“MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING”
A Comedy by
William Shakespeare

• Director: Barbara Ridenour
• When: 7 p.m. Thursday, April 3
  7:30 p.m. Friday, April 4
  7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 5
• Where: North Attic Playhouse
• Tickets: $5 for children, senior citizens; $6 for adults
• Poster design: Anna Cangellaris

Note: Throughout this week the Gargoyle will present a series of diary entries by five members of this year’s spring play, Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” The opening performance will be 7 p.m. Thursday at the North Attic Playhouse, followed by 7:30 p.m. shows Friday and Saturday. For the first two installments of our series (by Michelle Gao and Lauren Piester, respectively), click here and here.

I WOKE UP Tuesday morning at 6:47 to the unwelcome, obnoxious bleeping of my alarm in disbelief. It couldn’t possibly be morning yet. Then I remembered: Tech week had begun in earnest Monday, and apparently the exhaustion from the first 14-hour day of school and rehearsal had already taken its toll.

I stole a few more precious minutes under the warmth of my covers and reluctantly tumbled out of bed at 7:02 a.m. I stumbled to my closet and rummaged around for black items of clothing that the cast had planned to wear on Tuesday in support of the techies.

I got into the car with my dad and brother to drive to school and struggled not to fall asleep in the lull of traffic. I wandered lethargically through the first few hours of school and was finally awake by lunchtime.

I graciously thanked the powers that be for making that day’s PE class a day of weights instead of fitness and slid through the final hours of school.

I spent the coveted hour between school and rehearsal lying back and slurping up some spicy shrimp-flavored Ramen noodles. At 5 p.m., I returned to school with my fellow cast mates and traversed up to the South Attic to prep for rehearsal.

After a couple of notes, some going-over of lines, and some messing around, the Attic was a catastrophe of clothes, backpacks, snacks, and scripts … but we were ready to start the show.

Tuesday’s rehearsal was all about costumes. Characters started the show with perhaps only some shoes and a petticoat or a billowing tunic. However, thanks to the expertise and nimble fingers of costume coordinator Mary Stasheff, characters received parts of their costumes throughout the show. By the final act, most everyone had assembled a mostly complete, elaborate, and colorful costume.

The girls got a taste of the meaning behind “beauty is pain” when they helped each other to lace up their snug corset tops and bodices.

Though my bodice was less than comfortable (to say the least), I was very pleased with the end result. It has always been a secret desire of mine to dress in such a manner, with a petticoat, full skirt, decorated bodice, and flowing undershirt.

Meanwhile, the boys got in touch with their more refined sides as they buttoned up their shirts and slid into crisp, fitted jackets.

With the cast dressed in such stately and elegant garb, I noticed us standing taller and falling into the mannerisms and demeanors of our characters. The atmosphere of the North Attic that was tinged with bits of uncertainty and nervousness the night before began to fill with confidence and energy as the story of the play started to come to life.

I left rehearsal filled with new excitement for the show, yet began to feel exhaustion creep over me once again. I am ready for some well-deserved sleep in anticipation of today’s final dress rehearsal before the show opens Thursday.

I have a very good feeling about this production.

CAST & CREW: “MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING”

• Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon: Carl Zielinski
• Don John, his bastard brother: Daniel McNamara
• Claudio, a young lord of Florence: Julian Hartman
• Benedick, a young lord of Padua: Grant Loos
• Leonata, governor of Messina: Michelle Gao
• Antonio, her brother: Rob Diehl
• Balthasar, attendant on Don Pedro: Zack Goldberg
• Conrade, follower of Don John: Dillon Price
• Borachio, follower of Don John: James Smith
• Friar Frances: Tianna Pittenger
• Dogberry, a constable: Deren Kudeki
• Verges, a headborough: Daniel Wilson
• Sexton: Anna Gooler
• Hero, daughter to Leonata: Jamie Weiser
• Beatrice, niece to Leonata: Hannah Lake-Rayburn
• Margaret, gentlewoman attending on Hero: Anna Cangellaris
• Ursula, gentlewoman attending on Hero: Sarah Lake-Rayburn
• Messenger: Jeremy Kemball
• Watch: Hannah Leskosky, Lauren Piester, Brittany Scheid
• Ensemble (watch, attendants, musicians, singers, etc.): Will Erickson, Katherine Floess, Maria Gao, Maia Gersten, Hadley Hauser, Rodney LeNoir, Marie Lilly, Diana Liu, Sierra Marcum, Aramael Pena-Alcantara, Elizabeth Russell, Serena Schatz, Ethan Schiller, Lisa Sproat, Richard Wang
• Musicians: Claire Johnson, Alan Liang (violin); Katherine Floess, Serena Schatz (recorder); Teddy Zamora-Mills (guitar); Zack Goldberg (voice)
• Assistant director: Jen Goheen
• Costumes: Mary Stasheff
• Lighting design: Natsuki Nakamura, James Smith
• Lightboard operator: Natsuki Nakamura
• Set design: Aliisa Rantanen, Lor Sligar
• Stage managers: Lor Sligar, Tianna Pittenger
• Set crew: Entire cast and Stefanie Senior, Lor Sligar, Aliisa Rantanen
• Stage crew: Stefanie Senior, Stephanie Overmier, Karen Han, Lor Sligar
• Choreography: Jonathan Sivier
• Music consultants: Frances Harris, Rick Murphy
• Dance captains: Anna Cangellaris, Zack Goldberg
• Poster design: Anna Cangellaris
• Program design: Lauren Piester