Making The Show Work

Can crime help? The argument in favor:

Cast members of a community production of "High School Musical" belted out lines about learning lessons, acting with dedication and working as a team during Thursday's outdoor performance.

They crooned sweetly about standing up to the status quo and making musical performances successful.

Often, the lines were hard to hear. Now and again, static interrupted the singing, and feedback caused audience members to wince. But the performers smiled through their troubles and, in the end, pulled off a great performance.

Thursday was an encore of Wednesday's troubled but valiant effort.

The production's troubles began sometime between 11 p.m. Tuesday night and noon Wednesday when thieves entered the backstage area of Midvale's Outdoor Theater at 400 W. 7500 South and stole most of the speakers, microphones, a small portable sound system, some cords, eight receivers, candy used for the concession stand and a pair of expensive tennis shoes. In all, about $8,000 in goods was taken.

The theft could have halted a community production of Disney's "High School Musical" halfway through its weeklong run, but the cast was determined to go forward with the show.

Wednesday, the amateur actors took a vote about whether to give the performance. The thespians, many of whom were acting in their first production, had been in rehearsal since mid-May. They chose to go on with the show.

"It was a hard decision to make, but we pulled it off," said Shawn Hauenstein, acting as the male lead, Troy Bolton.

Twenty-one-year-old Hauenstein explained that many of the actors were forced to project their voices farther, and the entire cast worked to stay close to the front of the concrete stage. But overall the performance went well, he said.

Co-star Jennifer Evans, playing the part of drama queen Sharpay Evans, said Thursday that the burglary and the cast's choice to continue made the show stronger.

"It's kind of ironic, actually, because it was last night that really pulled our cast together," she said.

Thursday, an adult team of volunteer directors, choreographers and sound technicians scrambled to find equipment. They were able to rent some at the last minute and worked until the moment the show started to get everything mixed properly.

Audience members, many of whom had seen Disney's made-for-television version of the show, were thrilled. They missed some of the jokes and sometimes suffered through the actor's inability to mesh with the music, but overall they were pleased.

"They do pretty good," said 12-year-old Brittany Cook, who watched the show from a blanket with two other young girls. "They're exactly like the movie."

Audience member and long-time community-theater proponent Debe Jacobs was also very proud of the crew.

"I think they're doing a great job," she said during Thursday's intermission. "They're great. This is what actors do."

Director Cindy Revels said the burglary was a good opportunity for the cast to learn a lesson about sticking through trials and making good on its commitments.

...Kathi Heywood, a supporter of the production, summed up the cast's attitude from her position at the candy counter.

"They didn't want to just be the victims of a crime," she said. "The sound is kind of awful, but we've just gotta do what we gotta do."