1954-1972

ECJC players begin work on 'Once Upon A Mattress"

Rehearsals are now well underway with East Central Junior College's production of "Once Upon A Mattress," a musical adaption of the popular fairy tale, . "The Princess and the Pea." As with the past ten musicals, the production will be pro– duced by East Central Junior College President Charles V. Wright, and directed by Bruce Peterson, Speech and Theatre Instructor. ''A must with any play production is discipline and rehearsal attendance," Pet– erson stated. True to his word, Peterson has sched– uled rehearsals for each night or afternoon of the school week. Monday nights are pri– marily reserved for com– bining dancing and acting sequences. According to dancer Keith Gaines, a sophomore from Newton, "We all are having a good time and are excited about the forthcoming musical." In charge of the choreography for the musical is Ovid Vickers, English Instructor at ECJC. Tuesday nights are desig– nated for combining choral and acting sequences. Rob– ert Heritage, Voice Instruct– or and choral Director for the musical, ,.stated: "I think potentially this is the best chorus we'v~ had since I have been at East Central. The group certainly mani– fests a certain attitude and aptitude for the · music." Gary Rogers, a sophomore chorus member from Louis– ville added, "I think the

chorus rehearsals are going along quite well. Mr. Heritage certainly has a way of keeping the group to– gether vocally.'. Orchestra rehearsals are scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. According to James Dykes, .Director of Bands and Orchestra leader for the musical: "Musically the production is very chal– lenging, but I feel the orchestra is gaining by learn– ing a musical style new to this area." Orchestra mem– ber Sherry Winstead, a sophomore from Union, agreed · with Mr. Dykes. "Some of the music is very difficult, but we've been working very hard. I hope our performance will reflect our preparation. Rehearsing has been an enjoyable experience for me," she added. Wednesday afternoon is reserved for individual in– struction from Vickers, Heritage, Dykes and Peter– son. Thursday nights are for combining all the week's work in each area together. According to Peterson, "The cast, chorus and dancers are all doing a very good job. We are looking forward to our opening night." "Once Upon A Mattress" will be presented February 25-March 1 (Monday– Saturday) ,,beginning at 7:30 p.m. ead~ evening in the Fine Arts· Auditorium on East Central's Decatur cam– pus. Tickets are $3.00 each with all seats reserved; pay-

ment must be guaranteed. To reserve seats, contact East Central Junior College at 635-3246 between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

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