MDI Drama Students Aim for the Spotlight at States—But Need Your Help
Regional winners will hold performance Wednesday to raise funds
MOUNT DESERT ISLAND—Some local students need the community’s help to get to the state drama championships at the end of March in Camden Hills, a spot they earned by their Class A regional win for their performance of Eurydice.
“It is an important accomplishment. First, we have to win the regional to advance, which is not the case for other disciplines in which they have to earn a high enough rating to advance. They have labored since December, and especially quite intensely in the months of February and March, to achieve this accomplishment,” said Director Casey Rush.
They won regionals. It should be a given that they are headed to States.
The problem is money. The group didn’t realize that they’d get to States or, more importantly, that the hotel would cost quite so much.
“Due to our students' involvement outside of drama (show choir, spring plays, school trips, etc.), we have not been able to participate in the New England Drama Festival (reserved for the state champs), so attending States is the best opportunity to see the best high school theatre in the larger region as well to share our own production to an even larger audience,” Rush said.
Rush has been the director of MDI Drama since 1998 and the one-act director since 2010, (plus a couple years here and there before that). He knows the importance of drama and theater in kids’ lives as well as the importance of accumulating experiences—such as the experience of going to States.
“As much as anything, I always go back to two quotes that ‘set the stage,’ so to speak, for the significance of theatre,” Rush said. “The first is Shakespeare's quote from Hamlet, in which he refers to actors specifically and theatre in general as the ‘abstract and brief chronicles of the time.’ In so many ways, the theatre is a reflection of all we are and do at any given moment and, as such, is an important cultural voice that we should not ignore.”
His second quote is from Oscar Wilde: "The stage is not merely the meeting place of all the arts, but is also the return of art to life."
“I believe this is true for so many types of theatrical production, and most notably from musical theater. That said, our one act production features scenic designers and builders, costume designers and builders, make-up and hair artists, videographers, video producers and operators, lighting and sound designers and operators and music arrangers and performers,” Rush said. “This is not even to mention the actors who interpret and bring to life the language of the script and the directors who instruct and guide them in this process. These varied disciplines add a richness to life that is far greater than the development of the discrete skills themselves.”
The group originally needed approximately $6,000, but has received a couple of large donations, so they aren’t quite as frantic about raising the money as they’d been Tuesday. Rush had budgeted $2,500 for accommodations.
“The recent rise of consumer costs plus staying in a region of the state that has fewer lodging options than the area where we have typically traveled to for States has added an increase that I had not planned for this year,” he said.
There are 29 students involved in the production.
“We generally have the largest company at any one act festival we attend,” Rush said.
That’s a testament to the program at MDI and the students who participate.
“Their dedication to the production and to one another makes it a pleasure to work with them. The one act over the past several years has become a fairly self-selecting group, and they tend to be students who have a strong connection to one another and to the company,” Rush said.
Back in 1954, the high school drama program won States for one act plays. According to the website, “In 1954, Bar Harbor High School represented Maine at the New England Drama Festival hosted in Sanford, ME, with Albert Weymouth Jr.'s state runner-up production of The Critic by Val Clark.
“In 1941, Pemetic High School's production of Robert Nail's Antic Spring came in second at the state competition at Bowdoin College. The cast, under the direction of Thurlie Additon, represented the state of Maine at the New England Festival in South Portland, ME. More information about this production is available from this page from the 1941 Pemetic High School Yearbook.”
THE COMMENDATIONS FROM REGIONALS!
All Festival Cast
Adam Losquadro
Cecelia Blackett
Graham Carter
Harlan Mahoney
Special Commendations
Outstanding Choral Ensemble - The Chorus of Stones - Ruby DeMuro, Dasha Artemchuk, Jorge Waldrop, Fiona Lantheaume, Liana Johnson and Kevin McDonough
Outstanding Technical Excellence - Addy Raven, Braelynn Bird, Isa Raven, Kaiana Stone and the entire crew
Outstanding Theatrical Spectacle - Full Ensemble
HOW TO HELP
The best way to donate is to attend the final local performance of Eurydice on Wednesday, March 19 at 7 p.m. in the Higgins-Demas Theater at MDI High School.
Admission and after-show concessions are by donation.
“There will also be a whole-item bake sale that will feature breads, pies, and cakes baked by our wonderful MDI Drama parents,” Rush said.
People may drop cash or checks by the high school main office during regular business hours (8-3) or check donations can be made out to Mount Desert Island High School and be mailed to:
Mount Desert Island High School
ATTN: MDI Drama
1081 Eagle Lake Rd
Bar Harbor, ME 04609
“Thanks to the great efforts of Wendy Littlefield and Anne Swann, people may also make donations at this link, on MDIDRAMA.ORG,” he said and also with the QR code below.
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