The theatre department’s new play, “Anastasia”, is set to release on November 7-17.
“I auditioned for Anastasia because I’ve been doing shows for a long time and have done all the shows here at Weber for the past couple of years,” senior Natalia Bingham said.
Bingham isn’t the only returning face for “Anastasia” however. Senior Abigail Hunt is working as stage manager, a role she said she worked hard for. The role of stage manager is a little different from an acting role.
“Last year, I had to be the assistant stage manager for two shows, so I could train to be the stage manager in this one,” Hunt said. “So it’s a little bit different than walking in, singing, or acting. It’s a little bit more time consuming.
You have to build your reputation and experience up to become one.”
The show means a lot to the cast, but the question everyone has been wondering still remains. Why “Anastasia”? Unlike many animated princess films of its era, “Anastasia” never had a massive following. When “Anastasia” was released it earned $140 million on a budget of $52 million, nowhere near the earnings of “Hercules” which was made the same year but made $252.7 million worldwide on a budget of $85 million.
“You have to look at the students you have coming in, and if they’re able to do the parts that are required in a show,” theatre teacher Mark Daniels said. “You also have to look for something audiences and the community wants to come and watch. Those two things together made our team pick ‘Anastasia’.”
The show kicked off auditions in May, towards the end of the last school year.
“You usually cast shows in August when school starts, but we started casting in May, because we wanted to build a lot of brand new costumes for the show,” Daniels said. “We had our costume designers building stuff and sewing stuff all summer long because our costumes, you can’t just find at the DI or somewhere at Savers.”
Anyone looking to be cast in ‘Anastasia’ was put through a gauntlet of auditions ultimately culminating in Bingham getting the leading role as Anastasia.
“We just went in, they called our name, did the cut, and then we went back,” Bingham said. “So the guys had a cut and the girls had a cut, and then we got called back and that’s when we did like scenes from the show, lines and stuff.”
Their effort doesn’t end with the auditions though. Actors must attend daily rehearsals where they would work to polish the dialogue, songs, and dances for “Anastasia”. Stage management also has to work around the clock for the show, in a role that is often underappreciated by the general audience.
“During the show, I keep my running crew in check and make sure they are all on time moving scenes and props on and off stage, and just making sure everything runs smoothly for the actors,” Hunt said.
Tickets for ‘Anastasia’ are set to go on sale on Oct. 6.
“The show is written beautifully and there are songs that people might not know that weren’t in the movie, [but] there’s a lot that’s still from the movie,” Bingham said. “I love it, I’m very grateful.”
