Palmer High stages classic musical

April 1, 2005

CASEY RESSLER/Frontiersman Valley Life Editor

Seniors in the Palmer High School drama department picked a musical way to end their school careers, as the curtain rises on "Guys and Dolls" this weekend.

The musical is being directed by longtime Valley Performing Arts artistic director Grant Olson, and features a cast of about 35 and a student orchestra of approximately 15 members, under the musical direction of Stan Harris.

Cast members said this performance is much more technically challenging than last year's musical, "Bye Bye Birdie."

"There, we could act like teen-agers, because we played teen-agers," said LouAnne Harris, a PHS senior who plays Adelaide in "Guys and Dolls." "Here, we are playing regular roles that are a lot more mature than last year. The singing and dancing are a lot more technical, too."

Heather Sheldon, another senior, plays Sarah Brown. She said she knew she wanted to be a part of "Guys and Dolls" after watching the movie.

"I had never seen the movie before, and as soon as I watched it, I thought, 'That part is made for me,'" Sheldon said. "I love playing Sarah Brown."

Rehearsals have been going well for the production, although there was a 10-day hiatus during the peak of rehearsals. A majority of the cast and the orchestra went to the Caribbean over spring break, as part of a "working vacation." The layoff came at an inopportune time, but it hardly set the production back.

"We made sure we sang and danced on the cruise," Sheldon said.

Harris said that she couldn't have picked a better production for which to close her high school career.

"It's my favorite musical of all time, and I've always wanted to play Adelaide," Harris said. "It's always been an ambition to play her. It's a big way to end as seniors - the big she-bang."

The show opened Thursday and plays tonight and Saturday at PHS during the first of two weekends' worth of performances.

Next week, shows are presented again on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

All performances are at 7 p.m.