On Saturday Feb. 26, and Sunday Feb. 27, Kingswood Oxford’s award-winning theater program led by theater Director Kyle Reynolds performed their annual winter musical. The performances were originally scheduled for Friday Feb. 25, and Saturday Feb. 26, but due to inclement weather on February 25, the show that evening was postponed until Sunday Feb. 27, at 2:00 pm.
For this year’s performance, Mr. Reynolds selected the musical “9 to 5” composed by Dolly Parton and based on the 1980s movie. “9 to 5” centers around the experiences of three women from very different backgrounds all working in the same office. These women do not usually associate with one another in the outside world, but in the musical they come together to fight against their boss. Together these women are able to triumph over their boss and make changes for the better in their office.
“I think it’s a very interesting and different show in the sense that not many high schools would put it on considering the different themes to it,” junior Avery Schiff, one of the leads, said. “But I find that it’s a very educational show because a lot of kids would not be educated on the topics that are shown.”
The musical “9 to 5” features three female leads and one male lead. Doralee Rhodes, the wife of the boss, was played by senior Serafina Squatrito. Judy Bernly, the quiet new girl at the office who develops into a strong independent woman throughout the musical, was played by Avery. Violet Newstead, the leader in the office even though she does not officially hold the title of the “boss,” was played by junior Mckenzie Campbell. Franklin Hart Jr., the sexist boss of the office—essentially the antagonist of the musical—was played by senior Ricardo Croes-Ball.
Leading up to the performances, the cast was preparing ever since auditions in December. For the two weeks before the show opened, the cast stayed after school until 9:00 or 10:00 at night rehearsing. “We work long hours every day leading up to the musical,” Avery said. “We run scenes, we run the whole show entirely, we practice getting into costumes, doing our makeup, and doing our hair.”
“Tech week,” as it is called by cast members, is extremely stressful for all students involved, including the tech crew. “It is very important to take care of yourself and then take care of everything else,” Mckenzie said regarding her experience with tech week. This year’s cast is also an extremely tight-knit group, meaning members could rely on one another to get through the stressful weeks leading up to the musical’s opening night.
Despite the seamless performances of “9 to 5” that were performed on Feb. 26, and Feb. 27, putting together the performance was not without challenges. For instance, in January both Mr. Reynolds and music director Steve Mitchell contracted COVID-19 and were quarantined for a week respectively. Due to this, preparations for the musical were set back a week. “Although we missed a couple of weeks due to our directors being out due to COVID-19, we all have really come together to make the show the best it can be,” Avery said.
If you have not already, please congratulate the cast members of “9 to 5” if you see them around because they really invested a lot of time and effort in order to put on such a stellar show.
