For this week’s Carbon School District spotlight, we were joined by some very special guests from Carbon High School. Drama teacher Katie Rowley, seniors Tage Noyes and Tyler Morris and Junior Sofiya Christensen sat down to discuss the Theatre Department’s upcoming play ‘Anastasia’, which will run from Nov. 20 to Nov. 25.
Getting the ball rolling in our conversation was Rowley, who first discussed why this play was selected,” Anastasia is one of my favorite movies growing up, and it was also the first Broadway play I saw in New York. It was a very magical experience, and I wanted to bring the beautiful story and beautiful music to my students and the community of Price.”
Rowley also provided an in-depth look into the behind-the-scenes preparation undergone before the actors ever took the stage,” We do a lot of thinking and preparing and planning and paperwork and design. And then we cast the show. And then the music director, which is Kaitlin Ipson from the high school, teaches the music. And then we just get it on its feet.”
We then spoke to Noyes, who plays the role of Vladimir, about what rehearsals have been like for the cast and crew,” I love just working with the rest of the cast. I love singing and dancing with them. It’s so much fun. Every practice is just something I love looking forward to.” Noyes continued,” I’ve been having a lot of fun with the other people in the cast. Vlad is a very funny character who spends a lot of time with Dimitri, one of the other main characters.”
Speaking of Dimitri, we were next joined by Morris, who stars in the role. He shared some of the challenges that come along with performances like this,” it’s really hard to memorize all the script. And time management is definitely a factor here because of all the extra stuff we have going on with school and extracurricular activities. But it’s kind of tough to find the balance between the play and then everything else.”
He also shared a quick glimpse into what the story of ‘Anastasia’ holds for audiences,” so there’s this girl named Anya who can’t remember much about her past. And she runs into Vlad and Dimitri along the way. And she’s going throughout the story with them trying to remember more and more of her past. And they’re trying to help her remember it.”
Rounding out our cast conversations, Christensen talked about the play from the perspective of an underclassman,” I like to observe the seniors as they do their stuff.” She also provided a reason as to why people should come out and see the play,” I would tell them that there’s going to be pretty dresses and that they should come and see them.”
Closing out our interview, we were joined again by Rowley, who shared what she was most excited about with the play,” I’m excited to see the students radiate with confidence and joy and enthusiasm for the show and all of their hard work. They’re going to be very, very beautiful and talented up there.”
Carbon High School’s performance of ‘Anastasia’ will run Wednesday, Nov. 20, Thursday, Nov. 21, Friday, Nov. 22, Saturday, Nov. 23 and Monday, Nov. 25. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online in advance through the Dino Drama website.