Foster said he told his actors not to think too much about being perfect but to have fun with it. “I also liked the musical score and this was a leap year (which relates to the story plot),” he said as to why he chose this of the hundreds of titles to choose from. “We had to look at what we could afford and wanted something that wouldn’t be too long for the audience.”
He said that they had been lucky to have been able to have used previous sets, items borrowed from churches and other local clubs and institutions and had little to buy in preparation to ingrain the audience within the program through the stage scenery. Lavish sets were created by Lukas Salley who altered the accessible pieces (with assistance from Bethany Kern and Emmille Long) and replicated period costume was fabricated by Susan Dietzel.
Foster said the 30 student actors involved seemed to enjoy the musical’s musical score and lively beat more than some of the other things they had done in the past. For those who aren’t familiar with the title, the story is centered around Frederic who, as a small child, was mistakenly apprenticed to be a pirate after his nanny misunderstood the directive to raise him as a pilot.
A group of girls, wards of Major-General Stanley, are taken by the pirates and threatened with immediate marriage after one of them, Mabel, takes an interest in Frederic. Stanley rescues the girls after playing the pirates’ sympathies by lying.
Frederic, who had hoped to leave the pirates on his 21st birthday is convinced by the them that technically, because he was born on February 29, has had only five birthdays and must stay on with them until he completes his apprenticeship.
A battle with pirates versus police follows. The fanciful folly is played by the large cast of outgoing students who prove their musical, dramatic and comic talents.
CAST
Richard the Pirate King-Matthew Harvey, Samuel (his lieutenant)-Chandler Tracy, Frederic (pirate apprentice)-Lukas Salley, Major-General Stanley (of the British Army)-Thomas Eiser, Edward (sergeant of the police)-Dylan Senff, Mabel-Chrissi Schaetzle, Ruth (a piratical maid-of-all-work)-Stephanie Stichter; Major Stanley’s daughters: Kate-Emmille Long, Isabel-Abbey Reichert, Margaret-Bethany Kern, Victoria-Brittany Riffle, Mary-Ryley Cripps, Elizabeth-Britney Edington, Marianne-Almeda Hutchison, Franceen-Chelsie Kauffman, Carolyn-Katie Wilcox, Edith-Jamie Yungandreas, Abbey-Jessica Creech, Theresa-Jennifer Strycker; Pirates: Jeff Ross, Chris Sechrist, Joey Teeple, Corey Thomas, Ethan Yazel, Zack Clark; Police: Brandon Haines, Aaron Haines, Drew Fleagle, Abraham Hall.