Play tryouts

by Riley Gillespie

This January, play tryouts for Footloose were held at the high school. They were held by Natalie Kmetz every year, along with a select few judges. But this year, the play tryouts were modified.

“Every person interested in trying out sits in the auditorium and gets called up in groups of five. One at a time, each person recites a line from the play, sings a piece of a song of their choice, and matches pitch on the piano. They are scored by a panel of judges who specialize in different areas,” said Brook McElmoyle, senior and lead of this year’s play.

A surprise was, not many students being nervous for the high school play tryouts. The students who were interviewed seemed to be more excited than nervous.

“I do not get nervous for the tryouts. I’m used to it, though I get a little butterflies, nothing too serious,” said Luis Valdez, senior.

It seems like everyone is very excited about the upcoming play, and they are ready to start their practices with good outlooks for this year of Footloose.

“I hope that the cast is able to work together well, so that we can put on an enjoyable show for audiences,” said Nolan Rehrig, junior and male lead of this year’s play.

A few select upperclassmen were chosen to be interviewed. As this being their last years and on of their last plays, they are looking forward to putting on a great production, but it is also bittersweet.

“I hope that the cast can all work together to put on the best performance possible. We have some big shoes to fill, since the last production of Footloose was so memorable. I have always wanted to be in Footloose, so I am super excited to start practicing and give my all to put on the best production for my senior year,” McElmoyle said. “The hardest part will be leaving behind something I’ve been doing for most of my life and has brought me so much joy, but I will be taking so many amazing memories with me.

The students of JTHS are hard at work to produce a wonderful play. The community is looking forward to this year’s production, and is anticipating the play to be shown to the public in a few months time. Good luck to the cast of Footloose, 2019!