LIVERMORE FALLS – Students and their drama director are a little anxious about how they’re going to get their 28-foot subway car through a single doorway and set it up on stage in five minutes.
They have a “can do” attitude, but just in case, they have their fingers crossed.
The Livermore Falls High School performers won first place in Class B with their one-act play during the Maine Drama Festival regional competition last weekend in Waterville.
Now they head to the state contest this weekend, performing at 6 p.m. Saturday at Rockland High School.
Performers, lighting and sound technicians and their director, Anne Weatherbee, spoke Wednesday about how they came up with the idea to write “The Secret Lives of Subway Riders.”
The performance and the play not only won them top honors in the regional contest, but also earned them recognition for Outstanding Original Script, Best Set Design, Best Dance and Best Musical Composition. Several of the performers – Charles Soucy, Amy Damon, Christine Dufour, Tony Jackman and Brad Bryant – also were recognized.
Weatherbee said students were brainstorming ideas during a workshop, and one student’s idea was riding on a subway.
The idea was tossed around about what goes through someone’s mind while riding the subway. After some discussion, Weatherbee said, they realized not many of them had ridden on the subway.
Principal Rod Wright granted the group a trip to Boston to do so. They spent the whole day riding the subway and coming up with ideas for the play.
They borrowed some pieces from students in Weatherbee’s acting classes and added some characters they thought should be in it.
It was a collaborative effort, Weatherbee said.
Tango dancers, spies, a homeless person, a writer, wife, “Rent-A-Cop” and synchronized swimmers are among the characters in the play, which lasts two to five minutes.
When they realized they needed music on the subway, Andrew Moreau and Davis Mercier wrote music and performed it.
Weatherbee couldn’t say enough about her “fabulous, fabulous, talented, brilliant class.”
The crew even built an entire subway car and station as a set.
Actor Charles Soucy is the thread that pulls the stories together, imagining in his mind what each person on the subway is about.
“The hardest thing was trying to pull all the parts together,” actress Nicky Jordan said.
There are four stops on the subway, and people get on and off.
Another stressful part is making sure performers are loud enough to be heard, said actress Christine Dufour.
The performers are looking ahead to Saturday’s competition.
“I’m not really nervous,” actor Ben Harris said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Actor Dustin Pearson said he is a little nervous about the competition, wondering how good competitors’ performances will be.
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