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An original piece of work based on a familiar story will take to the Lakeview Middle School stage Friday and Saturday.
“Not Very Nice,” written by LMS science teacher and drama advisor Dan Wray, is at 7:30 p.m. both nights. Admission is $5 for adults, and $3 for students of any age.
Wray said he saw the stage production of the book “Wicked,” which is a different take on what really happened in “The Wizard of Oz.” “Wicked” tells the back story of Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, including when they meet for the first time in school.
For Wray’s story, he has the two women meeting in middle school. The musical “Wicked” tells the story of the Wicked Witch from the Good Witch’s and the townspeople’s point of view, Wray said. Wray’s story tells the story from the Wicked Witch’s point of view.
In his story, the Good Witch is Kalyndi (Kendra Housel), instead of Glinda, and the Wicked Witch is Zelba (Annie Wray), instead of Elphaba.
Wray said he wrote the original script “late at night.” It’s 95 pages and a full-length show. Most shows for middle schools are about 60 to 75 minutes long. Wray said his plan was to make sure that every student who tried out for the production and was committed to the play got a good part and some dialogue.
Wray originally wrote the play with 28 parts in it. Forty-six students tried out for the show. After the February auditions, Wray had to add more to the script. That included a dozen new roles.
“Every kid that committed to it got a part,” he said.
In the stage production of “Wicked,” Elphaba’s mom dies in the first part of the show. In “Not Very Nice,” her mom is a big character in the show. At the end, everyone thinks she’s dead, but she isn’t.
“For people who are familiar with ‘Wicked,’” Wray said, “all of the story lines by the end of the show will be set and ready to go.”
Originally, Wray’s play also included seven songs. To save time, those were reduced to one song and a violin and guitar duet. “The whole idea is to showcase their talent,” Wray said.
For the set design, art teacher Sherry Johnson and her art class and art club created two wing sets. Gloria Reichert did the whole set design.
“For a middle school play, we’re relying on some special effects like silhouetting and fog,” Wray said.
Industrial technology Scott Carmichael provided a lot of the carpentry needs. Wray said Carmichael constructed the stairs, all the supports for the scene work, a collapsible bridge and anything else Wray needed for the show.
“Better than I described it to him,” Wray said. “He’s our master carpenter for the show and he truly is that.”
The cast, in order of appearance, includes: Annie Wray, Kendra Housel, Cailin Clay, Erik Hanft, Shelby Perry, Abby Gibson, Ashley West, Gabi Bradley, Elizabeth Brown, Stone Rager, Brendan Sullivan, Aaron Wainscott, Brad Nethercutt, Morgan Ashtari, Lydia DeBoest, Sydney Peugh, Courtney Thompson, Aurora Rosas, Emma Tomasik, Laura White, Griffin Boschet, Jared Wood, Briley Gargis, Morgan Hygema, McKenzie Merchant, Katie Yocum, Whitney Boren, Sam Alexander, Kylee Clark, Ophelia Luu, Brooke Neubaum, Abigail Smith, Analyse Helms, Kara Blair, Callie Green, Kodi Holle, Anna Neff, Kelsie Kendall, Jasmine Anderson, Megan Cardin and Noah Scott.
