The Fairview musical this year, “Bright Star”, has sparked a lot of surprise within the Fairview theatre community. “Bright Star” is a compelling story about a young woman named Alice and the experiences that she had as a teenager.
Created by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell in 2014, “Bright Star” is set in North Carolina in 1945-46. “The story of ‘Bright Star’ follows the character Alice in her life, and it starts out with her as a teenager. And then we go throughout the show kind of back and forth events from that phase of her life, and then later in her life, in her 30s, and her looking back on those experiences and learning from them and finding a very special connection, that makes it a really beautiful circle story,” said Choir Teacher, Talise Chandler.
Director Wilson Hettinger chose this year’s musical based on his love for the story and modern writing. “When we were thinking about options, I wanted to do something a little bit contemporary, meaning set in the last 20-ish years, and ‘Bright Star’ is just a story I truly love. I think it’s very poignant for our time as well, specifically with how we talk about women’s rights and whether they are being met or not,” said Hettinger.
A lot of the students participating in the musical have mixed feelings about the musical being “Bright Star”. Sophia Young (10), who was cast as Alice, was unsure about ‘Bright Star’ at first. “I think it will be good, at first, I had some reservations,” said Young. “I think listening to the songs and seeing the people auditioning, that it’s going to be good”.
Logan Burkes (11), who was cast as Margo, is very excited that “Bright Star” was chosen for the musical. “I love ‘Bright Star’ a lot, it’s really interesting. It’s actually written by Steven Martin, who plays the banjo,” said Burkes, who was cast as Margo.
Many of the actors in this year’s musical did not know of “Bright Star” before it was chosen. Anna Clinton (10), who is in the ensemble, said, “I honestly didn’t know that ‘Bright Star’ was a musical until now. I haven’t even watched the movie or read the script or anything yet”.
Although the set is not yet complete, many of the design elements are well underway. “The set is looking like the structure of a barn with a nice porch, and there are a few different scenes, like a soda fountain and a bookstore,” said technical director Mia “Robi” Robichaud. “The train is going to happen mostly through lights and the sound of the band and the context of the characters on stage”.
While the set is still a work in progress, the list of characters is fully established. A lot of the students in the musical had strong opinions about certain characters on the set list. “I love young Alice, because I think she’s fun. She’s sassy, and I think that we have a lot of girls who will do an incredible job with her,” said Eloise Wilson (12), who was cast as Edna.
“My favorite character is Jimmy because he sings all of the best songs, and he’s just a nice fella,” said Uri Novac (11), who was cast as Daryl.
“My favorite character is probably the mayor, not for who he is, but what a complicated character he is,” said Malcolm Hunter (12), who was cast as the mayor. “I’m a sucker for a good complicated villain”.
A lot of the performers had a favorite aspect of musicals in general. “I really like to perform them because I feel like it’s a story, but you also get to make music, and both of those things make people happy,” said Charlotte Lumpkin (10), who is in the ensemble.
“I think being able to have fun on stage and just singing and dancing and just being myself, but masked as a character,” said ensemble member Lola Bird (9).
This year’s musical, “Bright Star”, made the cast uncertain at first, but after starting the musical process, they are ready to perform an amazing musical. Even though the theatre tech students aren’t performing in the musical, they are still making a very intricate and amazing set. The performers and theatre tech students are getting ready to put on a musical that will blow you away.
