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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
February 10, 2022     Shelton Mason County Journal
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February 10, 2022
 
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Page A—8 — Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, Feb. 10, Shelton High School students Gvido Meteris and Becca Byykkonen play two people trying to connect in the romantic comedy “Almost, Maine’.’ staged at 7 p.m. Friday, and 2:30 and 7 p.m. Saturday in the high school’s Performing Arts Center. Journal photo Gordon Weeks ) V Nine short plays about love and loss By Gordon Weeks gordon@masoncounty. com The pandemic prevented the staging of a student play last year in Shelton High School’s Performing Arts Center. ' But'after class these days, the theater is abuzz with stu- dents adjusting lights, moving props and preparing to launch into rehearsals for the roman- tic comedy “Almost, Maine,” which debuts at 7 p.m. Friday. “Project!” acting teacher and director Wendy Burr calls to the 17 masked actors on ‘ stage warming up their voic~ es. “To be or not to be!” “To be or not to bell” they bellow back. “Luke, I am your father!” “Luke, I am your father!!” “Almost, Maine” is staged at 7 p.m. Friday, and 2:30 and 7 p.m. Saturday in the theater. Face masks are re— quired, and patrons will be seated for distancing. Admis- sion is a suggested donation of $5 for kids and $10 for adults. “Almost, Maine” was writ- ten by John Cariani and premiered in 2004 at the Portland Stage Company in Portland, Maine. The nine vignettes in the play explore love and sometimes heart- break in a mythical town of Almost, Maine. ' Burr, the show’s artistic and technical director, saw the show. in college when a friend directed it. “I really liked the modern lightness of it,” Burr said. She added, “It looks at love almost like caricature.” ‘ Every scene shows cou— ples and trios grappling with feelings, all under the stars of the northern lights. The script calls for kissing, which had to be eliminated for mask-wear- ing students in a time of pan- demic, Burr said. “We have to find other ways to imply intimacy,” she said. The audience “should ex- pect to have a magical time.” Because there was no show last year, lots of kids showed up to participate on and off stage, Burr said. “It’s a transition back to normalcy,” she said. The student actors are Gvi- do Meteris, Becca Byykkonen, Hunter Middleton, Tati Reed, Milo McKay, Madi Nelsen, Charlotte Hansen, Tillie Mai- ‘er, SioNuxoll, Phoenix Miller, Cody Reed, Izzy Sukolsky, Cinder Nuxoll, Chloe Peter- son, Ashley Gooding, Maddie Allred, Li Valenzuela, Cris- tina Elguero—Mateo, Lizzie Chapman and Logan Vogel. Shelton High School alumni Daisy Johns and Gage Cress are the assistant tech-‘ nical directors, and/ alum- nus Joseph Stritzel is the as- sistant director. Katie Peck is the stage manager, Max Gill the set designer and Leo Reynolds the .costume de- signer. Marissa Betts runs the lightboard, Maisie Todd the soundboard, and Han— nah Pratt oversees the video production. Burr grew up in Marico- pa, California, a small town Journal photos by Gordon Weeks outside Yosemite. She spent about a decade in Santa Cruz, first as a student at the Uni- versity of California at Santa, Cruz, then a teacher. Burr moved to the Port— land area and couldn’t find a ' job teaching, so she managed a hardware store for a year until she thought, “What am I doing with my life?” She was hired in 2019 to “reinvent,” she said, the the— ater program at Shelton High School. She staged one play just before the pandemic, a night of one acts. The Performing Arts Cen- ter “is amazing,” Burr said. ‘ “It’s about three times as large as the theater I had in high school. It’s like a professional Left, Cody Reed and Phoenix Miller play a couple grappling over returning love on “Almost, Maine.” Above, Shelton High School students Madilyne Nelsen and Milo McKay portray exes in the play. IF YOU 60 WHO: Shelton High School stu: dents. A WHAT: The romantic 'comedy play "Almost, Maine.” WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday, 2:30 and«7 v p.m. Saturday. ' , WHERE: Sheltor’l High (School Performing Arts Center. ADMISSION: Suggested dona- tion of_$5 for kids, $10 for adults , ALSO: Face masks required, «seat- ing willbe assignedfor- distanc-' ' s ing. venue. There’s even an or- chestra pit.”