ARLINGTON — It’s a show that’s been nearly a year in the making, and the student performers and faculty supervisors alike consider it the Arlington High School Drama Department’s biggest production yet.
“White Christmas” will be presented Dec. 3-4 and Dec. 10-11, starting at 7 p.m. each night, in the Linda M. Byrnes Performing Arts Center, located at 18821 Crown Ridge Blvd. in Arlington. A matinee is also scheduled for 1 p.m. on Dec. 11.
For AHS Drama teacher Scott Moberly, staging the Irving Berlin musical at the PAC represents the culmination of plans he began developing as far back as last Christmas.
“‘White Christmas’ has always been one of my favorites, and when Seattle’s Roosevelt High School presented it last December, I was curious to see if a high school cast and crew could pull it off,” said Moberly, who’s directing “White Christmas at AHS. “I was impressed by what they were able to do, which led me to wonder if we could do it here in Arlington.”
After applying for the rights to “White Christmas,” AHS Drama conducted auditions in June and issued copies of the script and music to the cast to study over the summer.
“It’s a very complex piece, so they needed as much time as we could give them to study it,” Moberly said. “We hit the ground running with set design and construction in September.”
Moberly estimated that every performance requires 12 costume changes for each of the cast’s leads and an average of three to four costume changes for each of the chorus members, a feat that senior Caroline Rensel, who plays Judy Haynes, and junior Nathan Braaten, who plays Bob Wallace, agreed was one of their tougher challenges.
“It’s my first time acting at all,” said fellow lead senior Jordan Tanguay, who plays Phil Davis. “Usually, I’m just singing. There’s a lot more going on this year, but you can never treat it like it’s just a high school production. You have to ask yourself, if you were performing this at the Paramount in Seattle, what would it sound like?”
“Otherwise, it’ll be substandard,” said Rensel, who deemed this year’s production “60 percent bigger” than last year’s. “Everything has to work. You have to keep the pressure on yourselves.”
Lead junior Kelsey Ghirardo, who plays Betty Haynes, described the difficulty of the three-part harmonies in a few of the songs, but was quick to point out that Haller Middle School teacher Jeff Swanson was faced with an even more complicated juggling act, since he’s directing both the orchestra and the choir for this production.
“You have to treat everything as equally important,” Ghirardo said. “You can’t shirk on the singing or the dancing.”
Ghirardo also praised the choreography work of Arlington School of Dance owner Becky Oesch, while Braaten agreed with Tanguay and Rensel that the chorus had provided the leads with essential and cohesive support. Rensel likewise echoed Moberly’s thanks to the community for their backing.
“We have parents who have been coming in at 6 p.m. every night to help us finish the set and address our remaining technical issues,” Moberly said. “I’ve been taken aback by how incredible this community is. When you need them, they’re there.”
Tanguay and Ghirardo echoed Moberly’s hope that the community would be pleased by the production, given the number of contributions the community has made to help make it happen, while Moberly also emphasized what he sees as the positive holiday message behind “White Christmas.”
“It’s about extending yourself to help out and care for others,” Moberly said. “This is the most ambitious show I’ve ever done, and it’s our Christmas present to Arlington, giving back to them for all that they’ve given to us.”
Tickets are $9 for seniors and students, and $12 for adults. Reserved seating tickets may be purchased in advance on-line at www.byrnesperformingarts.org, or at the door 45 minutes before show time.
