Spring is upon us, and that means it’s time for the Old Rochester Regional High School Spring Musical. This year, Drama Club Director Paul Sardinha and his cast of 113 students will be performing The Boy Friend, a classic show filled with humor and love.
“The Boy Friend is an old work horse in the industry,” said Sardinha. “It’s established and very crowd pleasing. It’s a very family oriented show.”
The original show featured Broadway legend Julie Andrews and is the third longest running Broadway show in history. The plot features a group of English girls attending high school in France during the 1920’s. One girl, Polly Browne, who is portrayed by ORR student Katie Holden, is preoccupied because she cannot find a boyfriend, until she meets Tony, portrayed by ORR Junior Max Houck.
“The whole play is a spoof,” said Houck. “There are a lot of inside jokes that are portrayed on stage and we make it really obvious.”
When Sardinha announced at last year’s drama banquet that the school would be performing The Boy Friend in 2012, he admits the response was not what he expected. However, after nearly 12 weeks of planning and rehearsal, the students are really coming together.
“They’re loving it,” said Sardinha. “They’re excelling at it brilliantly. They’re exhausted because I’m trying to teach them how comedy works, and I’m trying to teach them how to do the funniest reading of their lines. They’re having a great time learning exaggeration.”
Sardinha holds auditions and selects the cast the week before the holiday break. When students return in January, the crew rehearses three days a week for three hours at a time until show time. Most students in the play are also in a variety of other extracurricular activities, including Houck, who plays both soccer and lacrosse.
“It’s extremely hard to balance everything,” said Houck. “I play two sports, soccer and lacrosse, and I’m the captain of the soccer team, so I have to do a lot of stuff in the off-season too.”
This will be Houck’s first drama performance of his high school career. While he originally auditioned for a different part, he was thrilled when he learned he was cast as the lead. Still, he’s got a little bit of jitters.
“I’m extremely nervous,” said Houck. “I’ve never danced or acted in front of a crowd before, and since this is a musical, that’s half of it. We’ll see how it goes.”
The good news is Houck won’t be alone on stage, with over 50 actors joining him under the lights and over 60 classmates helping backstage and on the technical end. A large group of parents help manage the banking and marketing for the production. From ordering and printing tickets to distributing posters, Sardinha says they are more than happy to help, and for that, he is grateful to be holding this position he has held for 20 years.
“I am so blessed to be working here,” said Sardinha. “It’s such a fantastic environment. The faculty is great and the kids are phenomenal. And we have a fantastic parents group.”
The Boy Friend will run from March 22-24 at 7:30 pm and March 25 at 2:00 pm in the ORRHS auditorium. Tickets are $12 for seniors and students with an ID and $15 for adults and can be purchased at the Marion General Store, the Pen and Pendulum in Mattapoisett, the Plumb Corner Market in Rochester or in the school’s office during school hours.
By Katy Fitzpatrick
