Ranked!

In this article, Kai will be informing us about the upcoming school musical.

The Story of ranked, the Musical

By Kai Blackmon

With the return of the school year, so too comes the return of Thespian Troupe 2354. After the launch back into musical theater with All Together Now and the major success of the comedic play, Puffs, our Troupe will be continuing their streak of performances with Ranked, the Musical.

This musical follows a high school eerily similar to our own world, where the message is: be smart or be hopeless. In this story, we follow an anxious and frankly terrified freshman, Lily Larson (Olivia Wainscott). She is barely holding herself Above Average, even in her first semester. If she is to fall Below the Average she can say goodbye to all hopes of any future. While she and her sister, Alexis (Sarah Beckstead), begin to panic over keeping themselves safe, we meet John and Jordan Carter (Seth and Zee Imel). A pair of siblings who stopped caring about being “Above the Average” back when their mother died. Jordan has her mind set on staying away from academics and instead focuses that energy on writing songs while John is beginning to be a bit more lenient after meeting “Above the Average Lily.”

Photo taken by Tiana Eddy - A lot of quirky thespians in one room is never a good idea.

Photo by Ranked, A Musical creators - The Ripoff Heathers

Of course, in a world like this, we need some arguments and some drama. In enters our favorite Heather’s squad rip-off: Sydney Summers (Avery Duewel) and her crew; Jacquie (Naomi DeRosier), Carly (Jay Grimm) and Francis (Adrian Diego Rabago). Sydney has proudly held the title of #1 Rank for over a year and is happy to hold it over anyone she needs to, including her brother, Ryan Summers (Shawn Jones). This group adds an amount of sass that is necessary for a musical based around a high school.

This world has been running smoothly for many years now. There has always been a division between the all-mighty Above Average students and the puny Below the Average kids. No need for anything new. However, all of that will change when secrets run amok and the future of all of the students is put in the hands of fate. In this blend of The Hunger Games and Heathers, what will they do when their way of living is put on hold?

Phtot by Ranked, A Musical

The show Ranked is meant to show the experiences that high schoolers go through every day--the stress, the work and the problems they deal with at such a young age. Ranked is a call to all teenagers everywhere that they will be heard, and that each of them is worth so much in their individuality. Olivia Wainscott, the actress of Lily, shares that "Ranked is a story and point of view that people disregard...Ranked is something a lot of students can relate to but don't talk about it because it is seen as 'unrealistic' to base your self-worth off of your grades." The story of Ranked shows just how much we base our success and our stress on the report cards we get each quarter. With the genius directing of the Grants Pass High School drama teacher Julia Cuppy, the vocal training of Jamie Banister and the choreography of Jaese Lecuyer, the show will be sharing a beautiful message with as many people as possible. Show dates are Nov. 4-6, and Nov. 11-13, 2022. Come watch this story unfold!

Sources:

Ranked, A Musical Website

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