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The Piedmont Highlander

The Piedmont Highlander

Student directed ‘[Title of Show]’ wows audience, gets a visit from writer

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Eyebrows raised, jaws dropped and uncontrollable smiles; the excitement didn’t end for the cast of “[title of show]” when the stage lights turned off.

The first time the cast of “[title of show]” performed, they won an award at the Ohlone College High School Theater Festival, and the second time they performed, the writer of the Broadway musical surprised them by coming to watch.

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Senior Tyler Ellis with writer of [Title of Show] Hunter Bell

Director and cast member senior Tyler Ellis decided to put on the performance after acting teacher Kim Taylor introduced it to him in May of his junior year.

“She knew I would love it,” Ellis said. “So I took a listen, then another one, then I went online and tried to find out as much as I could because I really became obsessed with the show.”

With an affinity for the soundtrack and the musical, Ellis began the audition process in early fall of 2015.

“Right when the scripts came in the mail we started immediately,” Ellis said. “It was once a week if we were lucky and if everyone was available.”

Rehearsals were intimate and a personal favorite for Ellis.

“We cleared out my living room and we used it as our stage,” Ellis said. “Just seeing the seed and imagining it actually on stage, it was just so surreal and special. Those moments where I actually saw a show, those were my favorite.

Not only were rehearsals intimate, but the nature of the show, with only five cast members, allowed for close bonds to form.

Working with mostly seniors was intimidating at first but it ended up being very fun and I got to get to know people that I wouldn’t have talked to otherwise,” cast member sophomore Maggie Lucas said.

All cast members had previously been in musicals, however “[title of show]”’s comedic backbone was new to a few cast members.

“This was a change of pace because I feel like you work with the audience instead of telling a story and being really intense, you have a really good time with them and that was honestly really fun,” senior Yael Gordon said.

Despite the comedic undertones of “[title of show]”, the show had an inspirational and organic message. Both Ellis and Gordon said that the song “Die Vampire Die” perfectly exemplified the message of the play.

“It’s [Die Vampire Die] just so silly at first but gets so deep and has a grander meaning than just vampires on the surface,” Ellis said. “It’s the heart of the show and it’s the same thing for the song ‘Nine People’s Favorite Thing’.”

Gordon said that the message of “Die Vampire Die”,  not letting people stop you from being who you are despite insecurities, was not only significant to her but also enabled and gave her confidence to perform in the show.

“One of the lines is “or they might say you’re not good enough to sing in a musical” and that was one thing that I was actually really nervous about because I’ve never been that singer type of person,” Gordon said.

Parallel to “Die Vampire Die”, the song “Nine People’s Favorite Thing” had a simple yet attractive message that caught the attention of audience members.

“People have come up to me like ‘that [the phrase “I’d rather be nine people’s favorite thing than 100 people’s ninth favorite thing”] makes so much sense, I love that phrase I’m going to use that now’ and I’m like ‘exactly’; it’s so beautifully written,” Ellis said.

After the shows’ message reached the audience and the stage lights went dim, the energy of “[title of show]” continued behind the stage curtains. In the midst of receiving congratulations and hugs from friends and family, Hunter Bell, co writer of the musical, surprised the cast.

“Everyone thought that my mom was up to it [the surprise] or my dad or Kim Taylor,” Ellis said. “But in reality, he just looked up if any productions were happening and we were about an hour away from him so he was like ‘Let’s go!’ and he ordered a reserved seat and went to the show. I just can’t believe it.”

Ellis said that Bell was a huge fan of the play and complemented their performance. In fact, Bell wrote a glowing report of the show on Facebook, rewarding the efforts of the cast and making the experience for Ellis that much more memorable.

“It  [“[title of show]”] was the perfect thing for me to end my Piedmont High School theater career with and I cannot believe that it happened in real life because it was just an idea literally a year ago and it happened,” Ellis said.

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