MAKING OF A MUSICAL

Rachel Roberts, president of the Red Dagger Club at Cape Central High School, painted hay stacks for the backdrop of "Oklahoma" being presented March 28 through 30 at 7:30 p.m. at the CHS Auditorium.

Scott Strattman as Frank gave Katie McCann as Sara a kiss during the rehersal of a scene of "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" at Notre Dame High School.

Sara Essner as Ruth, left, Jeremy Burford as Caleb, Bryan Schaeffer as Adam, Ben LeGrand as Benjamin and Tara Mosby as Dorcas rehearsed a wagon scene at Notre Dame High School for the musical "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" being presented April 11 through 14 at 8 p.m.

What's better than a dozen tap-dancing cowboys? Perhaps 14 dancing would-be suitors.

For high school students at Cape Girardeau Central High School and Notre Dame Catholic High School, the past three months have been filled with lots more than term papers and tests. Dance classes, voice lessons and acting rehearsals have filled the days of student actors preparing for musicals at both high schools. Central High presents "Oklahoma" March 28, 29 and 30. Notre Dame performs "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" April 11, 12, 13 and 14.

During one of the few scenes that Ellie Bennett, who plays Laurey in Central's production, wasn't on stage rehearsing, she said months of rehearsals are tiring. "Over and over -- it sometimes gets kind of boring for us," she said. "But it takes rehearsal because we want it to look brand new and fresh." So she sings "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" again and again.

Musical productions, unlike other high school plays, add elements of singing and dancing to acting. Bennett has studied dance and voice for several years, but she is in the minority. Only one of the young men in the "Oklahoma" had dance experience before the play. Michelle Morris and Kara Hammes from the Academy of DanceArts choreographed the show and worked with actors, turning them into dancers too. By Thursday, a dozen dancing cowboys will tap their way through "Kansas City" like pros.

It takes a lot of work, said Chip Sepulvado, who plays the male lead, Curly. "I'm more used to being in front of fans in the football stadium," he said. But Sepulvado hopes the experience he gains in "Oklahoma" will help his career. He wants to sing country music and plans to head for Nashville.

His favorite scene -- the love scene with Laurey. "It's a big change from the rest of the movie," he said. "This is Curly's big chance to show Laurey how he really feels."

Rob Felker, who plays the amorous Will Parker, admits any scene that includes a kiss automatically ranks at the top of his list.

The recipient of many of those kisses, Lauren Hirschburg, who plays Ado-Annie, teased that playing a "cheese ball" isn't too hard with Felker around. Then she turned serious. "I never feel right about my song anymore," she said. Hirschburg sings the familiar "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say No." She and Felker and other actors were gulping down fast food in the hallway between scenes and talking about trouble spots that still exist in the performance. "This is all very stressing, both physically and emotionally," she said.

But Hirschburg said she will stick with it until the song and her performance are perfect. "I want to pursue this when I get older," she said of acting.

Because it is such a big undertaking, Central High School puts on a musical production every other year. Behind the scenes are director Cindy Wyatt, vocal director Judy Williams, technical director Steve Lukens and a large group of student stagehands. Orchestra director Steve Schaffner conducts a 32-piece orchestra made up of students and several professional musicians, including a harpist. Schaffner said: "It presents lots of challenges anytime you work with singers. You are trying to coordinate the efforts of the orchestra and the singers both."

But Schaffner said the experience for students is worth the effort. "We see a big leap in progress anytime we do this," he said.

Across town in the Notre Dame gymnasium, actors in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" are dancing and acting around set construction crews. Their performance is still almost three weeks away. Director Cindy King, student director Julie Stoverink, vocal director Ellen Seyer and rehearsal pianist Lenny Kuper sat next to a batting cage in the gym. Perched on her familiar folding chair, King said, "We have no place to rehearse. The stage is our storage space. We just don't have anywhere to go."

Lack of storage doesn't stop rehearsals. Students just scoot scenery out of the way to make room for seven dancing brothers to execute a carefully choreographed fight with seven hopeful suitors. Dance instructor Deana Pecord has been working with this group to make dancers out of baseball players. "None of the boys have any dance experience except here in our shows," King said. But the dance scenes are shaping up, and actors practiced roundoffs across the gym floor.

Weekends are full of dance lessons and set construction and scenery painting and voice lessons. "The hardest part," King said, "is working around all the other schedules." Students who participate in musicals often are students who participate in everything else.

The scheduling headaches are alright with King. "We are trying to make it possible for these students to do as many things as possible."

The musical will involve over 100 students. In addition, an all-volunteer community orchestra will perform for the production. At Notre Dame, the musical is an annual production. It is also a fund-raiser for the school. King said an $8,000 profit for the musical is already built into the school's annual budget. Students sell advertising in the show program in addition to admission to make the money.

Bryan Schaefer, who plays the oldest brother Adam, explained that this is his first leading role. "I've never even had a solo before," Schaefer said. But his deep voice promises a strong performance by opening night. "I hope so," he said. He and the brothers practiced, then practiced, then practiced the scene where Adam suggests stealing brides like the Romans had done. After the third or fourth run-through, the actors were getting a little distracted. They teased each other and rough-housed a little. "They are acting just like brothers," whispered King, before restoring order to the rehearsal.

Jessica Hency, a sophomore at Notre Dame, plays the female lead, Millie. While the brothers were practicing one of their scene, she gobbled dinner delivered by her mother. "We have just three weeks until opening night," Hency said. "That's scary, but it's kind of exciting, isn't it."