Frozen set to hit the stage

By Melissa Piche Times Contributor

Frozen comes to the stage at the Strathmore High School (SHS) on Dec. 18-21. 

Deanne Bertsch and her Drama 20-30 students (and a few Drama 10) have been hard at work since September preparing for the performance. With daily classes and extra evening rehearsals the show is sure to be a hit. 

Role selection began in early September with the roles cast by the end of the month. “In very few cases I have to terribly disappoint a student,” said Bertch. “They’re usually pretty happy with the roles they get.” 

She said that if a student has a good singing voice, has great facial expression and is loud and clear, she encourages them to audition for the role they truly want. More times than not, they land the part. 

Drama 30 student, Emma Moore, is one of the actors who will be portraying Anna in the production. Herself and one other actor will be sharing the role during the four days of production.

Performing in a major production like Frozen requires the actors to dedicate a significant amount of time to the performance. The actors have drama class daily and a double period Thursdays. Each class runs about 75 minutes in length.

“We also have additional rehearsals after school, which started late October which are about 2-3 hours,” said Moore.

On their own, the actors are required to run the songs and choreography to ensure the show is “stage ready.” 

The cast for Frozen consists of 25 cast members and 10 students on the technical side. The tech students create backdrops, costume design; they also work the music and sound and make sure the mic system will be running smoothly for show time. 

This is a pretty normal-sized cast, some SHS productions can have as few as 17 and as many as 40. 

This production is sure to capture everyone hearts since it’s a fairly well-known animated film. 

“The audience will definitely recognize the characters and the story and the music, but we certainly have put our own spin on it.” said Bertsch. “The students are really excited and have been working really hard.”

The show kicks off with two performances on Dec. 18 at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. The final three performances will be 7 p.m. from Dec. 19-21.

You can purchase tickets in advance, which is recommended, by texting 403-821-3203 or you can try your luck at the door. Tickets are $10 each.