High school to stage energetic musical ‘Snoopy.’
For many students, the spring musical is a keystone experience of their high school years. They forge friendships and develop grit, from the nerve-wracking audition process to long nights spent in rehearsal, all leading up to putting on a show for their friends and family and their greater community. Boyertown Area Senior High students are going through that right now as they perfect their lines and memorize their choreography for “Snoopy! the Musical.” This fun, high-energy musical is a sequel to “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” with a focus on the life of Snoopy, Charlie Brown’s mischievous beagle.
The show runs from Friday, Feb. 16, through Sunday, Feb. 18. For ticket information, contact the box office at 610-473-3667.
Having a musical is unusual for this year, because the music department is touring to Spain during the spring, occupying the time the show is usually performed. However, the students and music department banded together and decided the show must go on. They wasted no time after releasing the cast list on Nov. 12, to the first rehearsal on Nov. 13.
From then until their last rehearsal on Feb. 15, students put in three to four hours of practice every night, along with Saturday rehearsals. “It’s a very hectic schedule but it’s all worth it,” says twelfth-grade student Megan Droege, who is playing the role of Peppermint Patty. She also performed in last year’s musical “The Sound of Music,” as did many of the Snoopy cast members.
The intense schedule doesn’t faze these students. Mary Fetterman, a twelfthgrade student playing the role of Lucy, says it has been an intensive rehearsal process, but it’s one of the best casts she’s every worked with. “Everyone works hard and wants an amazing show, I think everyone is going to be impressed.”
The small cast of 25 students has also grown close, as twelfth grade student David Helmer, who is playing the title role of Snoopy, describes: “These are my friends that I’ve grown up with in the music department.”
The students also enjoy working with their director, Scott Didyoung, an English teacher at the high school. “His visions are great,” says eleventh grade student Taylor Kuszyk, who plays the role of Sally. “He makes magic.”
According to Didyoung, it’s all about the students. “They’re amazing, stupendous, they’re the light of my morning.”
When asked to describe the show, cast members said it was entertaining, grand, carefree, and very family-friendly.