By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The Hays High cast of “Anything Goes” is sure to tap and croon their ways into your heart this week.

Shows will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Twelfth Street Auditorium.

“Anything Goes” is a 1934 musical that features notable tunes such as “Anything Goes,” “You’re the Top” and “I Get a Kick Out of You.” The musical is a romantic comedy that takes place aboard a vessel en route to London from New York.

“I chose this musical for a handful of reasons. First of all, I think it fits our students incredibly well. There are lots of roles for many students to have opportunities, which I really like,” Alex Underwood, director, said. “Beyond that, I think it is important for students to get to explore cultures, time periods, and utilize skills that are different from their own. In this case, they get to study 1934 New York and learn some pretty significant tap dancing.

“Finally, it’s just a lot of fun. The music is charming, and the comedic bits are hysterical. It’s a wonderful way to spend a few hours.”

The principle roles in this show are Reno Sweeney, an evangelist-turned-night club singer whose brassy personality drives the plot, Underwood said. That role is double cast — played by Shirley Lee and Caitlin Leiker.

Billy Crocker is the leading man in this production, played by Gabe McGuire. Finally, Moonface Martin is a second-rate gangster disguised as a minister who drives quite a bit of the mayhem and fun in the show. Moonface is played by Kai Kaufman.

The show features a slew of dancers — Reno’s four angels and a quartet of dancing sailors. Beyond that, there are tons of other bit parts that are quite hilarious, Underwood said.

The challenges with this show revolved around the difficult production numbers — particularly the tap dancing, Underwood said.

“We hired a choreographer from New York to teach the students, and we’ve spent hours and hours working on it. Once it’s all said and done, it looks incredible!” he said. “I’m so proud of them for pulling off super tricky choreography. And we didn’t cut the dance breaks even one measure — it’s the full Broadway orchestration.”

Underwood said he has been proud of the work the students have put in thus far.

“I think these students bring some amazing skill as well as heart and commitment,” he said. “So many of them are fiercely dedicated to the success of this production and have been working tirelessly for months in preparation. It’s inspiring to watch, honestly.”

Tickets can be purchased at www.ticketsource.us/hays-high-school, at the box office at Twelfth Street Auditorium between 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. this week, or at the door. They are $10.

Cast list

• 

  Reno Sweeney – Shirley Lee (Nov. 14 and 16) and Caitlin Leiker (Nov. 15 and 17)

• Hope Harcourt – Alisara Arial
• Evangeline Harcourt – Katelyn Engel
• Lord Evelyn Oakleigh – Tom Drabkin
• Elisha Whitney – Andrew Duke
• Billy Crocker – Gabe McGuire
• Moonface Martin – Kai Kaufman
• Erma – Hanna Dannar
• Luc – Alexis White
• Jean – Matthew Bollig
• Captain – Ashley Vilaysing
• Purser – Sierra Adkins
• Reno’s Angels
•          Purity – Anna Brull
•          Chastity – Marie-lyn Castaing
•          Charity – Jessica Leiker
•          Virtue – Savanna Lawson
• Dancing Sailors – Nathan Leiker, Alex Flavin, Sydney Wittkorn, Stanna Flinn
• Singing Sailors – Seth Tripp, Alex Johnson, Nathan Leiker, Quinton McGuire
•        Fred – Eliana Buller
•        Henry T. Dobson – Carson Brooksher
•        Newspaper Photographer – Zach Chance
•        Reporter – Tegan Hartman
•        FBI Agent 1 – Samantha Vesper
•        FBI Agent 2 – Jocelyn Rigler
•        Old Lady in a Wheelchair – Eliana Buller

Passengers

• Elizabeth Dickman
• Michaela Dickman
• Devlyn Jochum
• Emry Lundy
• Macy Meyers
• Spenser Mills
• Summer Schneider
• Gracie Wente

Sailors

• Aidan Gregory
• Gabe Nichols
• Da’Vontai Robinson

Orchestra

• Conductor—Alex Underwood
• Violin—Douglas Drabkin
• Bass—Cami Moore
• Reed 1 — Matthew Rome
• Reed 2 — Kristin Pisano
• Reed 3 – Dawson Whalen
• Reed 4 – Patric Norhtrop
• Trumpet 1 — Brad Dawson
• Trumpet 2 — Gavin Blehm
• Trombone 1 — Jennifer Shinska
• French Horn — Renetta Dawson
• Trombone 3 – Peter Lillpopp
• Piano — Alexis Robinson
• Percussion 1 — Spencer Wittkorn
• Percussion 2 — Emma Tschanz
• Percussion 3 — Hanna Eikenberry

Production Staff

• Stage & Musical Direction — Alex Underwood
• Rehearsal Pianist and Production Assistant — Alexis Robinson
• Technical Direction — Jeremy Wann, Jeff Bitikofer
• Choreography — Adrian Rifat
• Director’s Assistant — Elijah Zimmerman
• Stage Management — Mazzy Sacia
• Assistant Stage Management — Alicia Feyerherm and Zoe Buffington
• Light Board Operation — Marshall Meier
• Set Construction — Brad Moritz (lead), Lisa Brooksher
• Set Painting — Yvette Moritz (lead), Lisa Brooksher, Jessica McGuire
• Properties — Jessica McGuire (lead), Lisa Brooksher, Cathy Drabkin, Jeff Flavin, Adonia Gould, Jennifer Leiker
• Costumes — Emily Buller (lead), Sabrina Adkins, Mary Vilaysing, Shauna Chance, Lisa Brooksher, Dara Jochum, Lynette Danner, Jasmine Arial, Kiera Vilaysing
• Box Office — Jenni Leiker (lead), Randy Adkins, Sandra Meyers, Jolene Kaufman, Amy Flavin, Laurie Dickman
• Development — Jenni Wittkorn, Josephine Squires
• Hair — Stanna Flinn (lead), Heather Stringer, Jessica McGuire, Valerie Wente
• Make-up —Tegan Hartman (lead), Carl Denny, Sabrina Adkins, Lisa Brooksher
• Lobby Display — Jodie Leiker (lead), Jeff Flavin, Lisa Brooksher
• Spots — Zoey Urban, Liam Buller
• Headshots — Caitlin Leiker

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

A group of thieves made off with thousands of dollars after a theft at a Hays business last month.

The incident was captured on video by Sue McRae Bickle, owner of Northglen Antiques, 2010 Vine, but even with video evidence, the crime highlights the difficulty in investigating crimes that occur as people get off and quickly back on the interstate.

On the video, three people are captured traveling throughout the store, looking at various items in the early afternoon of Oct. 6.

Shortly after two females enter the store together, one steps behind the counter located near the entrance and looks around before they began walking around the store.

Another man walks in seconds later, looking at the security cameras and texting on his phone while walking around.

At one point while the three people were in the location, a clutch was stolen from a cabinet in the store’s office where there were no cameras.

Cash totaling $1,172 was taken along with two credit cards for the business and Bickle’s personal bank card.

Those cards would be used to make over $5,000 in purchases at Walgreens, Walmart, Home Depot and Dillons in Hays within two hours of the three people leaving the store.

Those purchases were all completed within an hour and were likely used to purchase gift cards, she said, as several of the purchases are for the same amount.

And while in her shop, one of the three people in the video made a purchase with a Visa gift card.

On Oct. 26, the clutch was returned after being found in the bushes of a Hays hotel near I-70 and returned to Bickle, with something extra inside.

In the checkbook, she found two credit cards from a person in Colby.

Colby Police Chief Ron Alexander said those cards were taken during a vehicle burglary reported on Oct. 6, the same day as the theft at Northglen.

“The cards were apparently used in Hays at the Walmart from our theft,” he said, they had also attempted to use the cards in the Walmart in Colby early in the day.

After looking at video from Hays, Alexander said the possible suspects appear to match those from the theft in Colby.

“I imagine this is tied into it,” he said.

The purse stolen in Colby was found two weeks later by KDOT employees near I-70 mile marker 65.

“This is two cases this month where somebody has come from the west and committed a crime and continued on east,” Alexander said. “We think they were likely just passing on down the road and, unless you get them caught with this stuff in hand, it’s hard.”

“We wish you could absolutely solve every crime, but just because you have someone on camera, it’s not always the case,” he said.

Meanwhile, the video and pictures have been pushed out across the state.

“We shared (the video) with local law enforcement and the Kansas Intelligence Association,” said Hays Police Chief Don Scheibler. “It is still an open investigation.”

But cases like these are hard to investigate locally, he said, as the perpetrators are often only in town for a short time.

In this case, Bickle said in around 12 minutes the suspects had the cards from her business, within a couple of hours they had made off with thousands of dollars.

“We definitely feel they came off the interstate and got back on the interstate and are gone,” Scheibler said.

By the time patrol officers had submitted the evidence to a detective, they were likely already out of the area, he said.

“We do tend to have good luck releasing videos and photographs, especially if they are local, but if they are just passing through, pulled off and committed a couple of crimes and got back on the interstate, we are going to struggle,” Scheibler said.

A similar, crime was reported on Oct. 29 in which the department released video, but issued a statement later that they were likely no longer near Hays.

Bickle said shop owners and managers should report suspicious activity, especially when large amounts of gift cards are purchased or crimes like this will continue to occur in Hays, but credit card policies add another layer of difficulty as it is against Visa and Mastercard policy to require identification to make a sale — meaning even a suspicious clerk has little recourse if theft is suspected.

“We have been a vocal advocate for stricter regulations surrounding requiring IDs on credit card purchases,” said Tara Aston, senior manager of national media relations at Walmart. “We are not allowed to require that.”

In Bickle’s case, and the case from later in the month, a vehicle was captured on video that was shared by Walmart, but without a clear license plate number, they are also hard to track.

“Car license plates are major for catching these people,” Bickle said. “The police said my thieves covered their license plates while they were in Walmart and the cameras couldn’t get it.”