This fall, the Staples Players produced the musical “West Side Story?. Involving great music, great dancing, great acting, a great cast, a great crew, and a great story, everyone involved in the show has a chance to spend quality time together over the weeks of production.
“Because we practically live in the four building during tech and hell week, the cast really transforms into a family unit that just happens to be working our hardest to put on a spectacular production,” said Annie Cooperstone ’13, one of the lead dancers in the show.
While the participants in the play become closer than ever during this great experience, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.
Every year, the week after the big production is over, both cast and crew come together one last time to “strike” (take apart) the set. But for some, the set isn’t the only thing that is taken apart during this time.
As everyone moves on, they begin to focus more time on their school work and after school activities. Because of this it can be difficult for some to maintain relationships developed during the play.
“I still see and hang out with my close friends from the show, but others I rarely see now,” says August Laska ’13. “My afternoons are great – I get to go home and actually relax for a little bit. I get all my homework done and go to sleep before 10:30, which is awesome.”
While this may be true for some, most of the members of Players believe that the relationships they’ve made are strong enough to withstand the distance that the end of the play puts between them.
“We spend so much time together during the rehearsal process that it’s hard to not see or hang out with each other after the show is over,” says Lauren Weinberger ’13.
The emotional need to see the friends they’ve made during the process isn’t the only thing that keeps the Players together. After the big productions, Staples Players perform smaller shows in the Black Box theatre as well as the annual One Acts production. These performances allow students to continue doing what they love all throughout the year and help them keep the friendships they’ve made.
“The process of starting the next show (“Into the Woods” & Gregg Bonti’s studio, “Rumors”) begins in about two weeks,” adds Laska. “This includes auditions and callbacks. They’ve already posted character descriptions for both shows online and in the four building hallway.”
It seems like the Staples Players are always busy and never go to long without seeing their fellow Players. Maybe good things don’t always have to come to an end — at least not in the their world.
