Page 18 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, FEbrUAry 28, 2025 ASKS | FROM PAGE 3 many theatre companies, high schools and colleges/universities in and around Massachusetts, having racked up more than 100 production credits in all facets of theatrical production. I am also an adjunct professor of Technical Theatre at Endicott College and main stage scenic designer for all department shows! Q: Please tell me a little about the Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild’s High School Drama Festival and why it’s a big deal to the Saugus High School drama students. A: The METG HS DramaFEST is a statewide, multi-round competition. Ten schools, in addition to Saugus, are hosting round one at their respective schools. If you ask any student who has participated in DramaFEST, they will most likely tell you that it is the best and most memorable part of their high school career. It is an opportunity to make theatre and perform for seven other schools’ drama clubs and their fans. It allows you to create a show for other theatre lovers! It is also a fantastic opportunity to meet students from different districts who share your passion and watch eight shows daily! It is an unforgettable experience! Show can be no longer than 40 minutes long. Schools have only five minutes to set up the stage with their scenery and five minutes to remove it all. Four schools from each preliminary round will move on to Semifinals [on] Saturday, March 15. From Semifinals, two winners from each site will move on to Finals to take place over the course of three days at the John Hancock Building in Boston, where three schools will be named champions. This year 88 schools are participating in Festival statewide. GIVING INSTRUCTION: Saugus High School Theatre Teacher Nicholas “Nick” Raponi offers some advice to members of the Saugus High School Drama Club as they prepare for the first round of the Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild’s High School Drama Festival. This will be the first time that Saugus High has hosted the festival. (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler) Q: Please tell me why this is a big deal for you as the Theatre Teacher and Drama Club Director at Saugus High. How many of these Drama Festivals have you participated in during your teaching career? A: I have participated in almost 15 METG Festivals, working with Essex Technical High School, Winthrop High School (two-time State Champions during my tenure as Technical Director) and Saugus High School. As the Theatre Teacher here at Saugus High School and only in my second year here, it is a big deal to have been chosen as a host site! The Lemoine-Mitchell Auditorium, here at Saugus Middle High School, is beautiful and has everything METG needs in a host school. While hosting the event comes with its fair share of additional work, spreadsheets and much planning, we have a great group of very talented students to support other schools and their productions. Hosting here at Saugus also helps alleviate some costs for the SHSDC. Hosting here saves us money on school buses and U-Haul trucks for set transport for round one! Q: How long has this festival been going on, and when was the last time that Saugus High competed in it? What’s the best the school has ever done? A: METG DramaFEST has been around for almost 100 years, having originated in 1928. Since its inception, Saugus has won the State Championship once with their production of “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales” in 1996. Saugus participates annually in this event and has moved on to the final round, only having won the big one once. We hope to change that in the coming years! Q: When was the last time that Saugus High hosted the competition? A: Saugus High School has never hosted this event. With the beautiful new school complex, Saugus is now equipped with the appropriate theatre and more than adequate techTAKING A BREAK: Saugus High School Drama Club students involved in the show “Woyzeck (Re-Imagined)” relaxed on the stage in the Lemoine-Mitchell Auditorium during last Friday’s rehearsal. The student company, which consists of 13 cast members and 24 members of the production staff and run/tech crew, will perform at 2 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday) and will be one of eight schools competing in a preliminary round of the Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild’s High School Drama Festival. Show time for Saugus High is 2 p.m. The drama festival will begin at 9 a.m. and the last show will be at 5:15 p.m. Each school will perform for 40 minutes. (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler) nology to host this massive event! We hope to host this event annually, whether for the Preliminary or Semifinal round. Q: Please tell me a little bit about your team. How many students are on the team that will compete on Saturday? How many in the cast and how many in various backup roles? Are most kids theatre students? How many of these kids have aspirations of theatre beyond high school or even college? A: While the SHSDC has a membership of over 60 students, our company for this particular show, “Woyzeck (Re-Imagined),” consists of 37 students: 13 cast members and the other 24 students are members of the production staff and run/tech crew. For this production, we have students in the following roles: stage manager, assistant stage managers, student lighting & scenic designer, student costume designers, student hair & makeup designers, student props designers, scenic painters, live musicians and music composers, sound designers. I have had the wonderful opportunity to teach most of the Drama Club students during their school day, but not all students involved have been able to fit one of my theatre classes into their daily schedule. While I am sure several students from Drama Club will continue to make theatre after high school, there are only a small selection of students who are interested in majoring in theatre or trying to become a working theatre professional. I would be remiss to not mention the adult staff I have helping the SHSDC make some theatre magic. Kyle Gregory, a good friend, theatre professional and professor of theatre, was the assistant director for the show, the fight choreographer and put his Master’s in Playwriting to the test and adapted the play to the new concept and cut it down to 39 minutes! John Sullivan is a volunteer set builder who has been helping the SHSDC build scenery for more than a decade and still continues to do so even though his daughter has long graduated. John’s help and loyalty to the SHSDC over previous years, and since I have come here, is greatly appreciated. Jimmy Wlodyka, a Saugus native, has helped us with all audio and sound items, and his advice since I have arrived here in Saugus has been more helpful than he would ever know. Q: About how many students are involved in theatre ASKS | SEE PAGE 19
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