Arts & Entertainment

The musical is open to students with all levels of on-stage experience.  “A lot of kids come in without any experience, just like I did,” said Shapiro.  “We need kids in the pit and on stage crew, you don’t have to be amazing on-stage.”

The musical receives help from other teachers at Allderdice.  Mr. Brian Lee and his orchestra and band students will be serving as the pit for the musical this coming spring.  Lee also worked with the ensemble on more challenging musical numbers.  Ms. Ella Slaughter, the chorus teacher at Allderdice, has offered her services to the musical as well.  Slaughter worked with the principles in the musical during the first few weeks of rehearsal, to help with their more difficult songs.

Mr. Dan Budday and Mr. Don Schmit have been more than willing to lend their talents, along with the talents of their students, to the set design for the musical.  Costume design is handled by parent volunteer, Sue Schaming.  The musical has also brought in Allderdice alumni Shira Krasnow, former captain of the dance team, to assist in the choreography. 

All those working on the musical have high hopes for this year’s production.  After receiving no nominations last year for the Gene Kelly awards, the premier awards for high school musicals in the Pittsburgh Area, Dr. Srocki hopes "Bye, Bye, Birdie" has better luck.  Allderdice is placed in the low-budget category, with a budget of around $3-4,000. Unfortunately, only the category of best musical is divided by budget.  “This makes it slightly more difficult for those low budget schools like us, “said Srocki, “but [receiving nominations] is still not impossible.”

In 2005, Allderdice was nominated for best student orchestra, best actress, and best supporting actress but failed to bring home a win.

"In the past, we have lacked choreography or direction; we don't usually have time to focus [on the Gene Kelly awards]," Shapiro said.  "I think we have a really great show this year, but we still don't focus on [the awards] during the show."

So far, things seem to be falling into place. When asked about the fast-approaching opening night, Srocki said, “I’m not stressed yet but I probably should be.  Obviously at some point you get stressed, but in comparison to other years, we seem very on track.”

The show will run from April 26-29.  A formal schedule has not yet been released, but will be soon.

Allderdice Pulls Together to Make Spring Musical a Success

By: Ellen Spolar

The Allderdice Foreword

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