"Vanities" prevails!
Guilford's 3-woman comedy goes downstate
DECEMBER 9, 2008 - Guilford High School's fall production of the Broadway comedy "Vanities" has been selected as one of 20 statewide to be staged in January 2009 at the Illinois High School Theatre Festival at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.
Shows are chosen to appear at the festival by judges who evaluate fall productions at high schools across the state. The festival, however, is a noncompetitive exhibition and a chance for students to view the work of their peers. Featured productions transport their sets and costumes to the U of I campus, where they have three hours to prepare for the opening curtain and an hour to strike the show after final bows.
"To make the cut for state is a tremendous honor that recognizes the students' talent and mastery of skills and a high level of expectation on the part of the theater staff," Superintendent Linda Hernandez said. "Bravo to all involved."
"Vanities" stars Guilford seniors Cassie Ward, Morgan Bomkamp and Olivia Mashinter in a story that follows three Texas cheerleaders from their glory days in high school in the 1960s through their changing lives and times. Guilford drama teacher Melissa Thomas-Wolf directed the three-woman show, which has a six-student crew also going downstate: Sean Copeland, Melissa Gonzalez, Matt Johnson, Megan Robinson, Justin Rundle and Genna Umenhofer.
Thomas-Wolf, a Viking alumna, starred in 1995 the first Guilford production to appear at the state festival, "Laundry and Bourbon," which also happened to feature a three-woman cast. Guilford also will be represented at the 2008 festival by junior Jessica Benson, a cast member in the 2009 Illinois All-State Theatre production of the musical "Hairspray."
Auburn High School's 2005 production of the musical "Footloose" was the last Rockford entry in the state festival. Guilford's most recent downstate theater trip was in 1998. The 32-year-old state festival runs January 8, 9 and 10, 2009, at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Champaign-Urbana.
In its original run, "Vanities" enjoyed one of theater's longest off-Broadway runs and help launch the career of Kathy Bates. A musical version of the play, schedule to open in New York in February, was postponed only last week because of concerns over the economic recession.
An encore performance of "Vanities" takes place at 6 p.m. Tuesday, January 6, 2009, at Guilford. Tickets are $5 at the door. |
