By Tammy Minnigh • Staff Writer
MONTEREY — It’s not all serious work for the members of the Highland Drama Club, which is staging its first production since the pandemic canceled rehearsal for a play based on the Titanic disaster in the spring of 2020.
The club will perform “Never Trust a City Slicker” by Tim Kelly at 7 p.m. on May 13 in the school cafeteria.
The cast and crew of 15 students and drama club director Melody Moats shared smiles and encouragement during a dress rehearsal May 6.
“We’ve had a really good time,” Moats said. “Sometimes, we just had to stop and laugh.”
The club decided to work on the performance in February but couldn’t get onto the stage until after Maple Festival.
“We’ve had a short turnaround,” Moats said. “We decided to make this fun even if we had to carry our scripts.”
Despite the limited time to practice, no scripts were evident during dress rehearsal, though a few students needed the occasional cue.
According to Moats, the play is about a group of out-of-work actors and circus performers as they struggle to deal with their landlady, Mrs. Hookworm (played by Emma Summers), who is demanding rent payment. A young dramatic actress tries to bring a ray of sunshine into their otherwise drab world.
Who would have thought that Mary Delightful (Mary Anne Rogers) had a father who became a famous playwright after his passing? Does she have more of her father’s scripts? The villain, Slicker Pinsetter (Jack Herold), sure hopes so as he enters the scene. So does world-famous actress Taffy Quackenbush (Adelaide Baxter). Can Chester (Holden Chambers), the heroic cowboy, save the day? Who will find the script, if it even exists?
In addition to performing the two-act play, the students broke into small groups to write their own skits, which give more details of their characters’ backstories, including a clogging dance routine and a love song.
The entire production will be about 90 minutes.
“I am really pleased,” Moats said. “I think we have a really talented group.”
The club is collecting freewill donations instead of admission.
Cast members are: Bill E. Goat, Cash Chambers; Annie One Note, Ava Summers; Madame Macaroni, MecKenzie Lambert; Julius Caesar Dinwiddie, Karl Sax; Dusty Doily, Adelaide Baxter; Lacey Doily, Lauren Mason; Ava, Zalea Good; Mary Delightful, Mary Anne Rogers; Sturgeon, Preston Jaccard; Slicker Pinsetter, Jack Herold; Mrs. Hookworm, Emma Summers; Chester, Holden Chambers; Digger, Steven Rogers; and Taffy Quackenbush, Adelaide Baxter.
Crew members are: Anna Chambers and Kylie Arbogast.