By, Maggee Bleyer (Reporter for Music Department and Interact Club)
Week 6
EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!
Imagine: a world without news to read. That is what the newsies are challenging! The strike purges on as practices grow more intense. With each practice, the cast members are drawing closer and closer to the grand opening night of Newsies--and they are thrilled!
Without music and sound, there is no musical! Jaden Norrick, senior, and Molly Rafferty, freshman, have been partnered up to work on sound control for Newsies. This senior-freshman duo know all of the little details when it comes to displaying music and other technical items for musicals. Since Jaden is graduating this spring, Molly will be the next person in control of the music and sound in musicals throughout her high school career. Jaden’s mentoring and Molly’s understanding have, together, blossomed into a wonderful friendship.
Even though I’ve been in musicals forever, like many cast members in the show, I have never really understood the technicalities when it comes to sound control. Cast members sing, act, and dance along to the instruments unfolded by Jaden and Molly. This multi-talented duo is one of the many key ingredients to making Newsies shine. Out of curiosity, I asked this duo, “How long have you been doing sound and what is it like?”
Jaden: “I started doing music for the musicals my freshman year. I was trained to take over for the senior before me, similarly what Molly is doing with me right now.”
Molly: “I’ve been doing sound for about three months. I worked on sound control during auditions and I’m working for the production of Newsies. I’m currently an apprentice for Jaden. Once she graduates, I will take over. It’s a lot of fun to work on sound, especially with Jaden, and it’s enjoyable to explore this type of ‘behind-the-scene’ action in the musical.”
I then asked, “Do you perform other activities to help the production of Newsies besides sound control?”
Jaden: “Along with sound and music, I also do daily attendance for practices, lights and locks, score studies, and anything else Mrs. Mandrell asks me.”
Molly: “I help Jaden run the music, even though my technical job is to run the sound effects. For example: when there’s a noise for a bell ringing in the show, it’s my job to make sure that specific sound effect delivers at the right time. I also run a few errands.”
My next question was, “What is your favorite thing about musicals?”
Jaden: “My favorite thing about the MCHS musicals is definitely the bonds and little inside jokes that are formed from months of practice together. Those are the things I’m going to remember when I look back at this time of my life.”
Molly: “I love listening to the actors and actresses sing! I love the songs.”
Knowing that these two girls pair so well, I questioned Jaden and Molly, “What do you like about each other?”
Jaden: “I love Molly so much! My favorite thing about her is how funny she is. I wasn’t expecting it. She’s pretty reserved but so funny and smart. She’s also very responsible and attentive. I’m glad we picked her to be my trainee. I’m really excited to see what the next three years have in store for her. I think she has a bright future in the MCHS Music Department!”
Molly: “She’s so much fun to be around! I love how fun she is and how much she makes me laugh. We laugh a lot.”
Every year beautiful backdrops sweep the stage of the MCHS auditorium. These backdrops take the audience into the time period to set the stage for the musical! However, these backdrops are not easy to manage. Elijah Gill, junior (newsie: Race), Jonas Martin, senior (newsie: Jack) and Jack Marvell, senior (newsie: Albert), are the three main guys who focus on these backdrops. This involves lots of hardwork and discipline. Most of this action, especially during production week, has the trio work after hours or even early in the morning to set these backdrops on stage.
I asked Elijah and Jack how difficult is it to set the backdrops and if they have fun doing what they do?
Elijah & Jack: “It’s not too difficult. Putting the sets up isn’t too tough. Getting them up the scaffolding, which we put together, is a little tiresome, but it’s rewarding to know you got them all up there. When it comes to changing the sets, it gets repetitive. You need to be taught how to do it. Making sure what you’re doing and if you, yourself, are safe is really important. We have to get here early during production week and we don’t leave the school until a late time. One time, Angelica Bobbitt, who is in charge of us, brought us pizza and a bunch of water bottles on a day where we were in the auditorium for an extensive amount of time. It was really nice and felt rewarding. She helps us out, just like some of the friends that give us support, like Brennan Lathrop (Wiesel and Stage Manager). He gives us company when we need it. He’s one of the factors that make this whole process a bit more fun than it may appear. We all get to hang out with each other and set up scrims and other items valuable to the MCHS musical.
Newsies is sure to make you feel a sense of excitement and rebellion all in one. These cast members have a lot of work to do to make this riveting musical come to life. Newsies is coming to life March 26th-29th. Stay tuned for more weekly story updates about the musical.