RHS to present ‘The Music Man’
WEST LAFAYETTE – If you are looking for an entertaining play that the whole family can enjoy then the Ridgewood High School Drama Department has just the production for you.
Ridgewood students will perform “The Music Man” at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 17 and 18 and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 19, in the high school auditorium. The Ridgewood Music Boosters will host a soup and sandwich lunch at 1:30 p.m. before the matinee. Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for students and senior citizens. Groups of 10 or more also can get tickets for $6 for adults and $4 for students and senior citizens.
“The Music Man” is about a salesman who comes to a small Midwestern town who isn’t very honest, but ends up falling in love with the local librarian and starts to change his ways.
Senior Jacob Panteloukas, who plays Harold Hill, is excited to be ending his years at Ridgewood with this musical.
“People know it because it’s a classic,” he said.
Evan Youker, who is also a senior and plays Hill’s accomplice Marcellus Washburn, agreed with Panteloukas.
“It’s a story people enjoy,” he said.
There are more than 50 students involved in the production including some from the middle school and elementary school.
“It’s a way for us to pass the torch to them,” said senior Samuel Scott who plays Mayor Shinn.
Panteloukas also said its fun to work with the younger students.
“It’s cool to have them be a part of this and we also get to shamelessly recruit them to join us,” he said.
Danika Brenneman, a junior who plays the librarian Marian Paroo, remembers what it was like to be one of those younger actors.
“This is my second time in the show,” she said. “I was in it when I was 8-years-old and now my friend’s sister is playing that role. I remember what it was like to be little and look up to the big kids.”
Daneyliz Rodriguez, who plays the mayor’s wife Eulalle MacKecknie Shinn, knows firsthand how being involved in the arts while in high school can help shape your life. She is planning on attending The Ohio State University to major in journalism and theater and then go on to graduate school for acting.
“If I didn’t have the experiences I did here with drama and choir I might not have realized what I want to do with my life,” she said. “It’s nice to know that we could be helping the younger kids in the play in some way.”
Jill Collins, director of the play, agreed with Rodriguez.
“We want to give the younger kids opportunities to be on stage in the hopes that some of them will fall in love with it,” she said. “This also is a great, fun, family friendly show to have them be in.”
josie@coshoctoncountybeacon.com
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