Every year, Millikan’s drama department puts on a fun musical for the school to enjoy. This year, that musical is Legally Blonde.
Even though opening night is Mar. 1, a lot of effort has already been put into the production of the musical as preparation has already begun. Before Winter Break, auditions, callbacks, and the casting process took place. Rehearsals started in earnest this January.
Mr. Bradecich, the Millikan Drama teacher, said, “My favorite thing about the way the musical is put together here at Millikan is that it’s a huge collaboration between the entire Performing Arts department, along with some outside help that we bring in.”
To put on the musical, Millikan’s performing arts department, music department, and stage crew come together to create the play. These different departments collaborate to include dancing and choreography, hand-built sets, musical accompaniment, and more in the musical.
Teachers working on the musical have some specific tasks to complete. Some specific responsibilities include securing the rights to perform the show, auditioning actors and orchestra members, and finding parents willing to volunteer during the show.
Students who auditioned for parts in the play, those who were in theater or stage crew classes, and those who were in the musical’s orchestra helped put Millikan’s musical together.
Play Production student Ashley Tem, a QUEST senior, shared that play production is making props, reading the script, preparing advertisements, working on makeup and more.
Advanced Theater student Sophia Zwilinger, a COMPASS junior, states, “[Stage Crew] is broken up into multiple crews.” These crews help with things such as building sets and are in charge of sound, lights, and microphones. All of this prep takes place during class hours, as well as after school.
With so much time being put into the musical, Millikan students have a great production and cast to look forward to. Be sure to look out for the school’s production of Legally Blonde, coming Mar. 1, 2, 8, and 9.
Grace Cozatt • Feb 16, 2024 at 1:31 pm
Richter’s article details exactly what goes into producing a musical at the high level that the Millikan performing arts departments put on. The article brings attention to the musical and spreads the word to the student population, which is always a benefit when writing an article of this nature. Even though the article is very useful, it spreads a great deal of misinformation about what goes on behind the scenes. The article wildly downplays the role that the teachers involved with the musical play. Not only do they handle the business aspects that come with producing a musical of this caliber, but they oversee every creative decision made and make many of these decisions themselves. I would’ve loved more description of the Play Production class. Play Production is split into different “crews” that each are tasked with a different job. The members of each crew are hand-selected by the head of the drama department the year prior and placed in the crew that best fits their skill set and passions. The way the article discusses the class leads the reader to believe that Play Production only plays a small role in the overall success in the musical, when in reality Play Production is in charge of sourcing the costumes, the props, the makeup, and marketing the show. This class works tirelessly and to undermine their efforts is a great disservice. Stage Crew is also a class that doesn’t require a year of theater. The quotes regarding stage crew would’ve held much more impact had they come from someone who was taking that class. The article also felt like it was lacking input from cast members. It would’ve brightened up the essay had there been a quote from “Elle Woods” about what work goes into leading an entire cast. Including actor testimonies would’ve helped many people outside of the theater world find more appreciation for the work done by the arts programs. Regardless of the inaccuracies, the essay is a very necessary step in the right direction for showing recognition for the arts programs that often go undervalued. What a fun read!
Harrison Bruechert • Feb 14, 2024 at 1:02 pm
On January 31, 2024, Allyson Richter published an article titled “Lights, Camera, Legally Blonde!”. The article commented on the several duties and responsibilities that those in theater programs have to prepare for plays. In regards to getting ready for the “Legally Blonde” reenactment, Richter quotes the Millikan Drama Teacher and the workforce behind the play, Millikan students. The author of the article does a fantastic job of keeping the audience interested and not holding them captive with a story that rambles on. In regards to tone, Richter presents the evidence with a neutral and informative one. One thing that the author could improve on would be providing examples to coincide the many tasks of the stage crew. For example, when stating “To put on the musical, Millikan’s performing arts department, music department, and stage crew come together to create the play. These different departments collaborate to include dancing and choreography, hand-built sets, musical accompaniment, and more in the musical.” (Richter), the author could include images of the aforementioned hand-built sets.
Eliana Tesfaye • Feb 14, 2024 at 12:59 pm
On January 29, 2024, Allyson Richter wrote an article titled “Lights, Camera, Legally Blonde!”. Richter initially begins her article by introducing Millikan’s yearly musical as Legally Blonde. This is extremely important because there tends to be confusion and miscommunication throughout the student body on what musical the school chooses. She then includes a quote from the Millikan drama teacher which establishes ethos. Her quote from a teacher who’s profession solely focuses on drama and acting gives her article credibility. The audiences of these amazing musicals never get to see the behind the scenes or which staff members have been putting in extra work to make the production as good as it is. With that being said, Richter’s article sheds light on all the amazing students and staff who don’t get the recognition they deserve just because they weren’t actors on the front stage.
My personal favorite feature of Richter’s well-written article is the use of a quote from one of Millikan’s own students. Her quote from a student references Millikan’s Stage Crew class that a majority of the student body doesn’t know much about. This quote is yet another informative feature of Richter’s article that helps readers know more about the works of Millikan Drama. Allyson Richter’s article clears many unanswered questions about the upcoming Legally Blonde musical.
Samantha Pemari Macanlalay • Feb 14, 2024 at 12:58 pm
Richter captures the audience by exciting them to look forward to Millikan’s upcoming school musical that is just in a few weeks. She provides the reader with good insight about the production and work it takes to make the Legally Blonde musical happen. Richter allows the audience to understand this more in depth by including quotes from various people who are a part of the making of the musical. One quote from Mr. Bradecich highlights how the musical allows the entire Performing Arts department and community in our school to come together. Ashley Tem, a QUEST senior, is quoted in the article giving more details on what Play Production does and COMPASS junior, Sophia Zwilinger, adds details on how to join Stage Crew and what they do for the musical. Richter also provides the show dates at the very end of her article which allows the audience to build up more excitement as well as prepare their plans to watch the musical. Overall, Richter’s article is very informative and builds anticipation for this big community event.
Natalia Duenas • Feb 14, 2024 at 10:47 am
This article beautifully highlights an amazing event happening soon at Millikan. Ritcher dives into the preparation of the production and elaborates on the efforts that are made backstage. Additionally, she includes a testimony from a student in the Play production class to make the article more relatable to the audience. She includes dates of when the musical will be premiering as well as previous dates of auditions and rehearsals indicating extensive preparation for the show. Although the article is about the musical coming soon, it would have been nice to know the show times on the premier dates in March. Furthermore, some background on the story of Legally Blonde would have been helpful to know as well. Even so, the article is a great way to bring attention to the upcoming show and bring awareness to all the work that has been poured into it.
Kylie Montiel • Feb 13, 2024 at 1:07 pm
Allyson’s article about Millikan’s upcoming musical displayed the care that our school has for the hard work that its students put in. She also advertised the drama club’s requirements for new members to participate in the future, while creating excitement for the new production. Allyson very smartly mixed pictures, quotes, and facts to introduce the drama department’s weeks and months of preparation that have been put in. The most impressive part of the article was the title as it was very clever and captured my attention as soon as I saw it.
Although the article informs the reader of the hard work and dedication put into the musical, an acknowledgement of specific lead members and crew might help the reader to better relate to the production. Once they can relate to the people that are involved it may encourage more students to want to watch and bring their friends.
Chukwuoma Uchegbulam • Feb 13, 2024 at 1:04 pm
On January 29th, 2024 Allyson Richter, Corydon’s feature editor, wrote an article called “ Lights, Camera, Legally Blonde!” Out of all of the articles I looked over, Allyson’s was definitely the most interesting and informative. The article served as a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to ensure our spring musicals run smoothly. This article also serves the purpose of getting people excited by our spring musical “Legally Blonde” where the mere mention of the title already has people hooked and ready to buy tickets. When talking about the work that goes into the play she didn’t just talk about the actors but also the combined force of the performing arts department and Millikan’s very own stage crew.
I truly do enjoy this article but their are some things that can help improve it. I feel like this article has the chance to improve itself through some additions. The addition of more interviews would help the article. Interviews with people from the cast, the orchestra in the pit, and even interviews with other teachers heavily involved in the musical would include more points of view and even deeper looks into the work that goes into the musical as a whole.
Zoe A Van Gessel • Feb 13, 2024 at 12:57 pm
Dear Corydon Editor,
To be completely honest I am in this show and in Play Production, so I love the advertising. However there is some false information within this article. In paragraph 8 a student states, “The Stage Crew is a class you can take if you have been in theater for at least one year.” This is false in which they are two separate programs. This claim applies to the Play Production class. Stage crew has an intro period and an advanced class. Also, the student who said this is not in stage crew making the source unreliable.
I do love the mention of some of the behind the scenes stresses, like buying rights and auditioning. I do think the author could expand on that more to clarify for readers who are not familiar with the theater process. Also the pictures could have been current sets, props, or rehearsals of the show rather than just the scenery of the auditorium. I love the mention of Play Production because that is an unknown department, who puts a lot in to the show, that majority of people don’t know about. A way to expand on that would be to mention what the class does. The class is split into four crews, hair and makeup, props, costumes, and multimedia.
Very smart of the author to put in the dates of when to see it for some additional promotion. Well done!
Sincerely,
Zoe Van Gessel