Family, friends, and fans filled the auditorium the weekend of Nov. 20 to see Stage Left perform “High School Musical.”

“I thought the play was a huge success. We had a full house one night, and two almost full houses and a great crowd,” senior Jaidee Elliott said.

Before the play the cast was nervous about performing, but as they performed their nerves turned into excitement and happiness.

Sophomore Warren Brown, who played Chad, said, “The play was amazing and it was so much fun performing. For the first two shows I was really nervous, but for the last one I wasn’t at all.”

The actors and actresses involved each had a favorite part in the play and also a favorite song, all for different reasons.

Elliott, who played Gabriella, said that her favorite song was “Status Quo” because it was “so energetic and so much fun!”

Auditions for the play were held the week of Sept. 1, and practice began soon after the actors were cast. From late night rehearsals to midday monologues, the actors and actresses were practicing their lines for days on end.

“Rehearsals for this show have been extremely stressful, as with most shows,” senior Amber Copeland said. “But the stress has pushed us to do better. We have had a blast putting on this high energy show.”

Rehearsals held a mix of emotions for the cast. Some nights were fun and filled with bonding while other nights were stressful and frustrating.

“Rehearsals were both fun and stressful, but that’s expected when you are involved in a play,” Elliott said. “People may complain about it all the time, and I’ll admit I’ve complained myself, but, when the show is coming to an end, it is so worth it to be a part of something so memorable.”

Teacher Connie Rose directed the play and teacher Stephen Nichols served as the assistant director. Although the two were not crazy about doing “High School Musical,” the cast of students changed their minds.

“I had already put on this show before and was worried that it was such an old show that nobody would want to come and so I did not want to put it on again,” Rose said. “I knew that the students wanted to do ‘High School Musical,’ but the deciding factor to do it was when I saw that there were a lot of students at the meeting to support it.”

The rehearsals and set construction did not have any complications. However, the microphones and the sound system gave the cast trouble throughout the production. The cast was not wearing the same type of microphones since the drama department doesn’t have enough of the same one. As a result, different frequencies interfered and the sound system did not work in certain areas of the theater.   

“The Lost Colony is donating their microphones to Stage Left because they are getting new ones,” Rose said. “Having microphones that are the same will hopefully fix the problem with the sound.”

Both Rose, Nichols and the other adults involved with the play were proud of all who participated in the play and those who worked behind the scenes.

“Everyone did a stellar job and the energy was great!” Rose said.

The Stage left group will be putting on “The Little Mermaid” in the spring. Auditions will be the week of December 14. The rights for the play were just released to the Stage Left group for this play and the people auditioning for “The Little Mermaid” are looking forward to it.

“I love musicals!” senior Sydney Putnam said. “I am ecstatic that I will get to finish my high school theater career with my favorite Disney show.”