With a “talent show” type feel, the Drama Club Showcase is a night of music, dance, and acting that features acts of each performer’s choosing. Due to the fact that each performance is personally selected, there is a wide variety of music styles and the audience members all found something to love. Separated by an intermission, the evening was built into 2 acts. The first act featured solos and duets from notable shows and movies like Wicked, Into The Woods, and Waitress. After 14 wonderful performances there was a 15 minute intermission. Following the intermission, the club held their annual International Thespian Society Induction as well as a senior recognition ceremony. In this time the current officers were announced and new members of the honor society were inducted. They then formally announced the 2024-2025 officers for the Drama Club. To close the ceremony, seniors were recognized and given their graduation cords and certificates. Following senior recognition, the second act began and included tunes from Beetlejuice, Anything Goes, and Hairspray. Following the final act, a beautiful rendition of “Tightrope” from The Greatest Showman by senior Ella Niemi, a medley of songs from Mamma Mia was performed and featured each member of the lineup. With the showcase being almost entirely student-led, the final number is completely crafted by a few upperclassmen; junior Faith Evans taught vocals, senior Avery Gallagher choreographed, and senior Ryan Mullen controlled lighting. Faith, Avery, and Ryan shared a few thoughts on the event and their time in the drama club:
Faith:
Q: What is your favorite part of vocal directing?
A: “My favorite part of vocal directing is when we are done learning all the harmonies and hearing everyone sing the full song for the first time, it’s so exciting when everything comes together.”
Q: What is your favorite part of the showcase?
A: “My favorite part of showcase is watching everyone push themselves out of their comfort zones and seeing such a variety of performances.”
Avery:
Q: Where do you draw inspiration from for choreography?
A: “Honestly, I came up with most of the choreography by just listening to the music track and lyrics and dancing around my room. When I hit any tricky spots of a song, I found videos online from other musicals which I draw inspiration from! This was really great because I found some things which were really different but some things that were really perfect additions.”
Q: What is your favorite part of the showcase?
A: “My favorite part of the showcase is getting to see everyone get their moment to shine. We had a stage manager participate in the finale number and it was so fun to get to see her branch out and hopefully have fun on-stage instead of back-stage!”
Q: Do you plan to pursue theater post-graduation?
A: “I don’t have any current plans, but if I find the right club or right audition in college, I would love the opportunity to perform more!”
Ryan:
Q: What is your favorite lighting design you’ve done?
A: “In the song ‘Pandemonium” from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, I was able to go crazy with colors and special effects. By the end of the song I lit up the whole auditorium and created an incredible ending.”
Q: Do you plan to pursue theater post-graduation?
A: “I am happy to say that I am going to college for Theater Design and Tech. Which is a fancy term for lighting design. My goal is to eventually tour the country/world with touring concerts and broadway shows as a lighting designer!”
Here at North Hills we have so much talent and as the school year wraps up, this event was a perfect way to showcase that talent and complete this year’s drama club performances!
