DHS drama students have begun preparing for their annual school play. This year, it’s the Seussical Jr., a musical featuring many exciting Dr. Seuss characters.
Freshman Sarai Ragsdale is playing the Cat in The Hat, which is the lead role. She said she is excited because “I just like drama and enjoy being able to express myself in a way that not many people do, and being able to become someone else is pretty great.”
While she’s had previous experience on the stage and has taken voice lessons, nerves still affect her. Ragsdale said “I’m most nervous about getting the solos right. I’ve been struggling with the break between chest and head voice.”
To anyone hoping to get a lead role, she said “Practice as if you were actually the character and audition as if you were the character in the play itself.”
One thing that can make performing difficult for people is stage fright. Freshman Boone Byers, who plays Wickersham Monkey Number One, said “When I first started out doing plays I used to get really nervous, and in the beginning, it definitely was [scary], cause you’re doing it with a bunch of new people or people you haven’t really talked to much. But as the play goes on, or as you start to do more plays, it definitely gets a lot better.”
Since there are a lot of different songs in the performance, memorization is an important skill for students to have. However, everyone has different methods for memorizing. “I select a passage in my script and I just read it over and over. I try to memorize it without my book and then if I mess up, then I’ll just go and read the part that I messed up,” said Byers.
Director Thomas Neil said there is a slightly larger cast this year, and the show will be on April 25 and 26. Tickets can be purchased at the door.
