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| Stan Harris directs the PHS choir during the Madrigal Feast |
And, except for a few minor senior moments (hey, it's a dress rehearsal. Actors are allowed to miss a few lines) and a doomed skit involving Darth Vader, Princess Leia and Beowulf, the students pulled it off beautifully.
This year's theme was "The Sorry Tellers" and the play itself revolved around a group of traveling story tellers from the Land of Sorry who enter a contest held by the king and his court. The silly word play - think puns, bad jokes and toss-offs such as "I like poop!" - is mixed liberally into skits involving grass houses, a Mad Libs-style holiday yarn, three pears who live in porridge and, oh yeah, Darth Vader and his eclectic group of buds.
The glue between the skits are Christmas songs ranging from the precisely beautiful Carol of the Bells to the sentimental Christmas Shoes. Veteran teacher Stan Harris directed the large group of voices to a gloss so shiny I had to remind myself these were high school kids and not a professional group.
Pairing the serious with goofily hilarious makes for an emotional roller coaster ride. But the high schoolers kept us all on board. If the old superstition that mistakes during dress rehearsal mean a perfect performance opening night, those of you with tickets (it's generally sold out) to the dinner theater are in for a treat. Unlike the dress rehearsal folks who sat in pews that made for difficult photo taking, dinner guests are treated to round tables with wide views of the stage area.
For the rest of you, mark your calendar for next year to get tickets. You get a good meal, fun entertainment and support a worthy cause by contributing to music scholarships at PHS.
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| The singing king and his court |
