Members of this fall’s production of The Miracle Worker say the road to opening night was not always smooth, but the cast and crew’s sacrifices for the sake of the production were worth it. Balancing sports practices and other appointments with play practice was a challenge they approached with optimism.
“We had a lot of schedule issues you know, with the eight fall sports,” says David Brown’15, who faced a new social environment in his first year in the upper school. Luckily, veteran actors and crew members were inviting. “As a freshman,” he said, “it was kind of intimidating because everyone here is so professional. But it was kind of fun, too, because you got to meet new people.”
The crew’s only two students (Matt Rials’12 and Elliot Nick’14) were pros on opening night. “We had a lot of help from the cast because it was just Matt and me working backstage,” says Nick. “It was nice that they were there, and a bunch of them were painting while they worked onstage. It was definitely a team effort.”
Everyone involved in the performance dove into the material and made the script come alive. Emily Cipriani’15, who played Helen Keller, knows her character’s disabilities created acting challenges distinctive to the play. “The hitting, the punching, the making animal noises . . . It was very physical, and it was hard because you had to put yourself out there in front of all of your friends, who obviously know who you are,” she said.
Drew Klopfer’12 played Captain Keller also spoke about acting challenges for other cast members. “The play’s definitely more visual than what the script says, because we’ve got one deaf-blind character, and there are scenes that don’t have any dialogue. There are whole pages (in the script) that are just stage directions.”
The Miracle Worker touches on serious subject matter, and the cast worried that the audience’s perception may not be as positive. Suesan Chen’14, who played Viney, expressed the cast’s concerns prior to opening night: “We were afraid (the audience) wouldn’t take it as seriously as it should, and we would just look stupid on stage. I think that’s always a fear in the back of an actor’s mind. If we don’t put on a good show and get across what we need to, we will just be judged by our peers.”
After opening night, the cast and crew were glad younger audience members were mature. Students and parents alike showed their respect. Even crew worker, Nick’14, said, “My initial impression was that the student body would see it as a joke and laugh at it. I was impressed by the maturity of the students that came to see it.”
“After our performance, we heard so many great things from teachers, students, and parents alike, which just felt amazing,” says Chen. “We were so happy we were able to pull things together and put on a great play.”
Written by Mackenzie Bell’13. Photos by Jeremy Schroeder’14.
