May 19, 2024

Brigadoon brings down the house

Creston wins second straight 'Outstanding Production Award,' handful of individual awards

By TYLER HETU

During a November 2019 production of "Brigadoon" at Creston Community High School, Jackson Gerdes (middle) and Gabriel Frakes (right) play Jeff and Tommy, two men who accidentally stumble into the mysterious Scottish town of Brigadoon. The duo is greeted by Fiona McLaren, a charismatic young lass played by Sasha Smith. (CNA file)

Creston Community High School has won its second straight ‘Outstanding Production Award’ during the Iowa High School Musical Theater Awards this school year, winning the award for its production of “Brigadoon,” which was performed in November for the school’s fall production.

Brigadoon, which premiered on Broadway in 1947, is a story of two American tourists who stumble upon a Scottish village that appears for only one day every 100 years. The selection of Brigadoon for the fall play was a fall-back decision for CHS after announcing it would showcase “Oklahoma!” The decision worked out in the end, said CHS vocal director Jane Warner.

“My intent was to do Oklahoma! and I had even announced it online, but we ended up not being able to license Oklahoma! I chose to do a classic musical because they had done a few rock shows, or modern pieces, in a row and we decided to do a more classic musical,” said Warner. “We decided to do Brigadoon, which ended up being an even better fit for our cast than Oklahoma! would have been.”

Warner said on top of the cast fitting the script, she felt the decision to pick Brigadoon was good due to the amount of dancing in the production, which was enhanced by the involvement of several Creston dancers in the production.

“We just happen to have a large number of extremely talented dancers this year, and for the next three years we’re really going to be dancer-heavy, which is awesome,” said Warner. “... It turned into a really exciting thing, getting to do the set that we did, ... we had to learn how to learn how to sow kits and how to speak in a Scottish accent. Everyone in the community was very supportive, ... it was really cool.”

The production in the fall was adjudicated by three former actors and directors, which attended the play, and scored students and the overall production before deciding on handing out awards.

On top of the Outstanding Production Award, Creston had three performers win “Outstanding Performer in a Principal Role.”

Gabriel Frakes as “Tommy Albright,” Korbyn Ringer as “Charlie Dalrymple and Sasha Smith as “Fiona McLaren” were the recipients of the principal role awards. The trio would have participated in a “triple threat” program, which would have included an audition to go to New York to perform.

Creston was also the recipient of a dance award, with Trinity Woods being awarded as a featured dancer.

Special recognition was also given to several other performers – Rylie Driskell as “Mrs. Lundie,” Jackson Gerdes as “Jeff Douglas,” Marie Mullin as “Meg Brockie” and featured dancer Braelyn Baker.

The success of the program in back-to-back years and completely shifting directions after coming off an Outstanding Production Award for “Footloose” is quite an achievement, said Warner.

“You win once, ... is saying a lot and its a big deal to win an Outstanding Production Award. For the kids to step up and take on a classic musical that’s exceedingly difficult, ... it’s a huge deal,” said Warner. “It’s one thing to kids put on a show that is primarily the characters are teenagers, but its a whole different thing where a group of young people are playing adults.”

The cast likely would have been invited to perform at the Awards Showcase at the DMPA had it not been canceled due to COVID-19. The Iowa auditions as well as the national event in New York were also canceled.

Due to COVID-19, Des Moines Performing Arts announced that the 2020 Iowa High School Musical Theater Awards Showcase scheduled for June 1,2020 at the Des Moines Civic Center has been canceled.

Not getting the chance to perform again was heartbreaking, said Warner, knowing there was a once in a lifetime opportunity to preform on a bigger stage.

“It was really disappointing, obviously,” said Warner. “Mostly for the kids, especially the seniors. .. I was very disappointed, ... both of the seniors (Sasha and Gabe) that won outstanding preform er are going into careers in music or musical theater. It was an exciting opportunity that that lost. They were very devastated and I still think there’s amazing things they’re going to do.”