The NFHS drama department recently put on a fantastic rendition of the classic movie “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”, a musical about a family of seven brothers who each try to court a wife by stealing them from town. The play is full of fighting, romance and humor, as well as incredible singing from actors such as Dellan Short, who played the lead brother Adam, and Kylee Bowen, who played the lead wife Millie. Along with the extreme vocal talent, there were many sophisticated fight scenes and perfectly choreographed dances that made the show entertaining. Though the audience appreciated how incredible the play turned out to be, they often overlook all of the hours and hard work that goes into the final product. Whether they play a small role, a supporting role or a main character, the actors involved in this production dedicated countless hours of hard work toward an amazing show.

Graham Hendricks, who played a supporting role, estimates that he spent about eight hours per week starting off, but the cast then put in 25 hours as opening night inched closer and closer. Practices were usually three hours long on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but then stretched to five hour rehearsals every day. His role in particular was a fatherly role, a part he does not usually get to play on a daily basis. In addition to a new type of character, Hendricks explained that “the songs were also a little high [pitched] for [him], so it took some preparation work with Mrs. Macko and J Hutch to help [him] hit those notes.” Overall, he estimates that he had to memorize 15-17 speaking lines and two songs for the play. Despite the hard work, Hendricks loves the process of putting together a show and how the cast “can get a script with lines and use it as an empty canvas to create [their] show.”

Holland Trask, who was a featured dancer in the play, explained that while she did not have many lines to memorize, she did have choreography to learn and remember. In preparing for her role, she shared that she practiced yoga because, in order to portray a new character, “[she] had to forget [her] worries outside of the show so [she] could focus on embodying a new person.” In practices after school, Trask usually started with dance and vocal warm ups, then she would move to rehearsing group numbers. After group numbers, the dancers would work on numbers with smaller groups of people, which would allow others who were not in the small groups work on homework. Through this, Trask says she learned “how to work more efficiently in school so [she] wouldn’t have to worry about homework during rehearsals.” Through the 25-hours-per-week rehearsals, Trask “felt really proud of [herself] for handling the stress and workload so well.”

The play was beautifully put together and reflected hard work and dedication from not only the cast, but the crew and directors as well. In Graham’s words, the most rewarding part of being involved in the play “is ending the show with a life long family, and to see how excited everyone is that [they] all worked together to put on a show.”