A Sandy Rustin Production

This year will the theater department produce a play, musical, or both?
This year the SJN theater department will produce a play.

What will the production be? What led to this decision?

The production will be ”Clue”, adapted from the Paramount Pictures film. Mrs. Brewer came to this conclusion following auditions, where she decided she did not have enough strong singers to go forward with a musical performance. She says this is the deciding factor every year. 

When will auditions be held? 

Each year SJN hosts a first audition to determine whether the show will be a play or a musical, and a second for the specifics. Although first auditions were already held, Mrs. Brewer plans to host callback auditions early next week. During this audition, Brewer will assign individual parts and leads. 

How will the production be funded?

The SJN theater department is funded in a few ways. Mrs. Brewer sells drinks in her classroom for only 50¢ each, which provides a small portion of the necessary funds. Generally Brewer is very cost effective, keeping in mind what they already have and what they can reuse. She will then thrift or borrow items that are still needed from families that are willing, in order to fulfill the unmet need. The theater program funds itself. Although the money is spent upfront, the proceeds for the productions make that money back from ticket sales. Brewer states, “as long as I can get back what I have spent, then it is a success.” So far, this has been accomplished every year. 

What is typically the most difficult part of the production process?

There are typically two main difficulties, the first being the construction of the sets. Brewer designs all the sets herself, by watching many productions of the show the cast will present, then figuring out how these sets will fit on the smaller scale of our stage. A lot goes into this process. Because of “Clue’s” many transitions, the set needs to have nine doors total, all leading to separate rooms. Each of these rooms must be seen multiple times, adding to the overall complexity. Brewer states that the second difficulty is getting the actors to memorize their parts, the only part of the process that makes Brewer “lose her mind.”

What is typically your favorite part of the production process?

Brewer loves when the plan finally comes together – the showing. She loves seeing the “millions of little details come together.” It finally lets her breathe again, and see that all her hard work is paying off. She loves what she does and she does it well. 

How do you expect this year’s production to go?

Brewer is very excited for this production, she believes this year is going to go very well, as we have many new freshman and transfer students who seem to be “very passionate and dedicated.” This is a huge deal because a few years back over half of her theater department graduated, causing her to lose all parts of the program, lights, sound, backstage and actors/singers

If you’re interested in being part of this production, email Mrs. Brewer at [email protected]

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