Cast and Crew Shine in Game of Tiaras Weekend Run
Harper Postema who played the role of the King
The Lowell Fall Play concluded after three shows this past weekend.
Justin Scott - School News
A satirical comedy where classic Disney princesses such as Cinderella, Belle, Elsa, and Ariel turn on eachother in control for power that ends in bloodshed. What could go wrong? The fun and whimsical Game of Tiaras concluded its run this past weekend at Lowell High School with one show on each day, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
“The fall play naturally has flexibility for student input, but this year it was prevalent. Game of Tiaras sold record numbers! It’s nowhere near comparable to our spring musical but we’re inching our way in that direction. We’re all excited for what the future holds,” said Aysha Vandenbosch who played Belle.
The good news was attendance seemed to be quite strong for the weekend. Attendance for the fall plays lag behind the annual musical spring which sells out, something those involved with the theater program look to see change going forward. Friday’s performance had a scheduling clash with a home playoff football game, a Lowell victory over Cedar Springs. It made for a challenging parking situation that Lowell officials had to clearly communicate ahead of time. Many often park in that west lot to walk down the trail to the stadium.
That early communication helped things go smoothly on both fronts and the show could begin!
“The attendance was closing in on 200 for every show. We were pleasantly surprised by that on Friday when LHS hosted a home playoff football game. It's nice to know the community supports the arts as well as sports. Go Red Arrows,” said Jules Crawford, who serves as Lowell Performing Arts Center Director.
The five main princesses in contention for the crown, titles, and lands of the King (Harper Postema) were Snow White (Madilyn Dexter), Belle (Aysha Vandenbosh), Cinderella (Ania Fleszar), Ellie the Snow Queen (Sarah Harper), and the Little Mermaid played by Vivyenne Skinner. Each conspiring against eachother throughout the play all succumbing to untimely deaths partly at each others hands, except the Little Mermaid whose army was slaughtered on their own accord.
Fleszar reprised her role as a princess, after playing Belle in “Beauty and the Beast” last year. It was quite the opposite role though as Cinderella in this play was particularly malevolent in both her intentions and actions.
“I thought the show was great! I was nervous how we’d do with a comedy because we had never done one, but it ended up being hilarious! I think Vivyenne and Marley de Jong deserve a huge shout out for their songs. The two of them did incredible! Elizabeth Plank was an amazing assistant stage manager, absolutely perfect for her job,” Fleszar told the Ledger.
Game of Tiaras is a play on not just Disney princesses but also the HBO hit series Game of Thrones, entering the Lowell Performing Arts Center you could hear instrumental classics such as “Rains of Castamere”, “Winter is Coming”, and “Jenny of Oldstones”. The cross between the two was written by playwright Don Zoladis and is used in performances across the country.
Conner Casarez as Prince Charming with Sarah Harper, the Snow Queen
Some pairs that played particularly well off eachother were Ezekial “Q” Gonzalez and Percy Wale who played the two narrators. Wale is just a sophomore with a promising couple of years with LHS theater ahead of him while Gonzalez picked up right where he left off Black Box theater last year as the comedic centerpiece of the performance.
“The show was one of the funniest I’ve performed, it was a grand ol’ time, and the people are some of the kindest you’ll ever meet,” Wale said of the weekend.
Conner Casarez as Prince Charming brought some of the biggest laughs with his more adult themed jokes. Harper Postema and Ben Vonderheide as Smeagol and the King also brought plenty of laughs with their horse routine. Any time a freshman plays a role in any production is exciting for the theater department. Some such freshmen were Bryce Craycraft whose main role was one of the seven dwarves, Aundrea Anderson, and Olivia VanGroningen.
While the show has a little less as far as props and set design compared to a spring musical, there was still plenty to do which included signs, castle themed backdrop, and painted boxes moved around at various times by both cast and crew.
“It was really fun to let this group explore their comedic side. Comedy in theatre is a little like a knot that needs to be untangled. Slowly working through the words and the language to find the meaning behind the phrases and then adding the timing to deliver each line with effect. To do it well takes a lot of flair, and that says a lot about the skill of actors we have here at LHS, not just the huge class of our seasoned veterans but also many of the younger performers who are very talented in their own right. And of course who could forget the crew? We wouldn't have a show without all of the behind the scenes magic that the crew pulls off each night,” added Crawford.
The play concluded with Vonderheide’s character seemingly emerging victorious only to be struck down by an arrow from an unnamed princess, meant to be Pocahontas. Music was added to the end of Vonderheide’s short lived “triumph”, a decision made by play director Amanita Fahrni in the final rehearsal on Thursday. She worked hand in hand with Heidi Kolp and Crawford on the direction of the show.
“It's always nice to do a smaller show like a play and The Game of Tiaras really lends itself to a bare stage with a minimum of set pieces. The production demands are a bit less than that of the musical so that's a little less stressful for all involved. The budget is also about a sixteenth of that of the musical, so that's a determining factor as well. People came and they laughed. I call that a success,” Crawford concluded.
