Hays High is continuing rehearsals for their musical “All Shook Up.” The story takes place in the 1950’s and is comprised of all Elvis songs, though the plot in no way revolves around Elvis or his life. Brenda Meder, stage director, and Johnny Matlock, musical director, are collaborating to direct the show. They gave permission for Hays Post to sit in on a rehearsal.
Senior Rachel Muirhead plays Matilda, the town’s mayor. She has been involved in theatre since 4th grade. Muirhead explained that no one in the town (which is “ultra conservative” and very traditional) likes the mayor, and people see the mayor as the enemy throughout most of the show. She added that being the enemy of an upbeat show is a challenge.
“Someone told me that I got this role because I could make it a funny/good role instead of just making it a mean role.”
Junior Quinlan Brungardt plays Earl, the Sheriff: the mayor’s right-hand-man. This is his fourth year in the musical. He’s also performed non-musical spring plays.
Brungardt says that while the music for this show is tougher than in the past, his greatest challenge this year is bringing his character out and showing the transition the Sheriff goes through.
“It’s a very heavy acting role, because I’m not always talking. A lot of it is a lot of acting, a lot of reaction. You have to be very reactive to everything on stage and right now that’s the most difficult thing for me.”
Johnny Matlock , Hays High / Middle School choir director and vocal instructor , also said that this show has a number of unique challenges for the students. He says that while he believes it may be one of the toughest shows musically that Hays High has put on; students will be able to rise to the challenge and deliver an entertaining, engaging and impactful performance.
“I think we have a great collaborative team. Brenda does a fantastic job of giving us our artistic direction. Then we take those things, we imitate that in our music, we relate that to everything we do so the characters become inside the music. I love working with that: where we take the breaths, what words we emphasize, how we can bring out these words. That’s what we do with the music.”
Tickets for All Shook Up are on sale now. The show will run November 14th – November 16th at 7:30pm, and November 17th at 2:30pm. For tickets, call 623-2428 or stop by the lobby in the 12th Street Auditorium weekdays between 4pm – 8pm.