This April, Williston High School’s drama department will be putting on a musical production of Beauty and the Beast. The cast is very excited to be putting on a production of this size; however, getting in wasn’t a walk in the park. 

Susie Shug, a junior reports, “To get into the musical, I had to learn and memorize a song, and learn and memorize two monologues.” This is just the first step. After your audition, you still have to be selected for the musical by a panel of directors, and then given a role, and there is no guarantee that you will get the role you want. 

Shug states “I got the old beggar woman, no I didn’t get the role I wanted but I am content with what they chose.” Once you get in, there is a lot of preparation that goes into putting together a musical on and off the stage. Savanna Olsen shared about the steps she has been taking to prepare for the spring. “I am currently participating in the winter play Puffs and all of those practices help to prepare me, I am also participating in 2 choir classes.”

When asked about how the cast is going to do with this big of an opportunity and this much pressure, Olsen shares, “I think they are going to do just fine. Everybody seems to know the importance of this show, so I think they will put in a lot of effort to make it the best they can.” It not only takes a good cast but also a good director. 

“He is very unorganized but knows what he is doing” documents Shug, “And is good at making people take things seriously.” Even with a good director though, there are still challenges the actors face every day. 

“The hardest part of theater is being able to keep focus through the long practices and rehearsals.” Even with all of the challenges, this school has dedicated members of the musical and they will put in as much work as needed to create a flawless production in time for the show in April.