What’s Happening:
For drama students at Griffith High School, November means one thing: theatre season. Each school year, Griffith Theatre Company (GTC), puts on a fall and spring show in November and April. This fall, GTC presented “30 Reasons Not To Be In A Play” from Friday, November 10 through Sunday, November 12.
The production is a representation of 30 situations that can happen during a play, proving that drama is dangerous and should be avoided. From hand warts to conjunctivitis, the audience is shown all 30 reasons why plays should be avoided at all costs.
The play was directed by history teacher Jenna Candiano, who has been the drama director for 3 years now. Her list of accomplishments include drama night in 2014, “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum” and “The Addams Family” in 2015, “Footloose” and “And Then There Were None” in 2016, and “Cinderella” and “30 Reasons Not To Be in a Play” in 2017. She is assisted by Maggie Rivera, Jim Graff, Shannon Scheidel, Laura Nelson, and Lauren Januska.
“30 Reasons Not To Be In A Play” was a huge success for GTC and boasted a majority cast of freshmen who had been involved with the middle school drama department last year. High school Assistant Director, Maggie Rivera, started the middle school program last year where they put on “The Anti-Play” and “The Audition”, two one-act plays. All of the actors were in middle school while high school students had the opportunity to be production assistants, stage managers, crew members, and operate lights and sound.
Student Spotlight:
Sophomore Jackie Bobos is currently the only sophomore thespian at Griffith, and has been involved in three productions. Bobos was in set crew for the 2016 fall play “And Then There Were None”, a chef and dance production assistant during “Cinderella” in spring of 2017, and is currently playing Mia and Pam’s Mom, as well as being in various other scenes.
“I was very honored to be casted in such a big role as a sophomore and I really enjoyed getting into the character of Mia,” said Bobos, “It was a lot of responsibility to get the lines memorized because I mix things up when I get nervous, but everything worked out and went great on opening night, so it was definitely worth it.”
Other than drama, Bobos is also a varsity starter on the girls soccer team, a member of FCCLA, Student Council, Best Buddies, Class Council, and International Club. She balances all of these extracurriculars, along with academics, vocal lessons, soccer practices, and family and friend time.
“It gets to be really stressful at times, but I don’t regret doing it because the reward tends to be really great.” said Bobos.
Bobos plans to continue with GTC for all four years of high school and will possibly pursue it further as an extra-curricular in college.
“Drama is a place where I feel like I can be myself, and I’ve made great friendships and memories,” said Bobos, “The participants are a second family to me, and I’m very grateful for them all.”
Bobos has always wanted to be in drama since elementary school, and was inspired by her brother, Cameron Bobos, who is currently a senior at Griffith. She hopes to follow in his footsteps of landing lead roles for her future productions.
What’s Coming Up:
The Griffith Theatre Company will be attending many events in between the fall and spring play, including drama regionals, drama state, and a production of “White Christmas” in Chicago.
On Saturday, November 18, students have the option to attend drama regionals at Munster High School where they will view plays from other schools in the area and attend workshops for acting, crew, singing, and dancing.
“I am looking forward to getting inspiration from watching other actors for my performance at state,” said senior Storm Fleming, “I am excited to support all of my peers there.”
On December 2, students will be taking a trip to Chicago to watch a production of “White Christmas” at the Goodman Theatre.
“I’m very excited to see 'White Christmas' because I rarely get to see Broadway shows, and I now have the opportunity to see one with my friends who also have a passion for acting and appreciate the arts,” said Emma Loomis, a junior in drama. “I have never seen 'White Christmas,' but I love Christmas, so I am looking forward to seeing something that I have never seen before.”
Finally, from January 26-28, drama state will take place in Indianapolis at Franklin Central High School. Students will view productions from schools in Indiana that made it to state. There will also be workshops for acting, improv, musical theatre, singing, and many fun activities that they can participate in throughout the weekend. There are also competitions for individual, duets, or group performers who sing, act, or improv, and those involved in costumes, crew, and lights and sound.
Teacher(s) Spotlight:
Maggie Rivera is an art teacher at Griffith High School and has been involved with the high school drama department for two years. She began helping with costumes, makeup, painting scenery, and making props. Rivera has since then moved up to Assistant Director, where she helps run rehearsals and takes over whenever Director Jenna Candiano cannot be there. Rivera helps everything run smoothly backstage during performances, and is Candiano’s right-hand man.
“I really enjoy all of the aspects of the theatre so being able to be the Assistant Director lets me enjoy a part of each aspect of drama,” said Rivera.
Shannon Scheidel has been a FACS teacher at Griffith for 11 years and has been the costume director for GTC for 7 years. Scheidel designs, plans, makes, and fixes costumes for every actor, and helps with quick changes and costume organization backstage. Scheidel graduated from Griffith in 2003, and attended Purdue Lafayette for CFS Education, and then attended Indiana Wesleyan where she received her Masters in Education.
Jim Graff has been an art teacher at Griffith for 24 years, and has been running all of crew and GLS for 16 years. Graff teaches students how to build sets, work the light booth, run the soundboard, work microphones on each actor, and change sets in-between scenes.