Students in this year’s musical are looking forward to the production of the “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”’
The new choir director, Mr. Yost, is very excited about the upcoming musical. He has experience co-directing a musical but most of his production experience is from television, film, and Broadway.
Yost started working with Broadway in 2015 and has also worked for ABC, NBC, and Hallmark. He came to Hastings High during Covid. Before this, he worked at a middle school.
The cast involves 30 people and they are all on stage the whole time; there is no chorus for this musical. The musical will be performed on April 16, 17, and 18.
Senior Hannah Gammill is looking forward to her fourth and final musical performance at HHS. She is playing the role of Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, the younger speller in the bee.
Performers are very excited to have an in-person musical this year.
“I can’t wait to perform our show in front of an audience! Since the pandemic prevented us from performing Legally Blonde last spring, we’re all beyond thrilled to transport our audience into the world of the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” Gammill said.
This musical will be an awesome experience for the audience and the performers themselves.
Gammill said “As soon as audience members walk through the doors of the auditorium lobby, the experience has begun. Our guests will be attending the Putnam County Spelling bee alongside the actors portraying the spellers and their parents, so they will get to experience very authentic interactions between characters,” giving the audience members a unique experience of attending the show.
Junior Erika Nielsen is also looking forward to her second musical at HHS. She will play a chorus member and she is, “Most looking forward to the character developments we will see.”
Nielsen also said she, “Feels pretty good about it and is excited to see how it turns out.”
The only concern about this musical is the ongoing pandemic. However, they have persevered through this challenge.
The cast members have been wearing masks while rehearsing to stay safe.
“Thankfully, we’ve been able to rehearse our singing and acting just like usual, even while wearing masks. It takes some practice to get used to singing and enunciating words well through the masks, but we haven’t had much trouble so far” Gammill says.
