Best of the Week 2018-2019: Excellence in College Prep
THE EDWARDIAN PLAYERS SHOW THEIR TALENTS AS WELL-ROUNDED PERFORMERS AND ARTISTS IN SHE LOVES ME
Next week, the Edwardian Players will perform She Loves Me as this year's fall play. Considered by many to be the most charming musical ever written, She Loves Me is a warm romantic comedy with an endearing innocence and a touch of old world elegance. It is an intimate and touching show, featuring music by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick (Fiddler on the Roof) and book by Joe Master off (Cabaret). Set in a European parfumerie in the 1930s, She Loves Me follows Amalia and Georg, two feuding clerks who find comfort in their secret, anonymous, romantic pen pals. Little do they know that their respective correspondents are actually each other. "She Loves Me is a very funny musical comedy that will showcase the many talented students we have in our company," says Director of Performing Arts, Mr. Robert Burns. "She Loves Me is more of an ensemble piece with songs that must be carried by only one or two cast members at a time. This makes it challenging but also rewarding and a great learning experience for all the leads. Unlike St. Ed's previous two shows, the set for She Loves Me requires a good deal of crew involvement as they transform the stage into different locations. She Loves Me is a fast-moving comedy with entertaining songs, a simple plot and imaginative, detailed sets, props and costumes."
The Edwardian Players troupe not only provides students with a foundation in acting, singing, dancing, set construction and contemporary technical theater design, but over the years, the Edwardian Players have been admired for their excellent performances, creative presentation and theatrical professionalism that is on par with collegiate-level theater performances. Productions at St. Ed's require students to wear many hats as performers and artists, helping them become well-rounded in all aspects of theater both on stage and behind the scenes. "Theater develops and stretches the talents of all our students in singing, acting, dancing, construction, painting, stage lighting, sound technology, costume design and more," says Mr. Burns. "Students learn to be persistent and to also value shortcomings that lead them to discover the best ways to do their jobs and to make themselves better. They learn empathy by putting themselves in other people's shoes, learning how others think, feel and why they act the way they do." Aside from advancing their skills in performing, music and design, the Edwardian Players and St. Ed's Performing Arts Department teaches students the value of teamwork and collaboration, something that is essential not only in the theater, but in any professional field. "Above all, theater teaches collaboration - the value of every individual part making a productive whole. It teaches our students determination to work as a team in order to achieve something that couldn't be done alone," says Mr. Burns.
Don't miss St. Ed's production of She Loves Me! For ticket information and performance dates and times, visit https://www.sehs.net/theater.
