Keeping order backstage during a typical high school production is tough enough. Keeping things on track in a show with students playing more than role can be maddening.
That is the task for Hinsdale South senior Diana Juarez in the upcoming production of “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.”
“It’s extremely stressful,” the stage manager said. “There are a lot of changes. Everyone plays another part. Their costumes are different. A lot of times they come off stage and have to change right away because they are in the next scene.”
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Juarez, who plans to pursue stage management as a career, said the play’s characters being older than the cast members adds to the challenge.
“The characters are all in their 20s and 30s,” she said. “So everyone has to appear older. There are costumes and makeup. We need to make people look older. They are going back onstage as a different person. There are wigs. We went all out.”
The musical had the second-longest Off-Broadway run, covering 5,003 performances from 1986 to 2008.
“I was fortunate enough to see this production in New York City in 2008 and knew one day that I wanted the chance to direct it,” said Danny Yuska, theater director at Hinsdale South.
Yuska said the production is a fun look at relationships.
“The play’s tagline is ‘Everything you have ever secretly thought about dating, romance, marriage, husbands, wives and in-laws, but were afraid to admit,” Yuska said. “With few exceptions, the scenes stand independent of the others, but progress in a fashion designed to suggest an overall arc to relationships throughout the course of one’s life.”
A first date, he noted, comes before those scenes dealing with marriage, which come before scenes dealing with child rearing.
He said he picked the show because it provides an opportunity to spotlight each actor.
“Although this show is an ensemble-driven show, each actor will have musical solos and individual lines,” Yuska said.
He noted the show is rated PG-13 and may not be suitable for kids under 13.
“Another reason I chose this show is because it gets a lot of our techies involved in an array of different areas behind the scenes,” Yuska said. “It involves the chance to be creative; and I have enjoyed watching our production staff adapt this musical into our own.”
Hinsdale South senior Jack Cunningham has been in every production since entering the school. He said this production gives every actor a time in the spotlight.
“This shows displays a lot of our talent, with every performer involved in his own right,” Cunningham said. “Most productions only have a couple of leads. This play has multiple leads. It shows we have a lot of talent here.”
Cunningham said he is sure he will be nervous and sweating, with a dry mouth just prior to taking the stage opening night, but once he hits the stage that will go away.
“It is nice being on stage,” Cunningham said. “It is a special world for me.”
Kevin Beese is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
It’s showtime
What: Hinsdale South fall musical
When: 7 p.m. Sept. 24, 25 and 26
Where: Hinsdale South auditorium, 7401 Clarendon Hills Road, Darien
Tickets: $10, purchased at the door
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