Scurry County Spotlight
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Jaden West, Isaac Garcia, Brendan Mitchell (standing l-r), and Jaxon West (floor) rehearsed a scene with Shelby Powell, Kaylee Rush, Gillian Crist, Madalyn Hernandez, Sebastian Sosa, and Brody Jasso in the background. -
Logan Tabor (left) and Olivia Haley practiced a musical scene from Godspell. -
The Godspell cast, including (l-r) Olivia Haley, Sebastian Sosa, Jaden West, Shelby Powell, Gillian Crist, Brody Jasso, Kaylee Rush, Jaxon West, Madalyn Hernandez, and Isaac Garcia rehearsed choreography for one of the songs in the musical.
With opening night less than a week away, the Ritz Community Theatre’s Godspell cast and crew are working to put the finishing touches on their production.
Director Clark Reed and Assistant Director Logan Tabor said they are very pleased with how the show has progressed, though there is still much to do in the last few days before opening.
“You always get nervous and stressed out when you’re scrambling to put the last few things together, but that’s the magic of theater. It all comes together in the end, and I have absolute faith that it will,” Reed said. “It sounds beautiful. The bumps that we have are few and far between, and I have no doubt that we’ll smooth them out in the next few days.”
Godspell has been Tabor’s first directing experience, and he said he is thankful for the opportunity.
“It’s nice to have an image or an idea in your head and watch it come to life. It’s really exciting and really rewarding, more than I thought,” he said. “I am feeling a little anxious as well, because you want everybody else to see what you saw and see your idea come to life and understand it and connect with it.”
This show will be the Ritz’s first musical production featuring all actors in masks.
Although Scurry County Judge Dan Hicks has given the theater the go-ahead to perform without them, Reed, Tabor and the cast felt that it would be safest to wear them, just as they have during rehearsals.
“Performing in masks is going to be different. Actors have to use their bodies to emote more than they do with just using their facial expressions. They also have to over-enunciate and over-project to get through, but if it’s what we have to do to be able to perform, then it’s what we have to do to be able to perform,” Reed said.
Tabor anticipated that some people might be apprehensive about coming to the Ritz to see the show, but he is confident that the theater has done everything possible to protect its patrons.
“I’ve been proud of the way that the board and this company have tried to create a safe environment in this time. We’ve done the best we can, and I really do feel like you can come out to the theater and have a fun, safe, socially distanced experience,” he said. “Because of how small and intimate this is — certain large venues are closed indefinitely for the moment — so the fact that the Ritz can still do this and can create this unique experience during this time is neat. We have a pretty talented group of people and I’m proud to be a part of it.”
“This is a show about hope. It’s a show about community. It’s a show about the future and rebuilding, and it’s a message that we all need to hear right now. So take a couple hours to come hear an uplifting, hopeful message in a safe environment,” Reed added.
Godspell will be staged at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets are available online at www.ritzcommunitytheatre.org.