It’s 10 minutes before the preview performance begins Thursday morning at West Middle School. Adults with booming voices summon students to the stage for primping and preening. High-energy teens and pre-teens scramble up and down the stage’s stairs in costume while curious fifth graders from nearby Sunset Hill Elementary School file into their seats. With actors wearing masks, mic checks require a bit more effort than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic.
There’s no sugar-coating this scene. It’s pure, loud chaos.
With two casts and two endings, there’s a lot to keep organized in West Middle School’s all-school play, “The Walking Dwarves.” More than 100 actors and crew members contribute to the production. It’s the first in-person, all-school play at WMS with an in-the-seats audience in two years, so it’s also a celebration.
Navigating the WMS Junior Players along the path are Brian Williams, director, and Hank Rischar, assistant director.
A teacher for 23 years, Williams described the play as a “great experience” where classic fairytale creatures become zombies. “It’s so fun to watch the kids grow and improve. They’re so enthusiastic about it. You can tell they’re proud of what they’re doing. The arts in schools is such an important thing for kids. I’m glad we could have this many kids involved, on- and off-stage.”
Eighth grader Alex Kerr, a stage manager, said the alternative endings contributed to the production’s fun. “It’s a different cast, so you get four experiences. I feel like that’s really gonna help ticket sales.”
This morning, the Wanderer cast members prepare to take the stage for the preview. They’ll give the Sunset Hill visitors a taste of the experience they might have should they elect to participate in theater and drama next year.
Sarah Rahija, a building substitute teacher and costumer, helps seventh grader Abel Hegeman, who plays Spot, the Queen’s lackey. A self-described “drama mama,” Rahija adjusts Abel’s belt saying, “Bend down and see if it works.”
Williams offers one last pep talk before the actors take their places. “Remember,” Williams advised. “Make your entrances, enunciate, slow down …”
The youth scatter, and within a few minutes, soft mysterious music pipes into the auditorium. Like a switch, the chaos fades away and the preview begins.
“The Walking Dwarves” features a menagerie of classic fairytale characters, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarves; Cinderella and her stepsisters; Hansel and Gretel; Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf; Old MacDonald; and the Three Little Pigs.
The scheming Magic Mirror, played by Cami Lee and Olive Minor, works in tandem with the queen to poison her subjects. Meanwhile, the Queen pursues her “spicy meatball” Prince Brawny (Carlisle Sanchez and Elliot Ramsey). The evil duo stirs up mayhem and laughs as they plot to kill. Played by Landry Koester and Mimi Wood, the Queen ponders whether murdering her rival is really the best way to get rid of her competition. “But then who will I watch ‘The Bachelor’ with?” she asks the Magic Mirror amid chuckles from the audience.
Between scenes, stagecrafters wheel scenery and props back and forth and change lighting. They make last-minute adjustments, too, as evidenced by the drill heard whirring backstage. Large puppets in the form of birds, a cow and a sheep take their spots in front of towering trees.
If the trees in the backdrop have a familiar vibe, it’s because they were created by Jessica Miescher-Lerner’s sixth grade flex and enrichment classes in collaboration with the West Junior Players and two eighth grade flex classes. Students of Mrs. ML (as she’s known at West) helped make trees for the Mass Street Kitten Academy last year.
This time, the play ends in a raucous dance party. As the cast and crew members bow, the Sunset Hill students erupt in cheers and claps.
The WMS Junior Players will take the stage four more times in performances open to the public. The “Happy Ending” shows occur at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday night, Nov. 18 and 19; the “Not-so-Happy Ending” productions take place at 1 and 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20.
Tickets are $5 at the WMS door, 2700 Harvard Road. For more information about the Junior Players and their scheduled performances, visit this link.
After each show, attendees are invited to enjoy slices of pie for $2 each.
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Tricia Masenthin (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at tmasenthin (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
More coverage of Lawrence Public Schools:
Maya Hodison/Lawrence Times
Molly Adams / Lawrence Times
