INK Discussion

[kat newkirk]

(in New York state)

_http://www.oneidadispatch.com/articles/2010/03/03/entertainment/doc4b8dea62
7422b725910047.txt_
(http://www.oneidadispatch.com/articles/2010/03/03/entertainment/doc4b8dea627422b725910047.txt)


VVS staging ‘AIDA’ this weekend
Published: Tuesday, March 2, 2010






By MATT POWERS
Dispatch Staff Writer




VERONA — A cast of Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School students will pull
the audience back through time to ancient Egypt as they put on the musical “
AIDA” this Friday and Saturday.

The musical will take place at the VVS High School auditorium at 7:30 p.m.
on both nights with a matinee at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

The musical involves a love triangle between Aida, an enslaved Nubian
princess and Amneris, an Egyptian princess who compete for the love of Radames,
an Egyptian captain.

“AIDA” is the second VVS musical put on by Musical Director Brandie
Collins.

“I chose it because it really calls for very strong students to be the lead
roles,” she said. “It’s a show that relies heavily on six main people.
And I knew that we had the talent for that this year. It’s also a show that I
was able to see on Broadway with the original cast and it has been my
absolute favorite ever since.

“AIDA,” written by Elton John and Time Rice, was originally meant to be an
opera but ended up as a musical, Collins explained. It ran on Broadway
from 2000-20004.

“We did auditions in December and started rehearsals in the beginning of
January,” she said. “They are students who not only have that raw talent but
also are the kind of kids who soak up everything that you teach them. So
that was really something that I looked for.”

She said in addition to talent, the cast also has a good sense of humor.

“We’ve had a lot of laughs,” Collins said. “That’s probably the thing
that I’ve noticed the most out of this cast compared to other casts. We just
laugh a lot and have lots of jokes. We get done what we need to get done but
have a lot of fun.”

“I always really loved doing musicals and ‘AIDA’ is a really intriguing
show,” said sophomore Kelsey Clark, who plays Aida. “It’s a lot different
from anything I’ve ever done. We did Footloose last year and that’s a really
happy, peppy play,” she said. “This has a lot more serious tones.

“I look forward to seeing everyone’s reaction to the show because it’s a
lot different than VVS usually does,” she added. “So I think the audience
is really going to like it.”

She said she has developed a strong connection with her character.

“As the show progressed, I learned a lot more about Aida and now I really
think that Aida is a part of Kelsey,” she said.

Senior Dan Urtz, who plays Radames, said he has been in drama clubs for six
years and has participated in VVS musicals for the last four.

“I’ve always loved drama, theater and being in musicals,” he said. “I’m
actually going to pursue drama as my major in college next year.”

He said he can relate to his character.

“It’s a lot of character development from the beginning of the show to the
end,” he said. “He starts out as a really tough, powerful character but
he gets more in touch with his real emotions and how he feels for people.”

He said he looks forward to the reaction of the crowd on opening night.

“I can’t wait to show everyone what we can do,” he said.

“Singing has been my life ever since I was young,” said senior Ariel Brim,
who plays Amneris. “I just love performing and entertaining people.”

She said her favorite part of opening night is “when we’re all together
behind the curtain and we’re just so excited and we’re like, ‘Here it goes,
here it goes’.”

“I hope that the kids are just extremely proud of themselves,” Collins
said. “I want them to walk away from it feeling good about all their hard
work. They’ve put in a lot of hard work and that’s why every adult works on
this project so that those kids can walk away with that feeling.”

“I hope the audience just realizes that we are a really talented cast,”
said Clark. “That even though we’re a high school we can still pull together
a really great musical.”

Collins said people should come out to the musical because it is something
completely different than has been done in the past and has a more modern
feel.

“The music is so absolutely amazing,” said Collins. “So I hope that they
take that away from it. I don’t think that they’ll be able to leave without
humming a tune in their head that they hear. But it’s also a really
beautiful love story and that is what I think is equally important as the music.”

Tickets are $8 and can be ordered by calling 339-6279 or e-mailing
_vvsmusical@yahoo.com_ (mailto:vvsmusical@yahoo.com) Make checks payable to VVS
Musical.