Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
The cast of the school play 'Robin Hood'.
Friar Tuck, played by Trevor King, in his first encounter with Robin Hood, played by David Eldridge, resulted in a fencing fight to gain the upper hand. This year's school play has received rave reviews, from the excellent cast to all those who directed and produced this performance.
This year's school musical at the Odessa schools was one of the best we have witnessed on the stage of the multi-purpose room. The singing, the acting, the costumes and staging were all very well done. Something new this year, though, was the youngsters in the crowd scenes who were coached to act as if they were doing something as part of the scene, not just stand and stare at the audience or the other performers. It was a very nice touch, and the kids involved were given an opportunity to do more than just stand on stage and sing when required.
David Eldridge played the lead role of Robin Hood. As last year in Bugsy Malone, he exhibited an excellent command of the script, never missing a cue. And although last year's performance saw him struggle a bit through some of the music as his voice was changing, this year he put forth a very fine, deep baritone that was on key, well-projected and a delight to listen to. His use of a British accent was also spot on, as they say over there across the big pond.
Adding levity to the production were the performances of Jacob DeWulf and Trevor King as the Sheriff of Nottingham and Friar Tuck, respectively. Both have developed good stage presence and improved their singing ability over the years that they have been involved with the musical.
The female leads also showed themselves to be more at ease upon the stage. Molly Schafer as Maid Marian, Katie DeWulf as Lady Merle, Marlee Eldridge as the wife of the Sheriff and Jenna Shafer as Annabel all did an excellent job despite some missed cues here and there. Maddie Scrupps as Salome was delightful in the role.
The performance was unmarred by any major mishaps, and as we alluded to earlier, the singing overall was much improved.
The performance was the final one for director Ellen Holman, who has decided to move on to other things. Julie Wehr assisted her this year and will take over those duties next year. Craig Holman will continue in his duties as stage director. Assisting him were Katelyn Worley as stage manager and the stage crew of Brianna Johnson, Alyssa Iverson, Shelbey Watkins, Ilan Coberly and Nathan Melcher.
Also helping with the production were Marcus Horak, sound system; Julie Wehr, costumes; Jan Webster, Jesse Kuchenbuch and members of the Jr./Sr. High School, props and staging; Lecia Fink, Sara Dirks, Victoria Collins and Camille Eldridge, makeup and hair; Maria Schuh and her art students, publicity; Kyle Tebow, the program and Terri King, video/photography.
The Parent/Teacher Organization (PTO) provided snacks for rehearsals, and Danielle and Jason Scrupps bought Subway sandwiches for the crew at the dress rehearsal. The production was truly a community effort.
Reader Comments(0)