On March 6 and 7, Piute High School put on their second play of the year. “Hollywood Hillbillies” is a lesser-known musical that made the audience laugh and dance. The second play of the year was a total success for Piute High School, and hopefully will pave the path for future musical performances.
“Hollywood Hillbillies” starred many students. Piute made it easy for kids to get involved by connecting the play to the elective musical theater class. Priscilla Morgan, director of the play said, “Anyone could sign up for the class and be in the play. The kids showed up, read parts, and sang some of the songs. From there Mr. Ivie and I picked our cast!” Many members of the cast were 7th graders who hadn’t done musical theater before. With that being said, the students took on the challenge and gave a wonderful performance. The cast had seven students who were in 7th and 8th grade, six seniors and many other students in between.
Putting together a play is tough work. Morgan explained that in order to choose what play the kids would do, she and Tyrel Ivie first had to see who signed up for the class, and who came to practices. Tyrel Ivie said, “Mrs. Morgan and I hadn’t done something like this before, we had to find a play that fit our cast.”
Choosing the “Hollywood Hillbilly” act came down to many reasons, one being that it was a musical. This allowed many of the beginning actors to step into the singing side of acting. Ivie expanded on this saying, “When you do musicals, it is much more about the theater than the singing. In choir I focus on parts and sounds, where in a musical it was their presence on the stage.” Having a musical also gave the audience the opportunity to see and hear the hidden talents within Piute High.
With community and student input, a drama-oriented class is back in business. As mentioned before, this spring play had more student involvement. With a participation increase, it gives more options of plays to do. The musical theater class at Piute High gives that feel of a drama club and brings many new opportunities to the students. Getting up on stage can be frightening, but the preparation for it can give students many life skills. Being a part of a play allows students to step out of their shell and become better at interacting with others.
Not only do students get to sharpen their performing skills, but some students even got to help with the production of the play. Morgan said that some students helped with the choreography, set design and choice of clothing. In addition, a few of the older cast members would help the younger students with lines. With so many members happy to help, the whole cast could break into sections to divide and conquer.
This new program at Piute High is going to continue on in the next school year. Similar to this year, a shorter fall play will be performed and in the spring another musical that has more acts will be produced. Morgan and Ivie hope that students return to the class and that more students will join in the next year. With more students, the more options there can be!
The students make the plays, and the community loves to see more things come from Piute High. Morgan says, “We appreciate the community’s support. They have given us lots of great feedback and have shown up for these kids! We welcome everyone who wants to join, even volunteers who want to help!”
– by Ari Hurdsman
Feature image caption: Angel Houtz and Asher Whittaker dance and sing to the crowd about their characters dream of shooting a movie. Courtesy of Ari Hurdsman, The Byway.
Ari Hurdsman – Junction
Ari Hurdsman is a junior journalist at the Byway. She just recently moved to Ephraim, Utah, where she is a freshman at Snow College. She enjoys writing about Piute sports, and she’s really good at it! In her free time, she enjoys singing, dancing, reading and hanging out with friends and family.