For the first time in the history of the Musical, all rehearsals will be held at the high school. The reason for this change is mainly because the performances will take place at Beach Schmidt Auditorium. Choral instructor, and music director of the Musical, Johnny Matlock said he sees no drawbacks to the new setup.

“At 12^th Street Auditorium we were limited,” Matlock said. “The stage space constrained what could be happening at any point in time. The chairs there are not ideal for singing, and only one aspect of the show could be worked on at a time, choreography, blocking or singing.”

Matlock’s hope for the rehearsals this year is that efficiency is maximized.

“With multiple rooms to work with different groups we can get a lot more done in less time,” Matlock said. “Also, if we have downtime here students have space to work on homework, and they have Wi-Fi.”

The Musical cast will use the three different rooms, all serving different purposes. The cafeteria will be used mainly for choreography, the wrestling room will be used mainly for blocking, and the choir room will be used for singing.

Artistic Director (of the Musical) Jenny Rajewski sees many advantages to the new format as well.

“The students won’t have to travel to 12^th street anymore, which will save a lot of time and be much safer,” Rajewski said. “It also will be much more convenient for the students.”

Rajewski mainly works with blocking (placement of cast members) and acting in the show. She will use the wresting room where she has a marley mat roughly the size of the Beach Schmidt Stage set up.

Rajewski is a huge believer in using the mat instead of the stage at 12^th street and her only concern as of right now is from the shared space.

“I’m really only worried about interference from non-musical members,” Rajewski said. “Unfortunately, because it’s a shared space we can’t be sure something won’t happen to the mat.”

The mat will be permanently set up in the wrestling room until the performances of the show. It will be taped down to make it easier to manage, but has not been yet. Due to this there has already been a bit of chaos with the mat.

“I went into the wrestling room to find the mat all out of place and moved around,” Rajewski said. “It was annoying but not a problem that couldn’t be fixed.”

Fortunately, once the mat is taped down this kind of incident should not be a problem.

“I really prefer working like this, with the mat and all,” Rajewski said. “It’s less confined than 12^th street, there’s less problems. It’s simpler, and it’s more like how professional companies do productions.”

18drooney@usd489.com