More to the Story: Scrooge, the Musical
Reporting by Keira Ceralde, Noelle Paek, Piya Patel, Michel-Ange Townsend, and Ethan Wentzel
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A double-snow day, a rookie musical actor as the lead, and the entire show written by Music Teacher and Director David Smith Jr. — each factor contributed to a unique production for the cast and crew of “Scrooge, the Musical.”
Although they were initially prepared for four performances of “Scrooge, The Musical” over four days, the cast and crew had to adapt when opening night was pushed to Saturday afternoon after back-to-back snow days. “It was two shows crammed into each day that weekend, so it was pretty stressful and we didn’t have much time to set up,” junior Keira Sims said.
In addition to the schedule changes, another difference was Smith’s rewrite of the show. Drawing on his experience creating the musical and staging previous productions, he adapted the book and songs to the cast’s strengths. He originally wrote and staged the show in Athens, Pa.,
in Dec. 2001.
“This show was a conglomeration of a lot of the ideas from past shows. A lot of the show’s evolution has to do with our particular cast,” Smith said. “We set out with a general plan of what we want the show to look like, but then sometimes we can tailor what we do to fit and highlight the innate skill of the cast.”
Junior Matthew Scardina’s preparation for this production was a new experience for him, but the support of the cast helped him through it. “It was my first musical ever, and to have that experience was very rewarding. At first I would screw up on the words a lot but once I figured it out, and I got that standing ovation at the end, that was the best feeling in the world. I felt like I was on cloud nine,” Scardina said.
Smith developed an emotional connection with the show, and made sure he emphasized the theme of a lasting legacy with the cast. “It makes us take a look at ourselves and makes us think about how we’re living our lives and what we might want to do to create a legacy for ourselves, it causes us to question how we want people
to remember us,” Smith said.
