Behind The Curtains
Drama Club Prepares For The Winter Show
By Kallie McCann, Staff Writer
December 20, 2021
Drama Club has been working hard behind the scenes to put yet another show on the stage. The actors are working on “Dracula: A Comic Thriller Starring Shirley Holmes and Jennie Watson”, directed by Mr. Quinn.
Mr. Quinn, who teaches many drama classes along with a festival troop program, is also directing the well-known play, Dracula.
[“Dracula”] has a number of character adaptations so, it's not the original, it's a comic version of the original,” he said.
A major difference this year in Drama Club is that there is a significantly larger population of underclassmen than seniors. This means that they are less experienced on a high school stage.
“For “Dracula,” half the cast is new to the program, everybody else did work last spring on a show or this past summer in “The Wizard of Oz,” Mr. Quinn said.
Juniors Sam Magan and Sheridan Wynne have been in the drama program for a couple of years now. They play two of the leading roles in the upcoming show.
“I play Sabrina Van Helsing and she's Van Helsing's daughter. They are both vampire hunters and she has to take his place in vampire hunting because he is sick,” Sheridan said.
“I play Jennie Watson and I fight vampires. I am the niece of Sherlock Holmes's friend, Dr. John Watson,” Magan said.
Cast and crew have been working on the show for more than a month now and have another month to perfect it.
“Rehearsals are after school from 2:45 to 5:45 but when it's not after school it's later in the day till 8:15,” Wynne said.
Johnny Ayoub, who won most theatrical as his senior superlative and, who has been in the drama program his whole high school career, plays Dracula; the main antagonist in the play.
“I am very excited to show everyone what we are working on. It's been a while since we have done a show and I'm glad we are finally back in person,” Ayoub said.
After a hard year of Covid, the Drama Club has been trying new ways to be creative and work around the virus while also being safe in the process.
“Last year was very difficult because we had to observe protocols but now that people are vaccinated and masked, we can move a lot more freely. The main issue for the covid is that obviously we have to wear masks and it's very difficult to show the expression of your character when you can only see the eyes, but it has forced them to be more creative,” Mr. Quinn said.
With precautions of Covid, during the show the audience must be masked the entire time they are in the building; along with the actors.
“We will be opening on the 14th of January and it will go on the 14th, 15th, 16th; and [it] is two evening performances and the Sunday one at 2 pm,” Mr. Quinn said.
Get ready early next year for “Dracula: A Comic Thriller Starring Shirley Holmes and Jennie Watson”, directed by Mr. John Quinn and stay tuned for a review story after the performance.