As December approaches, many theater students are prepare for the dinner that brings a Christmas spirit to the FC community. On Dec. 2 and 3, the theater department will showcase an event filled with food, acting, singing, and family bonding.
The event, called “Madrigal,” is a yearly spectacle that is held by the FC theater department for anyone who wants to come and join in on the fun.
At this dinner,families get to enjoy a five-course catered meal while enjoying the talented theater department’s holiday skits.
Not only is Madrigal a unique experience for the community, it is also an enjoyable experience for the thespians themselves.
Senior Erika Mohler said, “Madrigal is the first official thing everyone in the theater department gets to be a part of, so it’s a bonding experience. Everyone is an equal that night, no one is competing over leads.”
Junior Cherish Curry, who is a part of technical theater, said setting up for the dinner takes three to four hours of preparation. Technical theater also enjoys this show because it is easier to set up than other main stage productions. Curry particularly likes the artistic freedom they get while setting up Madrigal.
This experience bonds theater students and gives them a chance to do what they love while serving and entertaining their community and families.
Junior Laura Duncan explained how performing at the dinner is enjoyable because it’s lighthearted and low key.
The dinner is this Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. Check back Friday night for photos from the show!
All of the orchestras present at the concert including all HHMS orchestras and FC orchestras stand for the final song of the concert, "Hey Jude."
On Tuesday, Oct. 18, the FC orchestra held a special treat for fans of rock and fine arts alike.
The more than 300 musicians of the combined FC and Highland Hill Middle School orchestra departments performed classic rock tunes from Queen, Led Zeppelin, Kansas, The Beatles, and more. Seven orchestras of varied skill levels played for a packed house in the gym. Performances ranged from the simple and repetitive for the less experienced musicians to the downright virtuosic solos of seniors Anna Patterson, Hannah Henderson, Quinn Klarer, Sydney Shelton, juniors Josh Druin and Gannon Yeaton, as well as freshmen Chelsea Balmer and Madison Eickholtz.
At the start of the show, orchestra director Doug Elmore explained the proper Orchestra Rocks! etiquette: yelling, whistling, and whooping were all appropriate, even encouraged, unlike at other orchestra events. The first piece was a mass tune “We Will Rock You” that showcased all of the students while symphony orchestra took care of the heavy lifting.
Symphony orchestra’s first feature, “Carry on My Wayward Son,” garnered applause from the audience as soon as Elmore announced the name of the band, Kansas. The song was the best suited for an orchestra. Essentially, it was set up like a fugue, with its layered voices. Resonance coming from the running sixteenth notes could literally be felt, and awestruck onlookers thundered with applause.
In “Kashmir,” a floating melody on the violins graced an underlay of chromatic motion on the cellos, accented by basses every other measure. Klarer performed an edgy electric cello solo, an obvious crowd favorite, as part of it was eclipsed by overzealous applause. Perhaps the most compelling visual element of the evening was the way the musicians moved as one unit during this piece. The next selection, “Renegade” by Styx, began with a haunting cello chorale that exploded into the fitful, jagged character of the song, punctuated by a tempestuous solo from Henderson on the electric cello.
“Fat Bottom Girls” was loaded with complex rhythms that would boggle any performer’s mind and featured both an electric violin solo and duet. Yeaton entertained in his solo with his rocker attitude, wide-eyed and smiling, with his tongue between his teeth, he finished with an ascending slide. The tune ended with a bang as Shelton and Eickholtz played a fiery duet in harmonic fifths.
“Stairway to Heaven” started with a dulcet, arpeggiated harp solo by Balmer, and gradually gathered energy from each section, coming to a pause on soft chords. The second phase picked up with a soulful, lilting violin solo from Druin. Syncopated, driving rhythms carried “Stairway to Heaven” to the end when Patterson, on an acoustic cello, finished the last iconic lyric.
The concert ended softly with “Hey Jude” for the finale. By far the most interactive song, it had the audience clapping and singing along with the familiar “na-na-na…na-na-na-na…na-na-na-na…Hey Jude.”
This captivating orchestral experience will soon be available on CD and DVD for those who missed it, and for those who wish to relive it.
This Friday and Saturday at FC, the theatre department will be performing a show that digs deep into the twisted fantasy world of Edgar Allan Poe.
The play, “E.A. Poe…. Into The Mind of Madness” is about the life and times of the famous poet Edgar Allen Poe. The production shows how he loses his perception of what is real and what is not reality.This play was not limited to the eyes of FC; it was the chosen production to be performed at the Fringe Festival when the theatre department ventured over to Scotland this past summer.
“We had a great response from the Scottish audiences and we hope our local patrons will equally enjoy the show,” said theatre director Chris Bundy.
“Performing at the festival was really cool. We liked it because we performed in front of a small crowd and it made us appreciate what we have at home. An average size audience was eight people. Even though it was small, you realize that being there you were a part of something much bigger,” said junior Laura Duncan.
The audience should expect to be entertained with the dark visual world Poe described through his poetry. Duncan described the play as being a collection of the words trippy, mysterious, and suspenseful.
“Due to the rather macabre nature of Poe’s works, we have requested that young children be discouraged from attending. This would be sure to cause nightmares,” said Bundy.
“E.A. Poe is one of the most famous poets, and people are still wondering about his life and how he died,” said sophomore Shelby Clark.
The cast is hoping that the play embodies his life and honors it in a way that only Poe would want it, mysterious and twisted.
“I think it’s unique in that while many adaptations have been made of Poe’s stories, I wanted to approach the show with a look at what actually happened in his life that might have influenced his morbid fascination. We get a look at his actual life which drifts in and out of his fantasy world. By the way, the show was a collaboration between myself and a former student who is a playwright, Jason Roseberry,” Bundy explained.
The ticket price for all students will be $5,”E.A. Poe…. Into The Mind of Madness,” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. this Friday and Saturday. Come get a glimpse into the mind of the mad.
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