Mundelein High presents Thornton Wilder’s classic ‘Our Town’
For its second show of the season called The Year of the Classics, Mundelein High School will present Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town.”
The show will run Thursday, Jan. 30 at 3:45 and 7 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at 7 p.m.
Tickets are a recommended donation of $5 for students and $7 for adults. Seating for this production is limited, so advanced reservations are recommended. Tickets may be reserved by calling (847) 949-2200, Ext. 1407, or on the website at www.mhstheatre.net.
“Our Town,” know as the “Great American Play.” is consistently one of the most often produced plays in the country each year. It follows the seemingly simple story of the Gibbs and Webb families of Grover’s Corner, N.H.
“Our Town is an intimate play. On the one hand, it is a loving portrait of everyday life, while at the same time, it captures the intangible eternal that defines humanity,” the school’s Director of Theater Jonathan Meier, who is directing the performance. “The audience needs to feel a sense of closeness, of intimacy, so I decided that we would put the audience onstage with us.”
For this production, the audience will be seated on the stage in a 200-seat thrust configuration (audience on three sides of the performing area), he said.
“While this will be a great theatre-going experience for our audience, I primarily made the decision to stage the play this way for the benefit of our students,” Meier said. “Performing in such proximity to the audience will be an exercise in concentration and subtlety. Many college and professional theatres have small performing spaces, so this will be particularly valuable to the students who are planning to continue their theater careers beyond high school.”
Thirty MHS students comprise the cast of Our Town. Senior Liz Grein portrays Emily Gibbs. Senior Chamaya Moody plays the role of Mrs. Gibbs. Senior Walter Kasmer is one of the actors portraying the character of the stage manager.
Other principal roles are Sydney Salit (stage manager), Stephen Ferro (Dr. Gibbs), Colton Schroetter (George Gibbs), Michael Campbell (Mr. Webb), and Natalie Lawrence (Mrs. Webb).
Rounding out the cast are Gina Otrembiak, Steven Van Belleghem, Brenden Paul, Ryan Eifert, Rylee Freeman, Haggai Simon, Emma Morton, Aaron Banez, Josie David, Rachel David, Oscar Delgado, Thomas Ferro, Oscar Araiza Bravo, Alex Banez, Elise Campbell, Melissa Garza, Lynn Jones, Marisa Nuzzo, Angela Peterson, Karsen Sample, Kaila Saunders and Monica Tipperreiter.
The assistant directors are Samantha Slaughter and Oscar Araiza Bravo. The production manager is Jonathan Santiago.