On November 12-14, 2021, the McNicholas Theatre Department will perform Music Theatre International’s All Together Now! Tickets for the show are $10 and can be purchased here.
The show will be directed by theatre teacher Ms. Teresa De Zarn. Other technical directors include Ms. Xan Jeffery as the musical director, McNicholas alumnus Nick Robben as the technical director, Paige Baumann as the lighting director, and McNicholas alumna Kayla Woods as the dance choreographer.
All Together Now! is a show consisting of sixteen musical numbers from musicals in the past like Hairspray, Beauty and the Beast, and Guys and Dolls, among others. “It doesn’t have a story to tell. You can just sit there and enjoy each number as they come, which makes it much more like a variety show,” De Zarn said.
“Music Theatre International, the house where we get a lot of our shows from, decided that they wanted to do something to celebrate the comeback of theatre, because theatre was pretty much the last thing to come back,” De Zarn added. “[They also] wanted to support the theatres who had lost a lot of money during the pandemic… they thought to themselves, what can we do? And they came up with the idea of doing this show.”
There are currently 90 seats available for each show, and a small number of tickets will be sold at the door.
All audience members will be required to wear masks. Whether the actors will be masked has yet to be determined. “One day I’ll wake up and think, We’re all going to wear masks. And then the next day, I’ll think, Well, maybe we can pull it off. Right now I’m leaning towards only wearing masks when we’re not onstage,” De Zarn said.
Senior Arden Jakubovic is the stage manager for the show. “[Managing the show] has been different, because this isn’t really a show with a plot. There’s not one story connecting the whole show together; it’s just going from song to song to song… But I’ve enjoyed it, and I think it’s been fun,” Jakubovic said.
“We’ve had a couple people get sick, and it’s hard to rehearse numbers when people aren’t here,” Jakubovic added. “But other than that, it’s gone pretty smoothly, especially considering that we’re having this show during Covid.”
Unlike many fall shows in the past, no cuts were made in All Together Now! This gave many students an opportunity to gain experience onstage, especially the underclassmen.
Freshman Noel Shelly has parts in six songs, including a solo in “Seize the Day.” “I was a little nervous, because I’ve never had a singing role in my life before… but everybody’s loving in the community… and we’re all having fun, which is all that really matters,” Shelly said.
“Memorizing the choreography [has been tough] because you have to know the choreography for each and every song you’re in,” Shelly added.
The McNicholas Milestone 