Em Day

Athletes have games, musicians have concerts, for student actors, the spring musical proves to be their time to shine.
This year, the theater program at the Regional has chosen to perform the murder mystery musical, Lucky Stiff.
“The musical follows Henry Witherspoon, a down on his luck shoemaker,” said musical and stage director, Sherri Der Kazarian. “The musical starts with a hilarious opening number. Witherspoon is given the chance to win $6,000,000… but only if he can take his recently and mysteriously murdered uncle on vacation to Monte Carlo, passing him off as alive. If he does not succeed, the money goes to the Universal Dog Home of Brooklyn, which is owned by Annabel Glick.”
Seniors Matthew Trombley and Rylie Schoville play the lead roles of Witherspoon and Glick with roughly 55 additional supporting cast members.
“I like going to see the musicals because I see a whole different side of my classmates,” said senior Valerie Landivar. “You can tell the amount of effort they put into these musicals and they have a lot of fun with each other.”
Student actors said being part of the production has been a positive experience.
“The community in the theater program is incredible,” said junior Charly Heinrich. “There are so many multi-talented individuals and everyone gets really close. I’m very excited for the musical. It’s a lot of fun.”
Librarian and technician director Alana Stern said that the musical provides something for everyone to do.
“There is lots of diversity in the theater program,” said Stern. “If a student isn’t really into sports but they like the feeling of being on a team, the spring musical is great for that. We have kids with all different skill sets, from sewing to carpentry to painting to lights. There is truly something to contribute from every individual.”
For many students, the musical helps develop skills they might pursue after high school.
“I’m planning on majoring in comedic arts,” said Heinrich. “This year I switched roles and helped with the tech side of things. It definitely gave me perspective and also helped me develop more skills that I might be able to use in the future. I’m currently helping to build the set, but I’m also planning on helping with the lights.”
Spanish teacher and lighting director Robin Spain De Gennaro offers a unique skill set to help the young actors.
“I’ve been helping the students learn British accents along with the lighting,” said Spain De Gennaro. “Many people in my family used to be in productions and I’ve been acting since the age of four. I recommend everyone go and watch the play because it’s hysterical.”
Junior Hayley Fallon said she also recommends students and faculty go and see the musical.
“I’ve been both an audience member and an actress and the musicals are always fun on both sides of the stage,” said Fallon.
Some students express regret about not yet seeing a musical
“I’ve never been to one of the musicals,” said senior Sydney Carlson. “I’ve never really known about them until the last minute and by that point I already had other commitments.”
According to faculty, insufficient funding has caused issues in the theater program.
“Unlike sports, we do not charge students in order to participate,” said Stern. “Our main source of funding comes from ticket sales and various fundraisers throughout the year.”
Der Kazarian agreed.
“Funding has always been an issue,” said Der Kazarian. “I’ve been helping with the musical for 18 years and we’ve always had a tight budget and often have to reuse props from previous years. In the event that we don’t have a prop, we are forced to either cut into our precious budget or borrow things from neighboring schools. However it’s not just the props that we have to pay for. We also are required to buy the rights to the musical in order to perform it. This is normally at least a thousand dollars because we also are paying for the scripts. However, since we make most of our money from ticket sales, it’s kind of a guessing game every year on how much we are able to spend.”
Students will perform Lucky Stiff on April 5th and 6th starting at 7 p.m. and on April 7th at 2 p.m.
Der Kazarian said she hopes many students and faculty will attend.
“It’s sure to be a great night,” said Der Kazarian. ”We hope you show some support and we’ll see you there!”