Get to Know the Cast and Crew of HHS Drama's Leading Ladies (cont.)

Q: What’s the craziest backstage emergency you’ve experienced?

Skyler Sarnoski: “My freshman year when Fen hit their nose. That was fun. A glass shattered behind stage last year. That was fun to clean up. Those high stress moments are always kind of funny.”

Skyler is a junior and HHS Drama’s stage manager who expressed her appreciation for the role by saying, “I love being stage manager and I love taking care of my cast.” An aspect of theatre she admires is, “Probably the people and the connections you make. You know how people feel about sports and how they’re team is family to them? Theatre is like a real family and getting to be close with them in and out of character is just amazing and [she] love[s] seeing those experiences onstage.”

Allyne Kureshepi: “All of the mics failing simultaneously last year. Everyone would run backstage and freak out because their mic wasn’t working and there were just a lot of misplaced props in general.”

        Allyne is a senior and the club’s assistant stage manager. As detailed previously, she transferred from Warren Tech to HHS in her junior year and has been involved with theatre at both schools. About her love for theatre she said, “Honestly, this is such a good community and everyone in this little space and this little club is family to me and I’m so grateful to have them.”

Q: What kinds of different jobs have you done for crew?

Skyler Sarnoski: “My freshman year I was costume manager, and then last year and this year I became stage manager. I’ve stepped away from costumes more, but buttons are still my biggest enemy and it’s always fun to go back to that.”

Allyne Kureshepi: “I used to act when I was younger, and then at Warren Tech I was lighting crew. Now I just help out backstage and now I help Skyler with management.”

The final question that was asked was “What do you love about HHS Drama?” The reason that these individual answers were not featured is that across all ten club members that were interviewed, the answer remained relatively the same. That answer being the people. In all ten answers, the interviewees mentioned how much they love the members of HHS Drama and how they all feel like family. This just goes to show how special of a place it truly is. If you are still skeptical about joining the club, or even just seeing the show, here are a few highlighted answers from the club’s newer members.

Q: What do you love about HHS Drama?

Eli DiPaolo: “You guys are all great and I just love the people. You guys are all super friendly and it’s fun getting to know you guys!”

Ayeza Malik: “I like how everyone is like a big family and the environment is really nice.”

Naomi Schicker: “The people, everybody’s been really welcoming and sweet.”

While Kaylee Babiak is not new to the club, she moved here only last year, and as such is one of the newer members.

Kaylee Babiak: “I love how people take the opportunity to grow in this theater. I think Mrs. Higgins, along with Ms. Gurcan and anybody else who helps out, has really fostered an environment for people to grow. We had somebody last year come in in their senior year just to do it for fun and he ended up loving it and saying he wished he was with us more, and I couldn’t agree more. I’ve been through multiple schools growing up and when I came to this theater I was kind of exhausted and I had competed against Hackettstown at the Freddys and I didn’t think anybody was going to like me, and that was not true! Everybody was here for the same reason which is to grow and to have fun and connect with people and audiences. I feel that we, even as high schoolers, are able to do that really well because we have learned how to connect with each other. I think my favorite thing, in a nutshell, is how warm the environment is.”

So there you have it! Be sure to see Leading Ladies this November to support the arts as well as your peers performing in the show or contributing backstage. And if you would be interested in joining the HHS Drama Club for yourself to get in on the action, talk to Mrs. Higgins about crew opportunities for the play or audition for the musical in the spring. She can usually be found in the auditorium, or email her at: shiggins@hackettstown.org.