From left to right, drama club members Desmond Shmutte, a senior, Nathaniel St. Onge, a sophomore, La’kyla Jones, a senior, and Zaydon Bacon, a senior, practice in E.B. Mell Auditorium with drama department teacher Kayla Griffin rehearsing for the spring musical, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” The drama club started working on the musical before school let out for winter break and St. Onge was most worried about the difficulty of the music. “My part is really vocally challenging. It’s really hard to learn the music and try to understand it and actually hit it.” St. Onge said. Photo by Violet Cantarella
The drama club is preparing for their upcoming spring production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
The drama club will hold its spring musical performances May 2-4 at 7:30 p.m. and May 5 at 2:30 p.m. in E. B. Mell Auditorium. This year, the drama club has chosen “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” as the spring musical.
The musical is a collaborative effort between the drama club and orchestra and will feature live music along with audience participation.
“This year we wanted to focus on something that was a little more meaningful and intimate with the audience,” fine arts department teacher Kayla Griffin said. “This is actually an audience participation musical, so members of the audience will be pulled up on stage to be spellers on a volunteer basis.”
The musical follows a group of middle school students competing in their county spelling bee and their growth throughout the experience.
“It’s a story of a spelling bee that happens at a middle school. Basically, they all have their moments and they all sing songs about why they want to win the bee and why the bee is so important to them,” fine arts department teacher Kayla Griffin said. “And along through the musical, they learn things that are more important than just winning the spelling bee.”
“It’s a story of a spelling bee that happens at a middle school. Basically, they all have their moments and they all sing songs about why they want to win the bee and why the bee is so important to them. And along through the musical, they learn things that are more important than just winning the spelling bee.”
— Kayla Griffin,
Fine arts department teacher
Drama club member Nathaniel St. Onge, a sophomore, plays one of the lead characters, Charlito “Chip” Tolentino, and thinks the musical will be well-received because of its unique format.
“It’s really funny. There’s a lot of funny improvisation and a lot of audience interaction. We actually have people coming up on stage and talking to the audience so it’s very interactive,” St. Onge said.
Griffin is optimistic about the musical and thinks it will showcase the depth of the drama club and the fine arts department as a whole. She is also excited about the collaboration of the orchestra, which will be providing live music for the performance.
“(Clarke Central High School) has a community of a lot of supporters. People love the drama and they really show up for it,” Griffin said. “I think this year people are not only going to see that our drama department is up and running again, but thriving. We are multifaceted. Our arts are combined. We are a team of arts rather than just the drama, just the band, just the orchestra.”
