Seventeen high school guys dancing some terrifically demanding moves, 16 “pirate” girls performing fancy footwork, a love story, great singing, and a few visual tricks from the set and tech crew make for a tremendously entertaining evening.
Echostage, East Coweta High on Stage, presents its annual spring musical tonight at the Coweta County Centre for Performing and Visual Arts. This year’s production is the Tony-award winning musical comedy, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” The musical is originally based on Shepherd Mead’s 1952 book of the same name. “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” is a musical comedy that was produced on Broadway in 1961 and was revived recently in 2011 with Daniel Radcliffe in the leading role. The story revolves around a young man, J. Pierrepont Finch, using his trusted book of business advice to help him climb the corporate ladder. Along the way, he encounters many people who are either threatened or entranced by him.
The musical cast includes the leading actors Devin Johnson, Tyler Gillet, Cierra Byrd, Alexa Carleo, and Hannah Rose. The talented cast is led by dance captains Michael Maske and Katelyn Sullivan. Other cast members include Kaleb McLay, Drew Roberts, Aric Shepherd, Tate Reece, Ashlie Adamson, Tylor Aun, Cassie Bure, Michaela Campbell, Chris Copelan, Brantley Couch, Courtney Cowdell, Sara Demlow, Isaac Epps, Tori Epps, Audrey Faulkner, Christine Harper, Heather Hendrix, Hunter Holmes, Maddie Kuhne, Valerie Mannebach, Niko Mavridis, Johnathan McDonald, Alex Naughton, Ivanna Osma, Katie Lynn Sears, Laura Grace Sears, Adara Thompson, Kyle Vaughan, and Garrick Widdowson. The crew is led by stage manager Jon Smoot and assistant stage managers Katt Gapinski and Courtney McCollum, technical director Kit Matheny and assistant technical director Madison Fouche.
The rest of the crew consists of Sydney Blalock, Alyssa Burgess, Sire Kassama, Victoria Lara, Tristin Morrill, Emily White, Brittonie Widner, Kiley Yale, David Craig, Zach Craig, Alex Fouche, Erin Gould, Autumn McCain, and Brianna Trammell.
The musical is directed by Dr. Richard McMichen and Scott Ondovchik, vocal coach Christy Hauert, and choreographer Pam Wright. This show also marks the final production for Dr. McMichen as the sponsor and director of Echostage. He will be retiring at the end of the year after 40 years of teaching, 12 of them at East Coweta.
Tickets are $10 general admission and $8 for students and senior citizens. Tickets will be available at the Centre. For additional information, call 770-254-2850.
