From the 2nd to 5th of November, Jesuit Drama put on the quirky and lovable musical, “Amélie”. The talented cast, starring Abby Wentworth as Amelie, embodied imagination and stole laughter and smiles from their audience.
The story follows Amélie from childhood to a young French woman on a journey of courage to push herself out of her introspective comfort zone. As she begins to do kind deeds for others, she inches out of her shell, and ultimately finds love.
With an intricately crafted set, the production included apartments, town squares, a cafe, and more. The black and white checked tile set the scene for mid-late century Montmartre, France, and the costumes portrayed a cohesive yet natural look for the townspeople.
With the arrival of the new addition of the performing arts community, Brandon McCoy has brought many new changes to the department. Kicking off the drama year, he decided to bring back student designed sets to Jesuit.
“Brandon started something that we haven’t done for years: it was a student set design that you saw on stage,” Elaine Kloser explained.
McCoy is an experienced veteran when it comes to drama and tech theater. He has been teaching for 20 years and has experience with acting, directing, and playwright.
However, Amélie was his first experience with Jesuit and its performing arts community.
“What I loved about this experience was that I oversaw the process, but I gave license and power to the students to be creative and to lead— they were very successful in that,” McCoy said.
Leading Lady Abby Wentworth captured the hearts of the audience. From her talented singing to her flawless expressions, she was able to encapsulate the role of Amélie perfectly.
“It was my first time ever being in a big role like that. It was really scary to be honest. But it was really cool having that opportunity and experience,” Wentworth said.
With a small cast, each student played a significant role in the musical. Most students even had multiple roles.
The entire show was a product of the effort and talent from Jesuit’s drama program. Each student stepped up to the challenge and delivered a hilarious and heartwarming story to the audience.
“Theater is the most collaborative art form. It only works if it is collaborative in a healthy way, which this production was,” McCoy said.
The Theatre Department is looking forward to the season ahead.
Adjustments in tech theater, and other positive changes and collaboration “put Jesuit Drama in a great spot also for moving forward this year,” Kloser said
