"ANNIE"
"Annie" is a cute, classic musical that comes from the story and comic strip of Little Orphan Annie. Annie was dropped off at an orphanage as a baby and even eleven years later has hope that her parents are still alive and coming back to get her. At Christmastime one year, Mr. Warbucks, a billionaire in New York, is looking for an orphan who will spend the holidays with him, and his secretary Grace chooses Annie. Warbucks offers to adopt Annie, but she only wants her real parents, so Warbucks offers a reward to the couple that has proof that they're Annie's parents. Ms. Hannigan, the orphanage director, and her brother Rooster and his girlfriend Lily St. Regis think they can pull off an act as Annie's parents After that Christmas, everyone's lives are changed. In GHS's production of Annie, Susan Varner had the lead role. Ms. Hannigan was played by Stephanie Pierce, who got into her character like she knew first-hand what it was like to be a drunken orphanage director. Brandon Veale, who played Daddy Warbucks, shaved his head of red hair for his part. Grace, played by Molly Mitchell, had a collection of costumes that fit her character perfectly-it seemed there was a new costume for each scene. Some of the supporting characters seemed to have their show-stopping moments-David Hess played the comedic butler Drake, Nicole Larson, Tammy Olmstead, and Ginny Cleaver were his sidekick maids, and the cute little orphans and the Boylan sisters always had their place in everyone's minds with their song, "You're Never Fully Dressed." And who could forget the night the orphans missed their entrance? Woops! ;-) Stephanie covered up so well, though, you wouldn't have even known anything was wrong. The set of Annie consisted of one flat. On one side was a "Daddy Warbucks Pink" wall with white sponged on it and white pillars, and the other side was painted brown with a presidential seal.

"FIDDLER ON THE ROOF"
"Fiddler on the Roof" is a popular musical about Jewish traditions during the time that the Russians were trying to get the Jews out of their life. Tevye is a very religious man in the town of Anatevka who believes very strongly in tradition. Tradition was, in fact, the Jewish way of life. The women cooked and ran the house, the men brought in money and kept their families in line, the girls learned how to run the house from their mother and married whoever their fathers told them to, and the boys went to school and married whoever was chosen for them. The Sabbath was observed very religiously, the matchmaker was an important symbol of the town, and basically everything in life was set in stone. Tzeitel, Tevye's oldest daughter, is set to marry Lazar Wolf, the butcher, but she is in love with her childhood friend, Motel, the tailor, and refuses to marry who her father tells her to. After much contemplation, Tevye gives in. Golde, Tevye's wife, doesn't give in on tradition that easily, though. Tevye has to tell Golde of a false dream he had of Lazar Wolf's deceased wife Fruma Sarah and Golde's passed Grandma Tzeitel coming back to life saying that they saw Tzeitel marrying Motel, and not Lazar. Dreams are strong omens in Jewish tradition, so Golde allows Tzeitel to marry Motel without a second thought. Tevye soon finds out that there is going to be a pogrom on Anatevka, forcing everyone out of the town. Tevye silently reflects on that fact, though, and goes on with life. The Russians intrude on Tzeitel and Motel's wedding, leaving the whole town shocked. Tevye learned that whatever he does for one daugher, he must do for the rest. Hodel, Tevye's second oldest daughter, also wants to marry her tutor Perchik for love. Tevye reluctantly agrees once more. Golde is again upset with Tevye's decision, but they work everything out. When Chava, their next oldest daughter, falls in love with a Russian, though, things don't go as smoothly. Tevye refuses to give Chava permission to marry the man she loves and thinks of her as dead from there on out. Sadly, the pogrom goes through and everyone is forced out of their beloved town of Anatevka. Tevye was played by Nick Dupras, who had all of his songs and lines memorized the minute he walked into auditions. Heather Lake played his wife Golde, and the two of them made the audience tear up every night with their duet "Do You Love Me." With some confusion and part-juggling, Nick and Heather's five daughters were played by Emily Strazzinski, Sherry Bollero, K.C. Misterly, Hailey Silcox, and Michelle Misterly. Emily's husband Motel was played by Clayton Wilson (their baby was played by Renee Miller's doll), Sherry's husband was Brandon Veale, and K.C.'s Russian lover was played by Brazilian foreign exchange student Saulo Cosimo. In the song "To Life," Tevye and Lazar Wolf had a duet, which was ironic because Lazar Wolf was played by Justin Dupras, Nick's little brother. "Fiddler" was the beginning of GHS's intricate sets. Vick Holliday helped design our stage with a turntable that had a flat of the interior of Tevye's house on one side and the exterior on the other. We had a six-foot extension built on the apron of the stage and an extension on the right side of the stage where Motel's tailor shop was. The fiddler, played by Keith Maki, stood on top of the tailor shop when he played. Fiddler was definitely a giant step for the Gwinn High School Drama Club. We never thought we'd make it that far.