The Delaware Hayes Thespians wrapped up their work on “A Charlie Brown Christmas” with their final performance of the show on Saturday night.
This small show lasted just a half an hour and included a cast of eleven. With all cast, crew, pit musicians and directors being added in, about 40 people total were involved in getting the final product to the stage.
For Thespians such as senior Rachel White, who portrayed Lucy, this production was a bit different than usual.
“This cast was so small, so a lot of people who would normally audition for cast also went ahead and got a crew interview, just in case they weren’t able to make the 11-person cast,” White said. “A lot of our crew members for this show are actually cast members normally, which is really cool.”
The audition process for this show was similar to how the process normally works. Each actor performed a short monolog and sang a musical excerpt. Still, some of the actors felt more relaxed about auditioning for this production.
“It felt more laid back,” White said. “I wasn’t as nervous for this audition.”
Unlike the audition process, the amount of time that the cast and crew had to prepare for the show was vastly different from what typically goes on behind the scenes.
“For a musical, it would take working on it for like two or three months now it’s only barely a month,” said senior Audrey Young, who portrayed Violet. “We were already on stage after the first few days of rehearsal.”
The Thespians do not typically put on a winter play or musical. This year was a special exception, following two school years that were upset by Covid-19.
“We programmed an additional show this year because we wished to give seniors who missed out on their spring show in their sophomore year [the cast of ‘Chicago’] an opportunity to perform one more production before they graduate,” director Dara Gillis said.
Productions this year have gotten much closer to being back to normal post-pandemic.
“All of us have been here every single day of rehearsal, whereas in the past shows due to Covid-19 they would only have a couple people there every day for the first couple weeks, until they needed everyone,” White said. “I think we’re a more close-knit family than we would have been if we were all separated.”
According to sophomore Marta Bourget, who worked on the costume crew, the production went relatively smoothly.
“There were a few major technical errors the second night, but the cast and crew were able to pull through,” Bourget said.
As unfamiliar as this show was for everyone involved, it was still widely enjoyed by the cast, crew, and audience.
“I didn’t have any idea what doing this show would be like, but I’m so glad I decided to be a part of it,” Bourget said.