By Karmendy Miller
The Guyer theater program has proved to be the place where the most talented, artistic, imaginative, committed students meet. The different job opportunities theater offers to the students are unique and very important to perform a show. The actors that are onstage prevail as the storytellers of the show, while backstage there are technicians managing Illumination, props, sound system, and the set transitions; all these jobs come together to make the magic of the theater happen.
Throughout the school year, the program schedules a musical during the fall season and a One-Act Play for the Spring. This year was an exception. The Guyer community was able to enjoy two musicals: Beauty and the Beast and Anastasia. Both stories were beautifully portrayed to show the students hard work and talent. Beauty and the Beast was children focused theater and had more of a younger audience while Anastasia is based in a historic event and provided a more realistic setting, attracting more of the adult audience.
For the One-Act-Play, which also serves as their production to participate in the University Interscholastic League (UIL). The Guyer Theater produced HAMLET. This tragedy, written by William Shakespeare between the years 1599 and 1601, helped the students learn authentic literature and groundbreaking new vocabulary within the story. The UIL competition rules are extremely demanding, the production team has to prepare the set in seven (7) minutes. They have 40 minutes to execute their performance and finally seven (7) minutes to take down the set and leave the scenario ready for the following production. Guyer’s theater training and excellence granted them to be selected for the Area competition.
Some of the actors that competed in this competition are Darren Sanders as Hamlet, Zack Dooley as Claudius, Bailey Mercer as Gertrude, Ella Eavenson as Horatio, Corbin Stogner as Marcellus, Noah Watson as Bernardo, Corbin Ross as Laertes, Emma Grace Freeman as Ophelia, Lucas Vandiver as Polonius, Anna Landolfo as Rosencrantz, Cristian Cendejas as Guildenstern, and Maddee, Young, Hanna Haddad, Emma Tull, Olivia McDonald as the Ensemble. The technical crew includes Megan Murello as stage manager, Maddie Jackson as prop designer and assistant stage manager, Roseanna Medlock with projections, Brayden Dorman with lights, and Anna Quigley with sounds.
In Beauty and the Beast, Emma Grace Freeman and Corbin Ross played as Belle and the Beast. The actors for the enchanted items inside the castle are Darren Sanders as Lumiere, Ella Eavenson as Mrs. Potts, Maddee Young as Chip, Lucas Vandiver as Cogsworth, Anna Landolfo as Babette, Bailey Mercer as Madame de la Grande Bouche. The father of Belle, Maurice, was played by Zack Dooley and Gaston and Lefou were played by Akintola Akinniyi and Cristian Cendejas. There is also the technical crew for Beauty and the Beast which are Roseanne Medlock, Brayden Dorman, Anna Quigley, Chloe Ross, and Kaelyn Jackson.
For Anastasia, Corbin Ross played Dimitri who is the love interest and is one of the male leads and Bailey Mercer played Anastasia/Anya. The actors for the royal family are Ella Eavenson as the Dowager Empress, Darren Sanders as Tzar Nicholas ll, Anna Landolfo as Tsarina Alexandra, Ava Hernandez as little Anastasia, Maddee Young as Teenage Anastasia, Megan Murello as Olga Romanov, Maddie Jackson as Tatiana Romanov, Hanna Haddad as Maria Romanov, and Noah Watson as Alexei Romanov. Some other main characters are Lucas Vandiver as Vlad, Emma Grace Freeman as Countess Lily, and Zack Dooley as Gleb. There is also the technical crew for Anastasia, which is Roseanna Medlock, Brayden Dorman, Anna Quigley, Chloe Ross, Kaelyn Jackson, Makayla Verhelle, Nevaeh Elder, Yahaira Garcia, Isabella Carreon, and Grace Kivlehan.
In an interview with the Guyer Wire, theater actors and technicians answered questions related to their performances, the learned skills and their future in theater. The theater arts director Mrs. Crotwell joined in the interview and provided her insight to the work these actors and technicians do for the program. “Students have a lot of initiative and passion. We come very early in the morning on Saturdays to prepare for the students to find that they are already here,” is what Mrs. Crotwell had said and she is very proud of all of her students for their commitment and passion for the program.
Some advice that upperclassmen have from incoming students is “Stick with it, even when it gets stressful. Be welcoming to others. Everyone has differences and together we learn and grow with them.” Corbin Ross added “Incoming freshmen usually adjust really well and are welcomed with advice, guidance, and open arms.”
The students expressed their commitment to theater and shared many memories that they have made while in their years at Guyer. Some of the best memories come from “opening night for every show” to “late tech nights” which was said by Maddee Young and Roseanna Medlock. These are things that each student holds dear to their heart and love about the program.
During a performance, the actors go through a process to get ready for each night, this process consists of getting into a mindset that is focused and prepared even when the actors are still in the dressing room. These helped the students learn from different types of theater and they grew with the experience and opportunities that were provided during the school year.
Guyer theater is home to all of these talented students and takes pride in their family-like community. Each year a new group makes and experiences new memories and creates new friendships with others, whether it be incoming freshmen or uprising seniors. This program is an exceeding group and is very excited for the 2023-2024 season.
Picture taken from the production of Beauty and the Beast, shows Belle and the prince when he is transformed into a human.
