The North Judson-San Pierre High School Drama Department has announced that they will be performing “Fiddler on the Roof” this year and Choir Director Donna Ness said she’s excited to show off her seasoned cast, explaining the majority of the cast this year is composed of seniors who have been on the stage for most of their high school careers.
“We have a lot of strong seniors, right now we’re graduating a lot of seniors, and they have done drama for a long time and this just seemed to be a musical that would fit that cast very well and that they could run with and be very creative with it, and they have been providing to do that!” said Ness.
But having a cast composed largely of seniors is a double-edged sword, since after this year, a significant number of cast members will graduate from the school, taking with them their experience and abilities. With a total cast of 25 members, 11 of which are seniors, almost half of the cast will move on after this production. Senior Jacob Kieszkowski will portray Tevye while Ann Chinworth, another senior, depicts Golde.
“We have got 11 seniors involved in the cast and we have one more senior who’s running the lights for the show, so we’re going to be hurting next year, but we’ve got some good kids coming up as well. It’s just that this cast is going to take a real hit, but they’re having such a great time with it,” Ness said.
Last year, the Drama Department presented “Les Miserables,” and Ness said a lot of the cast wanted to perform that production again because of how thoroughly they enjoyed it. Though, she said this year’s production will be just as good, with a lot of funny moments and some touching moments as well.
Ness said the rehearsals have been going smooth, attributing that to the seasoned cast. With such a great cast and fantastic facilities, she said it makes these productions so much fun to do and lets them work well together.
The Drama Department will present “Fiddler on the Roof” on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 22 and 23, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults and $5 for students; preschool students can attend for free.
