Green Room wrapped up the year with their musical, Songs for a New World, which was performed March 10-12 and March 16-18.
Songs for a New World is a show with no main storyline, the scenes do not relate to other scenes before it. It is made up of smaller stories that are told through song.
“Preparing for the show in general was kind of interesting because the show doesn’t have a plot. It’s a song cycle, so it’s just a bunch of songs that loosely tie together, and we had to make the scenes ourselves. It’s a lot of a group effort, and it’s really interesting,” said ensemble member and dance captain Anna Taylor.
The show is actually a song cycle. This means that there originally was only songs. The members of Green Room got together at meetings to create their own scenes for the show.
“As a high school theatre company, we have chosen to perform Songs for a New World because it has granted our talented actors the artistic freedom to come up with their very own scenes and stylize these scenes however they like,” said front-of-house crew member Neilla Janssen.
The show has been in production for a long time, with auditions starting in December of 2016. Many rehearsals were set aside to learn all the songs, dances, and lines, and many days of technical production were used to build the set, put up lights, and get the Black Box ready for the show.
“I have attended daily rehearsals since January of this year and have gone to almost every tech call. I was a member of lighting crew, so I assisted in much of the lighting aspects of the show. In order to prepare for the show, we had weekly dance rehearsals where we practiced our dance routine, went over vocals for the music, and did work regarding many of the scenes in the show,” said ensemble member Nick Grezik.
The company puts together this show not just for the audience, but also to have fun doing it. The cast and crew can bond as they work together to put the show together. Over the course of the show, they can get to know each other and make great memories to take with them after the show.
“On Mondays, we do a review of what we did in the last week, and all of the students get to watch each other and see what’s going on in the songs that they aren’t in, and seeing the kids support each other and cheerlead each other… to me that’s really cool to see them support each other and also be inspired by each other. I think Mondays are my favorite,” said director Cher Schwartz.
This will be the last show for Green Room this year. This means the end of a year of theatre for some people and an end to Green Room all together for seniors.
“When I leave Green Room, I’m going to miss all the friends and relationships that I‘ve made this past year. It has truly been a privilege to work with so many kind and talented people. I will miss that the most,” Grezik said.
Be sure to check out a Green Room production. It is confirmed that the play next year will be All my Sons.