Cape Central personalizes 'High School Musical'

Cape Girardeau Central High School is putting a few twists on its upcoming production of "High School Musical," which premieres tonight and runs until Saturday.

The musical is set at East High, home of the Wildcats, not too different from Central's Tigers. According to drama instructor and theater director Bella Delacruz, the Tiger is a type of wildcat, so she didn't see why they couldn't use their own school's colors, sports uniforms and mascot in the production.

Looking at the playbill, one might notice there is a jock and brainiac cast with different actors playing the main characters. Because of the possibility of quarantines, Delacruz said the two casts are there to serve as replacements if their counterpart has to quarantine.

The two-cast system also gives a chance for the actors to perform a main role in two shows since they plan to alternate the casts each performance. When a main actor isn't portraying their main role, they are in the company.

A more obvious coronavirus precaution is the whole cast and crew wear masks, something Delacruz said she was adamant about doing, and it brought a new challenge for the actors.

Abigail Kester as Ryan Evans and Te'Mariah Dorsey as Sharpay Evans in the jock cast performs "What I've Been Looking For" during Tuesday's dress rehearsal of "High School Musical" at Cape Girardeau Central High in the Richard D. Kinder Performance Hall.Sarah Yenesel

"The masks make it really hard for people to know who's talking. We had to work a lot with the newbies to get them to be more expressive with their entire bodies," junior Sophia Robinson, who plays Chad Danforth in the jock cast, said.

Senior Te'Mariah Dorsey, who plays Sharpay Evans in the jock cast, said one of the biggest challenges was working with two different casts. "You would have two Sharpays learning the same thing at the same time," she said.

Stage manager, senior Emma McDougal, said working with the two casts has been a challenge for the almost 60 actors and crew members. In addition to her respective crew duties, she and her team had to figure out the backstage logistics to lessen possible exposure between the two casts. Even with the added challenge, McDougal said, "It's incredibly exciting to see what they can do in times of adversity and hardship."

"I'm really excited because I think we all put a lot of effort into this, and I think it's coming together really well. So, I can't wait to share all of our energy and talents," senior Nathan Caldwell, who plays Troy Bolton in the brainiac cast, said.

Throughout it all, the two casts made it through their two dress rehearsals with a small live audience giving them a chance to slow down their performances to allow time for laughter and other reactions.

Ana Gasca as Gabriella Montez, Zoe Booth as Kelsi Neilson and Izahia Betancur as Troy Bolton in the jock cast perform "What I've Been Looking For (Reprise)" during Tuesday's dress rehearsal of "High School Musical" at Cape Girardeau Central High in the Richard D. Kinder Performance Hall.Sarah Yenesel

"I'm just really grateful we have the opportunity to do these shows because I know a lot of programs haven't had the opportunity as much, and we have been really blessed that we have been able to pull off all our shows this year. And I'm just grateful we have this opportunity and we got to come together and do what we love even though it's been a difficult year," McDougal said.

Tickets can be purchased at seatyourself.biz/capetigers. The audience is required to wear masks and social distance as much as possible.