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Cottonwood Heights Journal

Brighton High theater students to perform season on old stage

Sep 20, 2018 01:05PM ● By Jana Klopsch

 By Julie Slama | [email protected] 

The last Brighton High theater season to be performed on its current stage will take some creative turns. 

That’s because construction for a new performing arts center, west of the auditorium doors, is restricting use of the outside doors. However, it isn’t restricting the productions, but instead allowing the cast and crew to become resourceful with their props. 

“We can’t rent or bring in anything, so we are limited to what we have and can rebuild,” director Mindy Curtis said. “It gives us a chance to be creative in our props.”

Within weeks of each other, Brighton students were set to take the stage performing “The Addams Family” as well as a Shakespeare ensemble piece. To make it work, the fall musical was cast last spring.

“‘The Addams Family’ is a good fit for our students and around Halloween,” Curtis said of the original Broadway production about the ghoulish American family originally seen in television shows.

In the musical, the Addams family visits their graveyard to celebrate their family — the living, the dead and the undecided. Instead of returning to their graves, the ancestors come to dinner — where to the surprise of everyone, daughter Wednesday announces she is marrying an ordinary boy, Lucas. As chaos and confusion swirl, the ancestors create a storm so the fiancé and his parents are trapped and the families are forced to work everything out. 

 “The Addams Family” will be performed at 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 26, Monday, Oct. 29, and Tuesday, Oct. 30. It also will be performed at 2 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 27 on the school stage, 2220 Bengal Blvd. Tickets, which are available to purchase in the school office or at the door, are $9 for adults and $4 for students and children. 

In addition to Curtis directing and choreographing the show, Sam Merrill will co-direct and Lindsay Christensen is a co-choreographer. Music is under the direction of Daniel Emrazian and the instrumental director is Mikala Mortenson. 

Wednesday Addams is played by Alexis Brooks. Wednesday’s parents, Gomez and Morticia, are portrayed by Reagan Sieger and Sage Madsen, respectively. Wednesday’s brother, Pugsley, is played by KJ Hunter. Wednesday’s boyfriend, Lucas Beinecke, is played by Avery Madsen. 

Advanced theater students were slated to perform at the annual Shakespeare competition, hosted by the Utah Shakespeare Festival and Southern Utah University, Sept. 27–29 in Cedar City. About 25 Brighton students will compete in their ensemble piece “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Act III Scene II, with Emma Martin playing Helena, Sieger portraying Lysander, Kyle Rau as Demetrius, and Shea Fisher as Hermia. 

The team also will compete in scenes, monologues, improvisation and the Tech Olympics, Curtis said. Before they were to leave, a showcase for English and history classes and parents was scheduled. 

In March, students return to the stage to perform “Peter and the Starcatcher,” a backstory of the characters of “Peter Pan.”

“It’s a great show and one that will work well for our students,” Curtis said. “We’ll turn the auditorium stage into a small theater for a more intimate setting. We pick the right shows for the right students and focus on kids to have different play and musical experiences. Students give input on what they’re interested in, but we want students to learn about characters and be able to tell a story, and for our patrons to have a fun, entertaining evening.” 

Students will perform that show at the regional competition March 22–23, 2019. State is April 18–20, 2019.

The final play will be devised theater, which will be a free performance at 3 p.m., Friday, May 24, 2019.