Pennridge Puts on Musical With COVID-19 Guidelines

Over the past year, many things were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including an innumerable list of cancellations of school events. During the 2019-2020 school year, the Pennridge High School theatre program was working hard to put on their show Into the Woods, which was cancelled due to the pandemic.

This year, Pennridge is persistently pushing forward with their production, taking necessary precautions to ensure that the show can be put on safely, and according to guidelines set to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The show this school year is Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, and it has been actively in production since the start of the school year. The staff has jumped through hoops to make this show come to life, and the final product promises to be rewarding.

Jack Boyd, the student actor cast as the titular role of Beast, reports, “I think it’s being handled really well. The mask thing is difficult, but you have to do it. It’s a fairly normal experience.” The show’s director, Ms. Christa Schimitsch, adds, “The biggest change is mask wearing. The show, with regard to script, staging, and music, is exactly the same.” Indeed, there are struggles with the use of masks. The cast has a harder time projecting their voices, both in song and in speech, and the masks often cause trouble with microphones picking up voices.

Another challenge is ensuring that social distancing is in effect. With a cast of 59 students, plus crew, pit, and staff, spacing can get very difficult. Ms. Schimitsch states, “Some blocking is different. We avoid touching if we can.” Blocking (which is a theatre term for setting people on the stage) is especially difficult for the larger musical numbers, but the staff have been making it work, adapting choreography to require small amounts of physical contact. Ms. Schimitsch gave proper thanks to Mrs. Cole, a high school secretary who is the show’s choreography designer.

Perhaps the biggest hindrance to the show was the December 2020 shutdown of extracurricular activities, which took away the first full month of rehearsals. Significant time was lost, and that was time that would have been spent learning the vocal parts for the show. Nonetheless, adaptations were made, and between holding small group rehearsals on Zoom and much communication by email, rehearsals were able to resume in January and the production was able to continue as normal.

It should also be noted that this is the first year in which Pennridge is putting on show with a live pit orchestra. The orchestra consists of both auditioned students and hired professionals and is conducted by Pennridge orchestra director Ms. Marisa Guarriello. Even the pit must take measures for safety. She says, “All wind instruments have coverings. All students are wearing a mask at all times, even if that is a special mask for wind instruments. We are social distancing in the pit; the pit is very spread out. We kept the pit very small; we took on the minimum number of people.” She says that one detriment is, “I’d like to have a larger ensemble, because it’s hard to stay together musically [with this].”

Of course, a lot more goes into a show than the performance. Things like costume design, set design, and lighting are all issues in question. When interviewed, Ms. Schimitsch gave special mention to Mr. Feher, the band director who both plays in the pit and helps manage technical aspects, Mr. Pinter, the lead set designer, and the technical director, Mrs. Borghi. She also thanked administrators like Dr. Cashman and Dr. Bolton. “Every time we’ve asked for help or approval, they’re always very kind and supportive,” she says.

Despite the challenges presented by COVID-19, Pennridge is proud to put forth their theatrical performance of Beauty and the Beast.