OSHS’ Chicago: Behind the Scenes!

Have you ever wondered how the yearly musical develops from short after school practices to a full fledged show? If so, you’re in the right place! This year’s musical, Chicago, mostly consists of after school rehearsals. Towards the beginning, it is mostly cast members learning the songs, lines, and choreography for the musical. This is led by dRAMa directors Dr. Milton and Mrs. Willis, who focus on scenes and songs, as well as choreography director Mrs. Patterson. The music is learned in the chorus room with Dr. Milton, the scenes and occasional line prompts are done with Mrs. Willis in the auditorium, and the choreography is also done in the auditorium by Mrs. Patterson. The next stage of the process is putting music, dancing and lines all on stage in full scenes; this is also roughly when the stage managers join the rehearsals. They take notes and learn how the musical operates so that they can successfully run it during tech week and the actual performances. However, this stage quickly turns into running full acts in one rehearsal, act 1 in one rehearsal and act 2 in another. These stages are where the rest of the crew come in. The crew consists of many different parts backstage. The sound crew, the lighting crew, the props crew, the set design crew, the costume design crew, and the stage managers. Their jobs range from learning certain cues in tech booth, to designing, buying, reusing, or making sets, costumes and props. Of course, the next and most stressful stage is the dreaded TECH WEEK. These are the longest and most intense rehearsals. They often run from the second school gets out at 2:45pm to 10:00 or 10:30pm. This is when everything (hopefully) falls into place. Everyday is a full run through with the whole cast and crew. Finally, there’s the stage everyone has been waiting for…the actual performance! This year, OSHS’ Chicago will be on March 5th, 6th, and 7th. But, now that all of the different stages have been explained, which one is the most crucial for the outcome of the musical? Well who better to ask than the head honchos themselves, Mrs. Willis and Dr. Milton. From Dr. Milton’s perspective, he states, “It depends on what part of the process we’re in. Because right now, we’re singing through the songs, learning the parts and recording them. However once we’re on stage and all that and we get the orchestra, (that I pay for), my main focus is conducting”. Similar to Dr. Milton, Mrs. Willis’ response was, “I would say the most important part is assembling the team of people including teachers and students. Everything stems from having the right people. Picking the right show for the students acting wise, singing wise, etc. Finding the right team is what ultimately makes a great show. When it comes to the adults, we look for the right people to lead certain parts of the musical, like choreography. For the kids, we try to see which kids like art and set design, kids who like sound and lighting, kids who like to design costumes, etc”. It seems like the two directors are in agreement that the musical can’t be narrowed down to one most important stage. Rather it’s a process that takes everyone involved to complete in the end.  So,If you want to support your fellow students and all of the love they’ve poured into this process, consider coming to see OSHS’ spring musical, Chicago!