Auditions for Drama’s upcoming play, Neil Simon’s Rumors, were held on February 8 and 9 for both experienced and beginning drama students.

Drama teacher Jamie Donohoe is excited at the prospect of casting less experienced students in the production. “This Drama 1 class is talented. There is a lot of talent there. They’re going to be good,” he said.

Auditions were open, and some took the opportunity to explore unusual possibilities. “I auditioned for the role of Cookie, who is a female character, even though I’m a guy, because the rest of the play has a more serious tone to it and I’m not very good at serious acting, so I auditioned for the more comedic character,” said freshman Lukas Beer.

The play itself is “a story about a bunch of wealthy white people at a house party,” said Beer.

Donohoe selected the piece for the spring show. “I heard about Rumors through some other drama teachers last year, read it, and said ‘okay, this is going to be really fun.’ It’s a zany, situational comedy with a lot of moving around and the characters are really fun.”

One significant shift for Donohoe and the Drama department is in the complexity of the set. “This is going to be our biggest set challenge, that is, we’ve done plays that have been minimalist set wise. This one requires a 2 level set, there’s an upstairs, and it requires a lot of doors. There are, off the top of my head, 5 doors that the set calls for, and people are coming in and out of those doors. We have none of that constructed, and all of it is going to have to be built,” Donohoe said.

Donohoe has faith in his students that “they can take care of the acting,” but when it comes to the set, “it falls to us.”

A rehearsal packet was passed out to students, which included a parental permission form. It also contained information on practices and strict guidelines regarding the management of conflict with rehearsals and performances.  A play is a “major commitment,” said Donohoe.

Tryout callbacks were on February 10.

Seniors Julia Durski and Sarah Santaguida were chosen as assistant directors. Junior Emily Halsebo is to be the stage manager. All other crew members are to be filled in later.

The play will be performed on April 28, 29, and 30. A special “tech day” to set up backgrounds and lights will be held a few days before, on April 23.

From now until production, rehearsals are after school, everyday, from 3:15- 5:30.

The cast list is as follows:

Chris Gorman: Rachel Jackson

Ken Gorman: Alex McFadden

Claire Ganz: Lauren Raff

Lenny Ganz: Tom Flynn

Ernie Cusack: Nathan Fenske

Cookie Cusack: Claire Tajima

Glenn Cooper: Shea Danforth

Cassie Cooper: Payton Ellis

Officer Welsh: Tenshi Lucas

Officer Pudney: Fiona Deane-Grundman