The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

Search site

Successful musical to add to the 2015-16 ADHS Theatre season

 

The infamous chant of “bring it all in, bring it all in” echoed through the chorus and band hallway, once again signaling another successful show for the cast of “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” The Athens Drive Theatre Department wrapped up its final show Saturday April 23, after having shows Thursday, April 21 and Friday, April 22.

Set during the Roaring Twenties, “Thoroughly Modern Millie” is based on the 1967 Academy Award-winning film and has won six Tony Awards.

The musical tells the story of a young woman named Millie Dillmount who ambitiously travels to New York City in search of a new life. She plans to find a job as a secretary and marry her wealthy boss. Millie experiences many unexpected events throughout her adventure in New York City, including combatting female slavery and falling in love.

The auditions took place Feb. 18 and 19, and the actors rehearsed after school everyday leading up to the show. Of the 50 that auditioned this year, 26 students were cast. Rayane Amrani, senior, played the part of Millie.

“It was a blast. Usually I just had supporting roles and this was my first time playing a lead. It was definitely a lot of work, but I think it went really well; everyone has told me that they really enjoyed it,” Amrani said.

Amrani has had a role in every musical production at Athens Drive since her freshman year. Josh McCormack, senior, landed the supporting role of Ching Ho.

McCormack said the best part about the musical was the people.

“It’s the only after school activity I’ve ever done where I actually really enjoyed staying until seven at night and I’m just going to miss the family we built together,” said McCormack.

This year, the price of the tickets increased from $10 to $12. However, that did not stop over 200 people from supporting the cast of “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and ultimately raising more than $2,400 in total. This rise in ticket price from last year was due to an increase in production costs for the musical.

“I am very surprised at the spectrum of talent that Athens Drive students possess. This musical would not have been possible without their hard work.” said Ashlynn Hayes, Athens Drive theatre teacher and director of productions at Athens Drive.

This is Hayes’ first year of teaching. She replaced Burgundy Trimmer, who had been at Athens for the past ten years. Hayes has high aspirations for the theatre department and the future of the arts at the school.

“I knew that Mrs. Trimmer had left a great program. So the only expectation that I had was that I would have great students,” Hayes said.

Hayes is also the teacher advisor of the International Thespian Society (ITS) at Athens Drive. ITS Troupe 7121 has a strict code for how to be a part of the society. In order to be eligible to join, students must participate in two productions. This participation may include having a role or doing technical work backstage or in the booth.

ITS is an educational theatre organization that has inducted more than two million thespians since 1929, with 36,000 students being inducted yearly. This year’s ITS has over 25 members. Two of these thespians include McCormack and Sydney Schupp, the current President and Vice President, respectively.

“We really want to push the fact that we are an honors society, we’d like people to do more volunteer work, spread the love of theatre and recruit people,” said McCormack.

Both Amrani and McCormack are not planning on pursuing theatre as a major, but would like to remain involved in college.

Theatre has become a passion of mine, and I plan to always find a way to be involved in it,” Amrani said. She will be taking her talents to Appalachian State University and McCormack will be attending University of North Carolina at Asheville.

“Even if I don’t minor or major in theatre, I’ll probably still participate in a lot of the shows either technically or as an actor,” McCormack said.

Although the musical season has come to a close, many of the seniors are content with their theatre experiences and having the opportunity to work with Hayes for their last year.

What I’ll miss about being a part of the theatre department is that fact that it has become my home. I have learned and grown so much in just four years thanks to it and it has become a second home to me. It will be hard to leave it, but I know it will be in such good hands,” Amrani said.

More to Discover
Donate to ATHENS ORACLE
$0
$500
Contributed
Our Goal