A Monster Calls

A Monster Calls (AMC) is LCC's fall theater production. A sorrowful story follows a young boy named Connor, dealing with his mom's sickness. You can see one of the last two shows tonight (12/8) or tomorrow (12/9). We interviewed Joey Amberg, who plays Mum, and Landon Friss, who plays Connor O'Malley.

"The overall premise of the play is a little boy named Connor who keeps having this nightmare where his mom dies, and he can't do anything to save her. His mom has been sick for a really long time; we assume it's cancer. In his nightmares, a monster comes and helps Conner accept the fact that his mom is going to die, and he can't do anything about it. It's really sad," Joey said.

What got these two talented high schoolers into theater?

"I've been doing theatre for about a year now. I started doing Frankenstein at North Coast Repertory, and then this summer, I did As You Like It, which is a Shakespeare play. I did it with one of the graduating students Noe," said Landon.

"I've been doing theatre since I was eight, but I took a hiatus in middle school and then I came back in high school because I took Golden's class in Freshman year. I started to like theatre a lot," said Joey.

The interview process for AMC was different for Joey and Landon; it catered to how they both individually performed.  

"I was used to having to prepare a monologue, but Mr. Golden wanted us to read some sides, which are little snippets from the play. I read for Connor, and I got a call back for that role. I was actually golfing when I found out. To celebrate I played more golf," said Landon.

"For the audition process, we were given different monologues to read about the play. We could pick two, so I picked Mom and Grandma, and then I read them. Then they called us back, and whatever roles you got called back for, that was the monologue that you read again. I read Mom, Grandma, Lily, and Ms. Godfrey. I made Mr. Golden's wife cry, so I think that's why I got the part," said Joey.

Both actors have fond memories on set, which they shared with us. Joey and Landon created a strong bond while acting together.

"My favorite memory from the set is being best friends with my "son" Landon," said Joey.

"My favorite memory from set was being friends with Joey," said Landon.

Go see AMC this weekend! So many LCC students have worked for months to produce this beautiful production. Tickets are sold on GoFan.