Woods Cross • When the curtain goes up tonight on the opening performance of Legacy Preparatory Academy’s rendition of "Wonderful Town," it will mark the culmination of nearly nine months of preparation.
Nine months of memorizing lines, rehearsing songs, building sets. Nine months of sweat and fret for three performances this week.
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Curtain call
Legacy Preparatory Academy’s theater class will deliver three performances of the comedy “Wonderful Town” this week at West High.
Because there is no auditorium at the school, the group of 29 actors have just two days of rehearsals on stage before their performance goes live.
Last year’s performance of “Fiddler on the Roof” earned former student Aaron Wilcox the state’s top acting honor and a week of training on Broadway.
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"You have to put every single thing you have into those three shows and make them exactly what they need to be," said Kyle Dunshee, a junior. "Otherwise, all the work over so many months is pointless.
"The pressure is pretty big," he added, "but we all know we can do it."
Dunshee and the other 28 participating students would surely welcome more performances, but simple logistics limits their time on stage.
Legacy Preparatory Academy’s secondary campus in Woods Cross doesn’t have an auditorium or stage. Consequently, theater teacher Rick Kimball rents a hall in which his students perform.
"You wish you had more performances," junior Hunter Harmer said. "But you just give it your best and hardest and your heart. During the performance, that’s all that matters."
Last year, the school delivered an award-winning performance of "Fiddler on the Roof" at Bountiful High. This year, the comedic tale of two sisters’ move from Ohio to New York City’s Greenwich Village in the 1930s will unfold on stage in West High’s auditorium.
"This play, as far as I know, has never been done anywhere in Utah," Kimball said of the play which premiered on Broadway in 1953 and was reprised in 2004. "That’s good because we are breaking ground. But it’s also bad because when we try to find out how to do this, or how to do that, nobody has any idea.
"I don’t want to do plays that other high schools do" Kimball continued. "It’s been done and done and done. I kind of want to try different stuff."
The off-site stage produces several challenges for the cast and crew. Actors rehearse in Kimball’s small classroom and in the school’s cafeteria. Sets are built and must be transported to West High.
"Most schools spend like a month or six weeks rehearsing on stage to get the spacing," said Kimball, who has a background in stand-up comedy. "We actually have to pull everything together in two days. It’s kind of crazy.
"Last year, when it was over, it was horrible," he said, "like a death in the family. By closing night, we’re not nervous. We know what’s going on and it’s over. It’s kind of a shame."
Last year’s performance of "Fiddler on the Roof" was nominated for three Utah High School Musical Theater awards, including Best Musical. Former student Aaron Wilcox was named Best High School Actor and spent a week in New York training and performing with 49 other high school students in the national Jimmy Awards.
Wilcox made an impression on Harmer, who had a small part in last year’s play and will play "Wreck," a retired football player struggling to find a career path, in this year’s production.
"Watching him, he got so into character more than just about anybody I’ve seen," Harmer said. "It really showed. He got all the awards and scholarships, got to go to New York and can have a whole new life and career if he wants it. I’d say that drives me and everyone else in here."
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