The Lincoln-Way West Theatre department is hard at work all year round! After two successful shows of the fall play, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, auditions were held for the winter play. You may be asking, what was the winter play? Well, many non-theater students may not know that the winter play is actually a collection of short plays, each chosen and directed by a senior. Formerly known as Black Box, the winter play is now also called Senior Directed Showcase!
Each year, a handful of committed senior theater students have a chance to direct a short 15-minute play. This gives many students pursuing theater more experience as to what it is like to be on the other side of a production. Even for seniors going into other career paths, it is still a very valuable experience that builds leadership skills, management skills, creativity, and more! The seniors get to choose shows that speak to them in one way or another. Seniors oversee (with guidance from Mrs. Connie Johnson and Mrs. Hannah Nicks) casting, directing, collecting costumes and props, and everything that comes with putting on a successful show! 
This year, there were four senior-directed plays as well as one directed by Mrs. Connie. Each of the students has been involved with LWW theater all four years of high school and two of them were even in the West musical Shrek while they were still in junior high! The senior directors are Abby Hamilton, directing “First Impressions,” May Frank, directing “Chester Who Painted the World Purple,” Mia Volanti, directing “Pity the Fool,” and Ginny Frank, directing “La Mouche”. Mrs. Connie Johnson is also directing a short play called “The Middle School Brain”.
Senior Ginny Frank, who has participated in theater at West for five years and 12 years overall, chose her play because she watched a version of “La Mouche” and wanted to recreate its humor and bring in her own ideas as well! She has always loved performing and has “always wondered what the other side of it looks like,” and thinks it is “so cool to have a creative vision and watch it come to reality on stage.” When asked what she hopes to gain from this endeavor, Abby Hamilton, who has done theater for nine years and is currently playing Donna in Mamma Mia!, said she hopes to “gain better leadership skills and knowledge on what goes on behind the scenes.” She added that it is “something fun and different to try!” May Frank, like her sister, has participated in theater for 12 years, including five at West. She has worked in nearly every aspect of theater and she said, “it doesn’t matter what I’m doing in theater; I’m always having fun!” She has wanted to be a director for as long as she can remember because of the way that the art is an “expression of human emotion and experience” and helps us “better understand each other.” She says that when you combine all the proponents of a show you can entirely “immerse yourself in the ultimate opportunity to understand a perspective, a person, a time period, or a philosophy,” and that because she is “someone who feels so deeply,” directing shows is “the best way to express [her]self creatively.” Going into the show, she was excited to help her cast “become comfortable in their characters, observe the kinds of character and scene work that make a performance most genuine, put on a good show, and above all, have fun!”
Along with the showcase, students also had the opportunity to act in the Winter Ball. The Winter Ball is an event for the community that invites young princesses and princes to come and sing, do crafts, dance, and meet their favorite characters. These characters are princesses, and other familiar faces portrayed by our very own performers at West! It has formerly been directed by our adult staff, but this year it is co-directed by students Becca Stefanelli and Grace Miller! They wrote their very own script and coached actors in interacting with young kids. They also choreographed dance numbers for the characters to perform for the kids! They worked with the cast in many different ways to ensure that the cast is the most magical for the kids to have the best and most enchanted time!
This is no small feat from anyone involved. The actors and directors all have to work extremely hard, especially since they only had about a month to prepare! One of the best parts of the winter productions is seeing all of the moving parts come together and work like a well-oiled machine! It is so enjoyable for younger students to work with their friends and role models so closely! Everyone is extremely proud of the West theater students, especially the seniors that stepped up to show everyone what good leaders they truly are!
The winter play was held February 5 and 6 and the Winter Ball was held February 7.
