Bloomington High School North, Nikean, 2006, Page 41

Description:	Some of the Jets - junior Alex Moseman,and seniors Chris Morrison and NickPhilbeck - sit around a table outside Docsstore talking about the Sharks. The dancehas just taken place the night before, andthe Sharks are about to come out toarrange a meeting with the Jets.While in rehearsal freshman Nathan Pratt,seniors Andi Dema and Chris Morrison, andsophomore Perry loannides practice theirdance moves. These boys were apart of theJets gang. During this scene the Jets weretalking about the upcoming dance wherethe Sharks would be too.In November of 2005, a casting call was made for theclassic play West Side Story, which would be performed inthe spring of 2006. Due to the huge turn out of talentedactors, the decision to have double casts was made for theplay.The main characters of West Side Story were Maria andTonv played by seniors Alison Stake, Ben Lawson, and DavidWhitaker and junior Annie Walters.Walters started acting at the age of 9. The first play sheacted in was Annie, where she found her calling to continuefor the next eight years.Walters has only been apart of one other play (which wasDamn Yankees) during her freshman year. When WestSide Story was announced as the play for spring of 2006,Walters decided to try out.The castings were in November and the practices weresporadic at first, but then three weeks before the performanceit was everyday until 10 p.m. where the casts did run-throughs of the play.On April 13 no scripts were allowed in practice and WaltersKelsey Butcheradmitted that she procrastinated, but memorized the linesin one weekend. One of the things Walters said she has cometo appreciate is getting to know other cast members better,on a more personal level.Walters also said the multiple casts allowed everyone toexpand more on the role in which they were cast.It was very good because you have two people puttingtheir own interpretations into a character, and you can helpeach other out, Walters said.With two casts, the North students put in many hoursperfecting this challenging play. Some students had to playtwo different roles. The characters were changed dependingon which cast was performing.Each night the opposite cast from the night before wouldhave practice. Rehearsal consisted of singing in the choirroom before changing into costumes to put the lines with themusical numbers. Due to Walters main character role asMaria, she only had to learn one part.Walters said she enjoyed playing Maria and may possiblycontinue acting or be involved with music in the future.Story by Leeanna Craig and Kelsey ButcherNorth Side StoryTheatre 41
Source:	http://cdm17129.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/hs-bloomnorth/id/5845
Collection:	Bloomington High School North

Further information on this record can be found at its source.