After much anticipation from CHS theater members, director Bill Garrett met the hype with the announcement of D.W. Gregory’s “Radium Girls” as the fall play and John O’Farrell and Karey Kirkpatrick’s “Something Rotten” as the spring musical.
The list was revealed at the program’s annual Theater Picnic, which was held at CHS on August 21st. The theater program was very excited about the reveal, following it with large applause and celebration.
Garretts’ choice for “Radium Girls” was a result of the previous post-COVID plays being comedies. This was part of an effort to bring diversity to the shows that members will perform during their tenure with the CHS theater program.
“I’m looking at the shows students do over their course over the four years [and trying] to have a variety of shows,” said Garrett. “We haven’t done a drama in a while because of the pandemic, and with life being serious enough I had been choosing pretty light shows. I think Radium Girls is a really powerful piece about women fighting for their rights… their struggle for justice.”
With the last two spring musicals being classic productions, Garrett decided it was time to bring a more contemporary production for theater members to take part in.
“With our last few musicals being “Wizard of OZ,” and last year being “Singin’ In The Rain,” “Something Rotten,” is a much more contemporary show,” said Garrett. “It’s really just a silly, fun show. It’s fun music and lot of opportunities. It’s going to be a great season.”
Members of the program are extremely pleased with Garrett’s selections and the unique qualities they will bring to the table.
“I feel really good about the shows this year,” said junior Noah Grismer. “We’ve been doing pretty common shows for the past few years so this should be a great change, especially with the new arts programs starting on campus.”
