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

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ai X W1 M fav ,V .f ,L DANCERS Michelle Bacon, Jeff Morton, Jaema Hook, Charlie Frederick, and Amy Shell enjoy a lively square dance at the graduation party of Laurie Moss, who was played by MOT member Sally Stevens. WEEKS OF PRACTICE before the arrival of MOT paid off for the members of the men's chorus which included Ed Neally, Tim Fowler, and David Branstrom. SENIOR JON SUCHER played the role of Mr. Jenks in The Tender Land , performing with MOT's Claritha Buggs and Steven Hen- rikson. 1 MICHIGAN OPERA THEATRE 39

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NIGHT T THE DPER It was fantastic, remarked Emily Rietz, a senior who played the role of Beth in the Michigan Opera Theatre's production of Aaron Copland's The Tender Land . MOT was an opportunity for Seaholm choir students to work with the professionals of the busi- ness, and as Emily Rietz put it, Uwe became good friends with all the performers and found that even though they CHORUS MEMBERS Sheri Metz and Allyse Donahue portrayed the residents of a small midwest farm town during the depression in Copland's Tender Land . SHARING A TENDER MOMENT, Beth lEmily Rietzl and Ma Moss fClaritha Buggsj, are saddened at the leaving of Laurie from the town. were pros, they were people too. Adele Crawford, who played the role of Beth when MOT performed at Detroit's Cass Tech High School remarked about her experience, working at Tech made me aware of alot of the privileges we often take advantage of. The people at Tech were great, and this was an experience I wouldn't trade for anything. 38 MICHIGAN OPERA THEATRE A week of rehearsals and voice classes culminated in the Satur day night presentation of The Tender Landv which was complete success. Choir Director Mr. Gene Branstrom deserves much applause for bringing this special event to the Seaholm stage. 0 AS A MEMBER of the soprano chorus, junior Heather Braun gained valuable experience from the members of MOT .,....-.-wav-M--w I VVV, A f, W. M. , A ,W

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I L MBERS Students get the applause, the audience gets the prize and the tradition is carried on. Seaholm is known throughout the community for its consistently out- standing spring musical productions. This year's choice was Rogers and Hammerstein's Oklahomaf, but only after a lot of discussion about the future of the Seaholm musical. The tradition was almost broken this year when negotiations went on well into january, which was the reason for the performances being a full month later than usual. A decision was finally made and the school hired Mr. Daniel Yuragaitis to direct the play. A new director was not the only change made this year. In previous years it had seemed like the whole system was unorganized and it took a last minute scramble to pull the play together. This year we're so much more organized and things are moving at a much quicker pace, said Becca Bahr, comparing Oklahoma! to the last two musicals. The momentum is really building up fast. When asked what her reaction would have been if there had been no musical, Becca answered, It would have felt like something was missing from my education. With a new organization and dedication from everyone involved, Oklahoma! will be remembered as the play that kept the tradition alive. Icontinuedj THE CAST USED room B204 when they needed to spread the many dancers and singers like Peggy Rehfus out for practice. THE ENTIRE CAST including Frank Plonka and Emily Rietz fills the stage while singing and dancing to the tune of The Farmer and the Cowman Jenny Whorf fAunt Ellerj, Tom Fiscella 1A1i Hakiml, and Melanie Hansen ILaurey1 do a rough reading and blocking of dialogue in scene one. Matt Hook IWiI11 asks Jenny Whorf 1Aunt Ellerj to square dance with him at the Box Social at Skidmore Ranch. 40 OKLAHOMA! Www ,A mam Liz Salley i -E S