New musical debuts in GR

Green River theater students will once again be the first in the state to perform a new musical this week.

According to Green River High School theater director Bradlee Skinner the students will perform "Bright Star," which is a musical written by Steven Martin and Edie Brickell. It is set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina in 1945-46 with flashbacks to 1923.

The musical is scheduled to take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday.

"This particular production deals with romance, death, loss and tragedy. We list it as a play for middle school students and above, but ask parents to do their due diligence and research this play and determine if their children are able to comprehend the themes presented in this play," Skinner said. "Many will bring their younger children and others may pass and we want all those in attendance to enjoy the production."

"We selected this musical mainly because the music is absolutely beautiful and we want our community to hear it," Skinner said. "There is just something about Southern Bluegrass and the sound of the banjo and fiddle that connects to an audience in a different way than the average musical."

After Christmas break, the GRHS theater students started rehearsing, singing and learning the dances.

"Because it is a unique style of music which most of our students have not done before, it has meant a lot of work for our music directors to help teach the style," Skinner said. "Fortunately, we have the best director possible in Jill Carpenter and Jessica Hodges to lead the way and guide the students in their vocal storytelling."

Since the musical takes place in North Carolina, the students have had a difficult time trying to learn the accent, but a couple of volunteers who moved to Green River from North Carolina were willing to help.

Skinner said Sweetwater County School District No. 2 administrator, Trey Bailey, came and helped the students learn the accent of his home state.

In addition, Eve Soldner, a new GRHS student from North Carolina, came on board to serve as the deck manager and dialect coach.

"Her work with the performers has been a valuable addition to the project," he said.

Another challenge for this particular musical was the set design because they wanted the audience to see the band.

"It is one thing to hear a banjo, yet something completely different to see it being played. I wanted our audience to experience the playing of all the instruments that bluegrass (has)," Skinner said. "To accomplish this we reached out to some community members to help us build a house where the band plays from and rolls to various parts of the stage during the show."

One challenge the cast members may not have expected was the emotional toll this musical takes on them.

"I have never directed a show as emotionally taxing as "Bright Star." We have found cast members and director alike in tears on more than one occasion during the rehearsal process," he said. "The students have been asked to play characters with more depth and emotional baggage than the average high school musical asks for and they have risen to the challenge."

With this in mind, Skinner wants to encourage the community to come to the production and see for themselves how hard the students have worked.

"We went out on a limb doing a show that very few in our community have heard of and we ask, please, give it a chance," Skinner said. "We know that if you come to our theater, listen to the music, and watch this beautiful story unfold in front of you, you will fall in love with the story just as we have."

Cast and crew:

Character/Actor

Alice Murphy: Sandra Figenser

Jimmy Ray Dobbs: Tristen Higbee

Billy Cane: Tyrel Higbee

Margo: Emmie Archibald

Daddy Cane: Mike Curtis

Momma Murphy: Jenna Robertson

Daddy Murphy: Jaron Shereda

Mayor Josiah Dobbs: Raymond Garcia

Lucy: Emmalee Skinner

Daryl: Elijah Kropf

Florence/Ensemble: Emily Peak

Edna/Ensemble: Kamryn Ferrell

Max/Ensemble: Rocco Coppolo

Stanford/Ensemble: Ethan Peterson

Dr. Norquist/Ensemble: Ivan Miller

Government Clerk/Ensemble: Trista Parry

Well Dressed Woman/Ensemble: Jordan Ferrell

Spirit 1/Ensemble: Jocelyn Johnson

Spirit 2/Ensemble: Laural Kurth

Spirit 3/Ensemble: Amber Gambles

Ensemble: Jessica Owens, Christian Sutton, Mkaylee Parker, Beth Figenser, Avree Bode, Hannah Skinner, Aris Calzada, Elizabeth Mandros, Katherine Skinner, Julie Bowen, Meeka Iwen and Elissa (Ellie) Morris

Stage Manager: Kiyona Howard

Deck Manager: Eve Soldner

Runner: Cody Kramer

Sound: Cooper Galley

Ropes: Forbes Reynolds

Director: Bradlee W. Skinner

Assistant Director: Julie Mortensen

Music Director: Jill Carpenter

Assistant music Director: Jessica Hodges

Accompianist: Karen Loveland

Percussion Specialist: Quinn Kalinski