have to offer.
Mark Daniels, theater teacher at Weber High School, is excited for the community to see what his kids have been working on since early summer with “Singin’ in the Rain.”
Tap lessons were offered all summer long, he said.
“She was very shy and had never danced or sang in public,” Daniels said, of Becky Christensen who had just moved to the area from living in Asia all her life while her father served in the military.
She worked hard and now has one of the lead roles.
“She had this clear, beautiful voice and (I) knew she could do it,” he said.
Daniels has loved how the other students have welcomed her and how well things have come together, he said.
Christensen said she always loved theater, but had never been able to perform in such a big way. She taught herself how to dance, and so when the chance came up for her to audition for the show she wanted to try it.
“It is one of my very favorite musicals so I was so excited,” Christensen said. “Dancing is just something you have fun doing as well (as) singing, so this has been such a great experience,” she said.
Weber High’s show will also have a live orchestra, a cast of 138 as well as a few hundred gallons of water on stage at each performance.
Musicals aren’t the only thing going on stage — a few schools will be offering plays this season, such as Layton High School’s performance of “Blithe Spirit.” The show will be performed in a smaller theater at the school and has a cast of about seven. This year theater director Rachel Helwig decided to try something new and asked a newly-married Layton alumni couple to come and direct the play.
Alex Young and Candra Alvey Young were very involved in the theater in their years at Layton High School, so Helwig thought they would be the perfect fit to work with her current high school students. The two graduated in 2012.
Alex said a show like “Blithe Spirit,” which is a bit spooky, gives the chance for students to act like something they are not.
“We loved that feeling as Layton High students ourselves, so we wanted to give these kids the same opportunity that we had,” he said. ‘We couldn’t be happier to be directing at Layton High School. We love this school, and are so blessed to be with the cast we have.”
Other shows are pushing limits with something a little new or different like Northridge High School’s production of “Xanadu.”
Northridge theater director Jana Coates said she had always been told to never do the musical “Xanadu.” So since then, she couldn’t shake the idea of doing that very show. Coates remembers listening to the movie soundtrack in her parent’s station wagon growing up and loving it, but remembered the movie to be pretty silly. The musical is different.
“It is a parody of the movie we all loved and hated back in 1980 starring Olivia Newton John,” Coates said. “The movie was cheesy, and poorly written, but the music was phenomenal.”
When she presented the idea to her students they loved it and ran with it.
Below is a listing of shows that start next weekend and some into the next week:
- ’Blithe Spirit'
Layton High School Little Theater, 440 Wasatch Drive, Layton
Runs Nov. 5, 6, 7, 12, 13 and 14 starting at 7 p.m.
To purchase tickets go to www.lhsproductions.com, call 801-402-4888 or purchase at the door the day of the performance. Tickets are $8 for adults, $7 for seniors, $6 for children under 12, and $5 for students.
- ’Aida'
Syracuse High School Little Theater, 665 S. 2000 West, Syracuse
Runs Nov. 5, 6, 7, 9, 13, 14, 16 with student night Nov. 11. Show starts at 7 p.m. with a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday performances.
Purchase tickets online at www.easysite.com/titantheatre or at the door; $8 for adults, $5 for students. Student night tickets are $3 for students.
The play stars Jessop Oliver as Radames, Emma Ray as Amneris, and Mallory Thomas as Aida.
- ’Urinetown'
Ben Lomond High School, 1080 9th St., Ogden
Runs Nov. 6, 7 and 9 starting at 7:30 p.m.
Purchase tickets at the door; $7 for adults, $5 for students.
Chase Tocher stars as Cladwell, Sunny Townsend as Pennywise, Tori Bartholemew as Hope, and Jaden Wheeler as Bobby.
Warning: This play deals with death, killing and other PG-13 subjects.
- ’Singin’ in the Rain'
Weber High School, 430 Weber High Drive, Pleasant View
Runs Nov. 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14 and 16.
Purchase tickets at the door; $10 adults, $8 students and seniors. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.weber.wsd.net.
The play features Casey Bond as Cosmo Brown, Becky Christensen as Kathy Seldon, and Tanner McKay as Don Lockwood.
- ’The Addams Family'
Clearfield High School, 931 S. 1000 E. Clearfield
Show runs Nov. 11, 12, 13 and 14.
Purchase tickets at the door; $8 for adults, $5 for students. If tickets are purchased at the main office there is a $1 discount.
- ’Xanadu'
Northridge High School, 2430 North Hillfield Road, Layton
Show runs November 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18 and 20 at 7 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.davis.k12.ut.us/711 or by emailing nhsboxofficetix@gmail.com. They can also be purchased at the door. $8 adults, $7 seniors and $6 for students.
