Liberty students set sail as cast of singing piratesLiberty students set sail as cast of singing piratesFebruary 28, 2003
When the lights dim center stage this evening, several Oakley teens will be performing their hearts out when they bring Liberty Union High School's rendition of "The Pirates of Penzance." The play, which will run several days next week, is part of a two-month long effort in which students from all over Far East County have pooled their talents together.
One of the students performing will be Oakley's Laura Reynolds. Laura, 14, is a sophomore at Liberty High School. She says she chose to be a Liberty student especially for the opportunity to work in their drama department.
"It's a really good experience with an environment that is really welcoming. Everyone becomes a family," Laura said.
That is really important, according to Laura, especially when you are a freshman and just getting used to being in high school. She said it was that way last year when she stared in her first production at Liberty.
The play, which began production in early January, isn't limited to only Liberty High School students. Laura said the production has been a collaboration between Liberty and Freedom high schools. Freedom students such as sophomore Jen Schwartz, senior Kelly Wells and Molly Kick also hold positions on the cast of Pirates. There are other Freedom High students as well. In total there are 67 cast, crew and musicians on this one play.
"One of the nicest parts about the play is that everyone who has the courage to audition gets the chance to have a part," Laura said. Of course, Laura said, doing the audition is the hardest part, but she says that the staff at the high school make it easier.
Laura said that there have been long hours involved in practicing for the play. Over the past two months they have been practicing about three hours each day after school. During this past week there have been more extensive practices, where even someone who has a small part practices from 5 to 11 p.m.
Most all the cast members take on other jobs as well as positions in the play. For example, Laura is not just playing the part of a doctor of the Major General Stanley. She also is on the makeup crew and is the drama department's photographer.
Other schools in the area have worked on collaborative productions such as this one. Last month, Antioch and Deer Valley high schools did much of the same with a play they performed together. Generally the staff finds that through this kind of cooperation students work as a team and leave the animosity of being rival schools at the door. Laura said that has been the case in this production. She says everyone works as a family.
Which is good, because these types of collaborations give students from Freedom High School a chance to perform at the Allen E. Jones Performing Arts Center at Liberty High School, which is closer to a real theater than the stage in the multipurpose room that Freedom has to work with.
"Pirates of Penzance" will perform tonight, March 1, 6 and 7 at 7 p.m., and March 8 at 2 p.m. Although they are running an early show March 8, they recommend that children under 12 not attend because there are some showy violent scenes using swords and the like.
Tickets are $10 general admission, $5 for Liberty and Freedom Drama Club students, and a discounted $5 general for the March 6 show. Remember that the drama department is a nonprofit organization and that your admission fee goes back into a fund to help the drama students.
"Working in drama is great way to get people out of their shell. Everyone gets a chance to perform here and have fun doing it," Laura said.
Roni Gehlke's column on life in Oakley appears each week in the Brentwood News.
Distributed by the Contra Costa Times