Ernest Seaholm High School - Piper Yearbook (Birmingham, MI)

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Not Just S Crewing Around A smashing success, a colorful hit . . . glamorous and stunningly vibrant . These were all fitting descriptions of this year ' s spring musical, Fiddler on the Roof. Creating these impressions to an appreciative audience in- volved lots of hard work, time, talents, and committment from numerous individuals. One such group providing support, time, and activity behind the scene ' s was the stage crew. Stage crew involves starting from scratch, and working closely with the written script and the director herself. The stage crew built and collected all the props necessary to establish the setting and atmosphere for the musical. With Bill Tall, chairman of the Art Department, as their advisor, stage crew members gained some expert consultation and opinions when it came to the designing of the props. Nevertheless, the decisions were made by students, as stage crew operated, in total, as a student production. The four crew heads, chosen by 1985 crew heads, were seniors Rob Brown, Larisa Charla, John Tholen and Carrie Webster. As crew heads, these four by Jennifer Smith FRONT ROW: K Kelly. J Shen. S Kopcha. M Sage. L Schmidt. D Zitzmann. J Stark. I Auger}- bergs. SECOND ROW C Dob:esz. M Bronstort. K. Everhardus. J Sweltzer. K Sonquist. K Alexander. A Perugino THIRD ROW J Upham. L. Krebs. C. Webster. J Peters, R Browr}. M Winters. J Tholen, L Charla. A McElfresh, D Qmnn, L Miller FOURTH ROW: T Steinbauer. T McDermit, E. Dambach, S Parker, K Hochkammer, C Stuntz. A Sherwood. B Tnpp. M Reeside. K McCarty people accepted certain re- sponsibilities such as designing the props, making sure that the other crew members had some- thing to do, and taking on the big responsibility of assembling the crew. Finding individuals who arc interested in building props, working with other peo- ple, and putting in the time needed to make the play a big hit were additional jobs. Larisa Charla explained, There becomes a real sense of closeness between all of us crew members. It feels like we ' re all one big family. The feelings of comeraderie devel- oped from the long hours spent working for a common goal. When they weren ' t shingling Tevye ' s house or building tav- ern tables, the crew could always count on a Thrifty Thursday break at Chuck E. Cheese or a video in the lighting booth to ease the pressure of a quality production. Holding a support in place, freshman Stephanie Parker helps Theresa McDer- mit finish the framework on one of the graceful, rolling mo ' fo ' s. Carefully guiding the saw along his pencilled-in line, senior Jeff Sweitzer shortens 2x4 ' s for the wedding tables. photo by Paul Donar Enter Stage Right STAGE CREW, THE SETS DON ' T MOVE BY THEM- SELVES! NOW MOVE! cried director Liz Heckenhauer in the pressure of the final rehearsals of Fiddler on the Roof. But there ' s more to a successful musical than keeping the crew on their toes. Although Heckenhauer heads up the Fiddler production, she is backed by an essential team of directors. Without the leadership of Den- nis East, the choreographer, Bar- Directors Liz Heckenhauer and Dan Jackson plan the special effects of Fruma- Sarah s screaming entrance from Tevye ' s roof. pholo bv Jason O ' Mallev by Liz Krebs bara Robinson, the vocal direc- tor, Dan Jackson, the student director, Bill Tall, the stage crew advisor, and Tom Course, the music director, the separate elements of singers, dancers, pit orchestra, and crew could never be culminated into a six performance production. Heckenhauer feels that the open minds of the directors keep the show on the road. All of the directors are respectful of each other ' s opinions and ideas We never say ' No ' before trying it. It ' s a real give-and- take. SPRING MUSICAL 31

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FIDDLIN G AROUND Music to the Fiddler ' s Ears The members of the pit orchestra for this year ' s produc- tion of Fiddler On The Roof worked hard just like the cast and the stage crew. Members were chosen by Mr. Tom Course, for being the best in their section. In all, there were approximately twenty mem- FRONT ROW Ben Hufford. Jeff Turc- zyn. Simon Tomkinson. Scott Shober. Bill Solomonson. John Hill SECOND ROW Alice Lenaghan. Beth Szuhay. Liisa Laakko Alisa Troelsen. Megan Markee Bob Bird. THIRD ROW Gayle Kirby, Licia Carlson, Kate O ' Brien. Linda Cadaret by Sarah York bers who practiced four or five times per week before the play. Ben Hufford, an oboe player, enjoyed his job playing in the orchestra. It was really fun playing, because we were able to go to all of the performances, and we felt that we were actually a major part of the play production. It was a good experience for me, he said. The orchestra members real- ized that through hours of practice they helped make the play the hit it was. Let There Be Light Lights, camera, ACTION! The opening, the singing, the dancing, and the finale. But where does all of the atmo- sphere, the special effects come from? It is not the camera or the action, but the lights. Lighting and sound is a major part in a musical production. The lighting sets the mood of the scene, it picks out the main characters, and empha- by Karen Reynolds sizes the distances and depth of the set, explained lighting crew head Mike Winters. There are 109 different lights, and many months go into learning how to operate them. The four crew members dedicated 8 hours a day to enlightening the production. Jim Peters. Karl Hochkammer, Steve Kopcha. and crew head Mike Winters all agree on this general consesus: Lighting crew is where the fun is. Smell of the Grease Paint Working on Make Up Crew really helped me build stronger relationships with the cast. You can ' t help but get close to a guy when you ' re concentrating on keeping his lipstick on straight, senior Stacey Spr inger said of her experience on the make-up crew. Members of the group signed up in February and in March and were taught the how-to ' s by Larisa Charla, Amy Bowen, and Student Director and makeup crew co- head Dan Jackson skillfully applies stage nakeup. Jackson also was in charge of making the beards for the play. by S. York and S. Springer Dan Jackson, chairpersons. Each person was assigned to different members of the cast, for whom they were responsible for the entire run of the play. Always fifteen minutes behind schedule, the make-up crew worked through the sweltering heat of the make-up room, fighting for the last eyeliner to get the stars of the show done before the curtain rose. FRONT ROW: Keri Mangiapane. Sta- cev Springer. Gail Rose. Karen Gun- ther. SECONDROWJJ Wentz. Patty Kowalski, Carrie Page. Amy Bowen pholo by Doug Engle 30 STUDENT LIFE

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FRANKLY SPEAKING Mr. Van Daan. portrayed by senior Bob Erwin. and John Fell, who played Peter Van Daan, prepare for one of the several Hanukah scenes. P Donar New Talent -Key to the Diary As the curtain opened for this year ' s fall play, The Diary of Anne Frank, many people noticed the brand new faces up on stage, in fact, nine out of the ten students who had acting roles were making their first stage appearance at Seaholm. Was it totally dominated by lower classmen? Not at all, explained senior Leslie Cohen, who played Anne Frank ' s mother. We had seniors and juniors up there as well as freshmen and sophomores. John Fell and Bob Erwin, both seniors and both making their acting debutes, hid their inexperience well. Erwin portrayed Mr. Van Daan and Fell took the part of Peter Van Daan, who admired Anne Frank, played by freshman Alison Mould. Also making their first appearances on the Seaholm stage were Clint Bond, Scott Fischer, Beth Link, Steve Kopcha, and Liisa Laako. While most of the cast were novices on the Seaholm stage, many of them had already been exposed to the acting world. Such experience includes drama clas- Leslie Cohen (Mrs. Frank) and Tina Albright (Margot) listen to Mr. Dussel (Scott Fisher), who has moved in to escape from the Nazis. Photo by Paul Donar by K, Mylod S, Springer ses at Seaholm, middle school plays, and community perfor- mances. And along with the new performers making their way into the acting scene at Sea- holm, so were the directors. Sophomore newcomer Amy Burch and senior Kevin Burke both assumed the responsibili- ties of directors. Amy and Kevin were fantastic. We could relate to them easily. recalled Tina Albright, who played Mar- got. One of the biggest duties that faced Burch and Burke was that of molding the actors into their respective characters. It ' s so important that they (the actors) become their roles. Otherwise the audience might misinterpret or find it hard to follow the development of that character. asserted Burke. Mr. Roger Warner, who also helped with the ' 84 production of Our Town, stepped in to help with this crucial character development. He really made a difference, said Leslie Co- hen. And not only Warner, but everyone involved with Anne Frank made it a great experi- ence and a great success. Director Kevin Burke helps freshman Scott Fisher rehearse his lines. This was one of the many tasks Burke handled while running the show. photo by Paul Donar Pressured Crew Comes Thru Was four weeks enough time for the fall play crew to prepare for The Diary of Anne Frank? Many said it was a hectic but enjoyable first month of the 1985-86 school year. We all got along beautifully. Everyone had a cooperative attitude which made for a better working environment, said Props Director Larisa Charla. And with crew-heads such as Dan Jackson, Ernie Dambach, Carrie Webster, Charla, and Carolyn Fuller, how could anything possibly go wrong? by Kevin Mylod Fuller, the make-up, costume and publicity Director, praised the work done by staff advisor Judy Macey, She did everything from finding a prop to designing the program. She was a real life saver in some cases. And when the four weeks had ended, the dedication and cooperation that they all shared was reflected in every performance. Student Co-directors Amy Burch and Kevin Burke review blocking changes for the next scene while the cast takes a quick break from the action. Photo by Paul Donar 32 STUDENT LIFE