Preparations for “Honk” are floating along

Students learn the choreography for the school musical HONK!

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Chloe Jackson, Reporter
August 28, 2009
Filed under A&E, Featured A&E

Most students have heard of the story of the ugly duckling, but not quite like this. Appropriately named “HONK!” the schools fall production is the musical version of this well-known story.

The long awaited auditions for “HONK!” attracted about a hundred singers, dancers and actors from the high school, freshman center and middle school August 24 and 25 ,eager to show their talents. Director Tabatha Babcock said the main reason they don’t do a musical every year is because it is costly.

“Every other year we do a musical because it costs so much because we have to have costumes, choreography and singing. So, because of our budget, we can’t afford to do one every year,” Babcock said.

The students spent 20 minutes in each section of the auditions. They learned a short dance to a song from the musical titled “Warts and All”. They also acted out scenes from the musical and sang a song of their choice.

Freshman Addison Fox was nervous about the auditions, mainly because of the acting.

“I was most nervous about acting because I’ve never acted at the high school before.” said Fox, a newbie to Belton’s theatre.

Junior Andi Replogle, a seasoned participant, was more excited than nervous.

“I’m excited! It’s a really cute musical!” Replogle said.

The day after the nerve-racking auditions, the judges posted callbacks where the participants sung songs from the musical and acted out scenes once again.

The leads of Ugly, Cat and Ida went to Senior Dylan Corlee, Junior Johnathan Kailus and Junior Andi Replogle respectively. Although the cast found it exciting, there wasn’t much time to celebrate. A meeting held the next day went over important information, followed by practice the next. Students stayed busy at the high school until six o’clock reading and singing through the whole musical.

The next week costumers had to meet and measure each cast members lengths. While discussion of what the costumes will be is still underway, they are bound to be impressive since they have hired a costume designer for “HONK!”

The cast is also putting hard work into singing and dancing. The cast is made up of many successful choir singers, and some members have had studio training in dance as well. Those who don’t have any experience are learning, and quick! During the first week of practices, 2-4 songs were taught in a time span of two and a half hours. Plus, the students did their “homework” by listening to the “HONK!” CD, which has all of the songs from the musical on it.

Babcock explained how the preparation for the musical will be different from a play.

“There are so many parts, so there is more people we have to deal with. We have to learn choreography and music and it takes much longer to learn everything and put them all together.”

Those involved in the musical continue tough practices and a few crew meetings. Soon they will begin eight hour work calls, where all cast and crew work on their assigned positions; whether it be publicizing, practicing hair and makeup, building the set, or otherwise. Like with all productions, hard work will have to be put in to insure the musical a success.

The opening night of the musical is November 5 and runs through the 8. Tickets are $6.00 in advance, and $7.00 at the door. Since it’s the story of the ugly duckling, “HONK!” sure to be a honk of a good time!