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Cottonwood Heights Journal

Cottonwood High theatre schedule offers entertainment for the community

Sep 21, 2018 01:26PM ● By Jana Klopsch

Students will perform a musical murder-mystery, “Curtains,” in November at Cottonwood High. (Adam Wilkins/Cottonwood High School)

By Julie Slama | [email protected]

Shows the entire family can enjoy are on the Cottonwood High theatre schedule this season. 

Before the first show, theatre students will present their sixth annual Haunted Hallway on Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. There will be creaks and moans, chains rattling and eerie sounds near and beneath the school stage at 5715 S. 1300 East in Murray. But the event will be family-friendly and non-perishable or canned foods as well as monetary donations are asked as contributions for both the school food bank as well as the Utah Food Bank.

In the past, the community has donated more than 1 ton of food, director Adam Wilkins said.

“This way, we can serve our community both through entertainment and giving the much-needed food into the hands who can use it,” he said. 

The season opener, “Curtains,” a musical murder-mystery with comedy and romance mixed in, will open at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 14 and run through Saturday, Nov. 17 and again on Monday, Nov. 19 on Cottonwood’s stage. There will be a noon matinee on Saturday as well. Tickets are $8 in advance in the office or on the school website, schools.graniteschools.org/cottonwoodhigh, or $9 at the door. 

“It is so fun and the script is hilarious,” Wilkins said. “The most important thing with a play is a great script because without a good story, it’s not entertaining.” 

Wilkins cast the production last spring, so it gave students a chance to become familiar with the script. 

“It’s a fantastic cast who have great potential and are rising to it. They’ve had a chance to look over and picture the show and evaluate the script before we started rehearsals on the (Aug.) 27th,” he said. 

In mid-March 2019, theatre students will put on the American romantic comedy-drama, “Shakespeare in Love,” a fictional love story, adapted from the Oscar-winning 1998 film, between playwright William Shakespeare and a young woman who poses as a man to star in one of the writer’s plays.

“Again, it’s a great script so it is a great story for our students to portray to entertain the community,” Wilkins said. “Art is transformative unifying. The message of inclusion is vital for our community and students.” 

In March, Cottonwood students will compete in their regional theatre competition in a one-act play as well as in monologues and scenes. They expect to compete at state the following month. 

“We have placed in the top three in region for the past 10 years and the top 10 at state in the past 10 years. We have students with a lot of talent and they work hard,” he said. 

In early May 2019, students will take to Cottonwood stage yet again for the newly written show, “Bright Star,” by actor and comedian Steve Martin. 

“It has a bluegrass feel to it,” Wilkins said about the 2013 musical. “It’s about a writer and artist that is searching for something more.” 

The show is set in the Blue Ridge Mountains in 1945 when a serviceman and aspiring writer returns home after serving in World War II. Through flashbacks set in 1923, the audience learns about life and relationships in Hayes Creek, where the stories he has written take place. 

Throughout the year, a series of improvisation shows will be held. 

The final performance will be student one-act directed shows in May 2019. Six seniors will be directors. 

“It’s important our students get the full theatre education so by directing, they gain valuable experience which helps them become better actors,” he said. “We want our students to learn in the classroom and on the stage to become well rounded.”