Student from St. Mary will be performing Jesus Christ Superstar at the Rawlinson Centre starting Wednesday evening. (Michael Joel-Hansen/paNOW Staff)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

Local Musical

Students set to take stage

May 8, 2019 | 9:00 AM

Students from École St. Mary High School are ready to debut their latest production.

Starting Wednesday evening and running until Saturday the all-student cast, musical ensemble and production crew will be putting on Jesus Christ Superstar. The musical is a rock opera and tells a story about the last week of Jesus’ life as told from Judas’ point of view.

Overseeing the production is Jason Van Otterloo, the drama teacher at St. Mary and the director of the production. Van Otterloo said the show has lots that makes it unique including the rock music and dance numbers and how the story is told.

“It’s one of these musicals where nothing is spoken, every line is sung through,” he said.

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Van Otterloo said students chose to put on this musical due to a number of factors, one being that there are enough students with the talent to pull it off.

“Perfect storm, as a drama teacher over at St. Mary I am very blessed right now where we have an equal amount of talent in our guys as our girls and that’s kind of a rarity in high schools,” he said.

The drama teacher said it is also nice being a Catholic school that they were able to pick this show, but that the theme was not the driving force.

“For me it was about having the right kids for the right show,” he said.

The effort is a big one and involves just over 60 students, who besides starring in the production are also working on the crew and performing in the pit band.

Emily Dyck, who will portray Mary Magdalene said the musical has lots to offer people.

“I like it because it just shares the story of Jesus and you know, it’s something that even non-believers can appreciate and enjoy just because of the music and the story,” she said.

Dyck said she likes her role in the musical because Magdalene gives relief to the tension going on. She said people who come to see the performance will find much to like about it.

“The live music, that’s something I always really enjoy. It’s really good and also just the emotion,” she said.

Sean Overby, who will be playing the role of Simon the Zealot, agreed with Dyck about how the live pit band provides a unique experience. Overby said the story the musical tells is something he appreciates.

“We all know the story of how Jesus [was] born, but then it gets mixed up and mangled of how he actually lived his last week,” he said.

Looking forward to curtain Wednesday night, Overby feels things are going well, but there are still some nerves.

“It’s a little nerve-wracking the last day before curtain opens, so we’ll see how it goes,” he said.

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MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn