HHS students dazzle in ‘Fame: the Musical’

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
HOULTON, Maine — Play enthusiasts took a trip back to the 1980s this past weekend as Houlton High School’s music department put on three performances of “Fame: The Musical!”    A play about six vibrant, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural high school students at New York City’s High School of Performing Arts, “Fame: The Musical!” tackled a number of social issues such as love, weight, addiction, dyslexia and others.
“The shows were a great success,” said Jason Anderson, director for the musical. “I’m very proud of the hard work that every student put into the production to make it such a great set of performances.”
This year, three productions were held — Friday and Saturday evening, as well as Sunday afternoon. The cold weekend weather did not deter people from coming out to support the students’ efforts.
“I don’t think the cold weather had too much of an effect on attendance, which made the cast really happy,” Anderson said. “In fact, I saw many faces again and again at shows throughout the weekend; it appeared to be popular enough that some people came more than once.”
A total of 50 students were involved in every aspect of the production — from actors, singers, and dancers, to lighting and sound techs, to players in the pit orchestra and backstage crew.
“Without their dedication we would not have experienced the level of success that we did,” Anderson added. “I’d like to particularly thank all of the adult members of the production team for their hours of tireless work to make the kids’ experience so positive: Pam Chernesky, Kevin Mania, Heather Bell, Kathy Chase, Sue Waite-York, Dee Butler (and the JMG students at HHS), Becky Day, and Jeanne-Rae Condon. Without these adults the kids might not have been able to achieve such great performances.”
A new wrinkle this year, saw the orchestra pit placed behind the stage. In previous years, the musicians were located either on the floor or in the balcony. To make sure Mania, the band director for the play, was able to match the music with the acting on stage, a closed-circuit camera was set up to allow him to view the scenes on a large monitor behind the stage.
The cast and crew consists of the following students: Jackie Condon, Caleigh Sullivan, Kierra Carmichael, Dakota Gramour, Haven Rhoda, Madelene Anderson, Olivia White, Natalie Rush, Connor Bulley, Isaac Morse, Elyjah Crockett, Keegan Fitzpatrick, Phoenix Crockett, Noah Holmes, Dylan Johnston, Hunter Graham, John Thatcher, Lexi Bartlett, Victoria Codrey, Victoria Holmes and Tessa McCormick.
Also, Jill Moran, Danielle Provost, Taylor Reed, Jackie Ouellette, Laura Beals, Caila Keber, Morgan Nelson, Nia Hamilton, Adam Casillas, Lily Hanning, June Choi, Lauren Hogan, Makala Miller, Jill Howland, Erin Keehn, Caeley Brown, Amelia St. John, Kaitlin Hannigan, Dustin Hines, Nick Guy, Christian Crane, Jacob Jones, Autumn London, Owen Gallop, Rebekah Emery, Cameron Stevens and Zach Reese.