On March 15th and 16th Weedsport High School performed the musical All Shook Up. All Shook Up is a musical where Elvis Presley’s music makes the show come to life in a comedic, heartwarming way that makes you want to get up and dance. All Shook Up takes place in a small town being ruled by a strict mayor. All rules are repressed when Chad, a charming roustabout, rides in with his motorcycle, guitar, and music in his soul. With Chad’s influence the people of the town find themselves wanting to follow their dreams, confess their love, sing their hearts out, and dance. With this the town is turned upside down and changed.
All Shook Up featured an outstanding cast with talented students. Chad played by Nolan Carner, Natalie/Ed played by Mackenzie Strong, Miss Sandra played by Jasmine Nguyen, Dennis played by Matthew Freunscht, Sylvia played by Adrihanna Collins, Lorraine played by Ivy Miller, Dean Hyde played by Jack Hopkins, Mayor Matilda played by Abby Bizzozero, Sheriff Earl played by Alex Musso, and The Warden played by Superintendent Stone.
The production of this play was described as stressful but overall fun. “You are at school 24/7 running scenes and lines over and over again,” explained sophomore Ivy Miller. Several students said their favorite part of the musical, besides actually being able to be in it, was spending time with their friends and the seniors.
This year Ivy Miller had her first lead role. Ivy described the process of having a lead role as stressful. There are many things that you can imagine would be stressful with having a lead role. Such as remembering all your lines, outfit changes, etc. Ivy, however, expressed her only struggle was with singing loud enough. “The style of some of the songs made it difficult to sing loud enough.” When it comes down to remembering all the lines Ivy says she watches a recorded version of the show and says her lines along with it.
During the musical there was romance nearly in every scene. The cast had to step out of their comfort zones and “date” their cast members, pretend to be in love with them, and even do stage kisses sometimes more than once too. Most people would think this would be a super uncomfortable experience, but for Ivy Miller she explained her first on stage relationship and kiss was not as bad as she had anticipated. “At first I really wasn’t thrilled with the relationship part, but after you work together for a couple weeks you get more comfortable and it starts just being a part of the show. For a stage kiss you really have to talk to your partner and figure out where you guys are comfort wise because even for fake kisses you have to get super close. In the end I did like it after you get comfortable with our partner. It’s all fake and makes you better friends in my experience.”
Next year there will be a gap in the department due to seniors leaving. With this gap, the musical for next year might not have as many students, and will need to improve and strengthen certain things to keep the strength that this cast had. The seniors this year guided the lowerclassmen and kept them in line for where they should be. When asked on next year’s group, Ivy Miller said, “I think it’s going to be very different because we’re losing so many seniors that have made such an impact on the music department, but I think with the freshmen we’ll have next year as well as the people who haven’t graduated and hopefully some more it can be very successful and hopefully we can put on shows as good or even better than the ones we already have.”
