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'Much Ado About
Nothing' Sells Out
VCT Fall Premiere
Successfully Fills Every Seat
by Steven Giordano
Valley Christian Theater actors had two amazing weekends as their
late nights and tough practices paid off with six sell-out shows.
The Valley Christian Theatre
sold out every single performance of its fall production, Much Ado
About Nothing. Many collapsible chairs were added to the ends of the
aisles to make room for the throngs of people hoping for a last minute
pass to see this Shakespearian comedy.
Premiering on Thursday, October 20, “Much Ado,” as it is commonly
referred to, blew away its audience of mainly students. All were stunned
with what these high school students had accomplished. Teachers, too,
were very proud of VCT. Mrs. Marshall stated, “This
is a level of Shakespeare that most colleges rarely reach, much less
a high school.” With accurate dialog, to Shakespeare’s vernacular,
and brilliant physically demanding scenes, impressive hearsay spread
like wildfire through the VC halls. This brought even more people
to the VCT box office.
The set was rustic and lifelike, and the costumes immediately brought
out the life and times of 19th century Italy. The play opened with
common townspeople leading to Leonato, played by Eric Chase,
the governor of Messina. This is the expected return from battle of
Don Pedro, John Hopkins; Claudio, Tyler Gonzalez;
and Signor Benedick, David Clift. Hero, Taline
Palmer, and Beatrice, Michelle Upton, are
also there, Leonato’s daughter and niece. All at once, the stage is
set and many of the main characters collaborate on stage to reveal
not only their talent but also their mastery of this difficult play.
One of the most popular aspects was the physical acting. This reeled
in the audience with its authenticity. In the first instance Don Pedro
is forced to restrain Claudio as he attempts to attack Don John, played
by Derek Bausek, for hinting at Hero’s unfaithfulness
to him as she is soon to marry Claudio. This, from the beginning,
was a favorite of all the actors. The intensity and violence of this
scene grew as the performances advanced and as the players grew more
confident. The most heated scene took every viewer by surprise. Acts
I, II, and III led up to the climax of the play in the onset of Act
IV. Claudio’s general announcement, with intention to humiliate his
fiancé that he knows, supposedly, of Hero’s unfaithfulness
released everyone present into an uproar. He snatched the back of
Hero’s hair and aggressively thrust her backward as if to rid himself
of what she seemed to be hiding. The actors’ precision in this incident
gave impression of reality which concluded the play’s climactic moment.
On a comedic note, “tricking Benedick” was resoundingly the favorite
of the actors. As Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato spoke knowingly
into earshot of Signor Benedick of him and Beatrice, Benedick was
fooled, fell down stairs, sneaked behind bushes, and had water poured
on him, one of the most lively and interactive scenes. Gonzalez reflected,
“[this scene] at first was the worst, then it turned out to be the
best of all.” Also, the lively scenes with Dogberry, Robert
Norman, and Verges, Travis Watkins, loosened
the crowd from the plot tension with their slapstick and general comedy.
Overall the physical aspect of Much Ado added much authenticity.
Another challenging aspect that was conquered by the cast was Shakespeare’s
use, of course, of Shakespearian verbiage. This was one of director
Matt DeMeritt’s favorite elements, this grasp of
the Shakespearian dialect. While at times it may have been difficult
to fully follow if one was not accustomed to the words, the dialog
came across with poise and clarity. “[Having] thirty kids who can
interpret and portray Shakespeare is what’s worth it to me,” stated
DeMeritt as his main enthusiasm for the whole production.
Moreover, many do not understand the incredible amount of time needed
to perfect this play. Hopkins echoed many others in saying, “You have
to put a ton of hours in. First you have to understand what the Shakespearian
lines mean… then you can expand.” Homework on top of practices and
eventually all day rehearsals caused the administration to finally
allow those involved with Much Ado to simply return home and rest
up the day before their big premiere.
Look for great things to come from VCT both this year, and in the
years to come, especially the upcoming Spring musical Oklahoma.
Tyler Gonzalez confronts Eric Chase in a thrilling scene.
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consist of 594 students dancing in the large gym. However, on October
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gym was festively decorated “barn yard” style with an array of farm
animals and crepe paper. The student body stepped away from the usual
matching t-shirts outfit and transformed the dance into more of a
costume party. The senior class definitely outdid themselves with
outrageous costumes such as penguin suits, knights and damsels, and
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Mrs. Marshall’s Global Studies I class joined together
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Ashby Rauch, the founder of the organization, came to share her experiences
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On October 7, Valley Christian hosted the Riordan Crusaders under
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