Springfield Drama has a busy year rehearsing for, coordinating, and creating its annual “fall play” and “spring musical.” This year, its selections were Glimpses of Springfield for the fall and Footloose for the winter.
Creating Glimpses of Springfield
Glimpses of Springfield is a play comprised of student-written short stories. It’s produced by Springfield once every three years, allowing students to showcase their talent and voice relatable struggles in a teen’s daily life. From funny sketches about picking out clothes, to more serious, thought-provoking ones about bullying and mental health, Glimpses is a production that portrays the lives of Springfield students.
Every three years, one of Springfield’s theater directors–“Jelly,” also a former student –is tasked with selecting these short stories. The original pool of stories is a combination of “tried and true,” successful stories from previous years, and newer scripts from creative writing classes or student submissions.
From there, these selections are narrowed down to find a balance between comedic and serious pieces, all varying in subject matter and plot. According to theater director Mrs. Thornton (better known as Marlene in the theater community), the goal is to find “a nice balance and blend between the emotional aspect of the piece.”
Glimpses was unique in many other ways; junior Isaac Darga says that “Glimpses featured choreography, which is pretty rare for Springfield plays.” He goes on to say that a student even had an active role in choreographing a dance. Overall, “Glimpses featured a lot of student representation.”
According to many cast members, the production brought the theater community together. Xavier Moore claimed, “Glimpses was a great introduction show as a freshman.”
More generally, students admired the scenes their peers wrote, like freshman Colleen Collville, who claimed that “the scenes were really creative and fun to perform.”
Footloose Rehearsals in the Works
After the Glimpses performance, the actors and stage crew took a brief one-month hiatus before starting their spring musical, Footloose. It’s an infamous story that features dance, self-expression, and romance.
According to Mrs. Thornton, something that drove her to select Footloose for the spring musical was “the depth of [Footloose’s] characters… their emotional struggles, their character arcs… and the challenges that it was going to give [the] actors.”
Marlene describes rehearsals as an interesting combination of “consternation and fun.” There are three types of rehearsals: vocal, choreography, and line blocking–which sometimes overlap and occur at the same time. Typically, the theater department spreads out and uses different spaces like the little theater and Mrs. Benton’s music room to maximize time management.
Overall, she emphasizes the fact that “it’s a wonderful family and a wonderful community.”
Junior, Griffin Bianchi attests to this community: “We’re all just kind of working together… and helping each other.” He says this collaboration helps build friendships and respect among the cast.
As Footloose rehearsals continue, Springfield students, staff, and families can look forward to seeing it from March 6 to 9.
The cast and crew encourage you to “come see it!”
