Forget about setting the stage: Standing O is building it.
Though the musical doesn’t open until mid-April, preparations are well underway for the cast and crew of OH’s theater program. This year’s musical, “Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812,” is based on the first 70 pages of Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.”
OH junior and president of Standing O Hayden Esbjorn will be playing the principal role of Natasha.
“It follows a couple of different plot lines, but most primarily it follows Natasha’s plot of her… fiance being off to war,” Esbjorn said.
“[Natasha] meets this other guy at an opera called Anatol, and falls very madly in love with him. [The musical] also follows Pierre, who… is connected [to Natasha because] his sister is Anatol’s wife. [It also] follows Anatol’s struggle with alcoholism and depression, and… a deep dive into mental health and how that… affects people,” Esbjorn added.
Both the story and the music are what drew OH theater teacher, Standing O adviser and spring musical director Katie Conant to the piece.
“They call it a ‘Bohemian Pop Opera,’ [because] the music is more like a musical than it is like an opera, but [structurally] it’s set up like an opera,” Conant said. “I knew the abilities of our singers here, as well as their acting abilities, and I… knew that we had the right people this year to be able to do this.”
Pop operas, such as “Hamilton,” are full of the music, singing, and dancing of average musicals, but taken to emotional extremes.
“The fact this show is entirely sung through is really to the fact that throughout the entire show, these emotions are so high and so new and so foreign to these characters that … there’s no static emotions, [which] definitely raises the stakes,” Esbjorn said.
Not only will the performance be fantastic, but the sets and props will be, too, thanks to Standing O’s backstage crew, led by Student Technical Director, OH senior Odin Glueck.
“Something that we’re working on right now [is] trying to make a revolve big spinning platform that’s about 20 feet wide,” Glueck said.
“We’re [currently in] a planning stage,” said Glueck. “So we’re measuring people for costumes, we’re figuring out… what scene changes need to happen, what… set pieces we need to make, what we need to build, [and] what props we need.”
Standing O puts a lot of work and care into every aspect of their productions, from selecting the show to costuming and set building to acting and choreography. Not only does this make for great shows and experiences, but it also has broader benefits to the OH community.
“The Arts in school are… very important,” Glueck said. “Kids need creative output, and… the musical is one area for that, and because… there are so many different… aspects of the musical– there’s, there’s dance, there’s singing… there’s acting, and there’s also… the lights, the sound… the carpentry– there’s so much stuff going on, there’s a place for everyone to get involved in this huge creative project.”
Even for people who aren’t a part of Standing O, having such a strong theater program is beneficial.
“Since arts aren’t always the most accessible… I think it’s so important that we do have an arts program because theater is such a strong standpoint of being able to give social commentary,” Esbjorn said. “And [it] really challenge[s] people’s ideas and [makes them] think about their own beliefs and morals, and what’s going on in the world.”
With in-school performances during lunch periods, as well as after-school and weekend performances April 16-18, Standing O is bringing theater to OH, sharing stories and art.
I'm Taylor Jo Ana, I'm a Junior at OH, and this is my first year on 42Fifty! I'm on the Speech Team, and I'm in the National English Honor Society and National Art Honor Society. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
