“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 three installments of our series (by Michelle Gao, Lauren Piester, and Anna Cangellaris, respectively), click here, here, and here.

FINALLY. AFTER FEELING drowsy in almost every class, after walking to campus for dinner and power-walking back, after being at school for 13 hours, I was relieved that I got to go home Tuesday evening after another five-hour rehearsal of the spring play, “Much Ado About Nothing.”

But then I realized that I still had work to do. It was whining time. I (usually) hold off on whining at school, but when I’m at home, it’s one of my favorite pastimes.

Just kidding. But seriously, I was absolutely exhausted. Wednesday morning I felt like I had just fallen asleep when my mom came and threw my towels and bathrobe at me. Shower time.

“Five more minutes,” I mumbled. To my surprise, my mom agreed. For a brief moment I was so surprised that I was wide awake. That faded fast, though, and five minutes had soon passed.

The great part of the school day was that it was pajama day for the cast, so comfort was no issue. Unfortunately, it probably encouraged a few people to fall asleep. Luckily, I didn’t fall into the trap of those sly, oh-so-comfortable penguin print pants.

After yawning approximately 47.36 times during each class, it was time for dinner. Earlier in the day I had promised sophomore Tianna Pittenger that I would eat at Za’s with her. So, we headed over along with sophomore Stephanie Overmier and subfreshmen Will Erickson, Maia Gersten, Rodney LeNoir, Marie Lilly, and Aramael Pene-Alcantara. We also met up with junior Sarah Lake-Rayburn.

Stephanie and I entertained ourselves by listening to two songs by Mika at once, trying to sync the beats. We got ahead of the rest of the group every once in a while, walking to the fast-paced music.

At Za’s, I waited for my food for way too long, then slurped up my rotini and garlic bread, downed my iced raspberry mocha, and we were on our way back to school. I had to stop a few times to take advantage of the beautiful light and snap a few pictures.

Back at school, a group of freshmen and sophomores took the elevator up to the second floor to grab our belongings. Stephanie had some trouble finding a way to change pants in the middle of the hallway, but eventually I helped her figure it out.

Wednesday was the first night to try full makeup and hair, and everyone was frantically trying to figure everything out. Many shouts of "Where's the man-blush?" could be heard in the South Attic.

Director Barbara Ridenour and assistant director Jen Goheen gave notes, and before I knew it, we were beginning the first scene. I walked on stage with my picnic of plastic grapes and felt the heat from the large stage light on my back. With many-layered costumes, everyone is bound to sweat a little.

We carried on through the show without too many slip-ups. Once, the musicians stopped one of the revel songs a bit early, but the actors did the right thing and just pretended the dance was over. Backstage, though, everyone was cracking up. I only recall one incident of a late cue, but the other actors in the scene did their best to ad lib something Shakespeare might have written.

So, after all of the rushing around in an ankle-length skirt and size-and-a-half-too-small shoes, I got to return home. It took all of my strength to wash the makeup off my face, and it was a great relief to lie down.

Everyone in Uni plays always complains about tech week. But it's also a really great time to get to know people, and sometimes it's fun to boast about the fact that you're functioning on three hours of sleep.

And, of course, tech week is the time when we get to perfect our performance. Finally, we're ready for opening night!

Seniors Hannah Lake-Rayburn (Beatrice) and Grant Loos (Benedick) rehearse Wednesday night in the North Attic. Gargoyle photo by Linda Song (click to enlarge)

Before the final dress rehearsal, director Barbara Ridenour talks to cast members Carl Zielinski, Michelle Gao, Julian Hartman, and Anna Gooler. Gargoyle photo by Linda Song (click to enlarge)

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