Xanadu: Behind The Scenes

 

Strange Magic enchanted audiences in the JAMPAC as NH Masque performed  Xanadu March 13-16. 

The Musical Xanadu takes place in  the 1980’s, located on Venice Beach. Xanadu tells the story of Clio, a Greek Muse that goes in disguise as Kira, an Australian that wears roller skates, and leg warmers. She is sent to inspire a struggling artist Sonny Malone to create a roller disco, which leads to chaos as Melpomene and Calliope place a curse on Kira (Clio) to fall in love with the mortal Sonny. 

 “I chose Xanadu because I knew we were going to have a lot of sopranos and altos audition, so I wanted something that would feature them and have a lot of opportunities,” Mrs.Lotyczweski said.“Mamma Mia has been the go-to show that fits the same criteria… but Mr. Romanow, Mrs. Clark, and Mrs. Grimmer had done that in 2020. I was in a production of Xanadu in 2015 and we had so much fun… I knew this would be fun for the kids and the audiences.” 

 Auditions are different for every show; directors are always looking for someone who is confident in what they are doing and who seems appropriate  for specific characters. Mrs. Lotyczweski  auditions like a puzzle because when one person is placed, she tries to figure out where everyone else fits to make the best show possible. 

“Casting is exciting – sometimes you expect someone to audition really well for one role, and then they do really well with something else you didn’t even expect,” Lotyczweski said.

The cast rehearses for about 10 – 12 hours a week after school, from 2:00 – 5:00 beginning in January and ending in March. They take time to block out each scene and as the weeks progress they start to pull it all together. 

“The week before Tech Week the crew shows up with the props which makes it feel more real and put together,” Emma DeSanctis, who played the role of Melpomene said.

There are many options to pick from when students sign up for crew: running, props, sound, spotlight, fly rail, costume, and hair/makeup.

“The preparation I do with the show primarily involves making a mic plot and mic list for the people who are in charge of the sound mixing during the show,” Lucas Ferguson, the stage manager, said.

Ferguson prepares by reading  through the script completely, highlighting the characters “names, songs, scenes, and acts they are speaking in.” After that he puts all the names into a Google Sheet, and organizes them. When making the mic list Ferguson assigns each cast a number to a cast member’s speaking role to organize mics, then states their character name with their real name. For example, Mic 3 goes to Emma DeSanctis whose primary role is Melpomene and also stars as Medusa. 

Behind the scenes, the crew experiences a lot of trial and error. This happens when running crew is added because it involves bringing out a set piece, such as a table, and they have to run the getting on and off transitions. If things are not running as smoothly as intended, the plan has to be adjusted from there. 

“What initially drew me to crew in high school was that I was fascinated by what went on behind the scenes of every show. Once I had a system to balance my workload on top of other extracurricular activities, I joined crew in my sophomore year and I have never regretted that decision at all,” Ferguson said.

As the director of the show, Mrs. Lotyczweski is proud of all the work students do on stage and behind the scenes.

“The most exciting part of Masque is seeing the progress that happens over the course of four months,” Mrs.Lotyczweski said.“At the start of the season, most of the kids don’t know what the show is about and haven’t done any blocking or choreography. By the end, they have worked so hard to support one another and make a finished product!” 

For seniors, there were many emotions as they performed for the last time on the stage in the JAMPAC.

“It’s sad because it’s your last everything,” DeSanctis said “Everyone is looking up to you & you’re like Wow I’m old now.” 

Many of the students involved in Masque productions have spent years in the theater.  

“What made me interested in theater was when I saw my first musical, West Side Story back in 2010. I  just loved everything about it,” DeSanctis said.

The seniors involved in the cast and crew say they are forever grateful for the time they had participating in NH Masque.

“My senior year is different than other years for a multitude of reasons. The primary one being that there are a lot of lasts such as last opening night, last tech week, last closing night, which makes this very sad,”  Ferguson said. “But on the other hand, I am ready to start a new chapter of my life.  I cannot wait to see what my future has in store for me and what the future of the New Hartford Masque program has to show.