Rewind and Lackluster dazzled the crowd with their charm, humor, and nostalgic music numbers- featuring the up-and-coming actors from Glenbard West Theatre.
The first of the two student-run plays, Rewind, shared the story of four lovable protagonists down on their luck: Kenna (Chase Qualito), Natalie (Grace Cernich), Lana (Maggie Sampson), and Isabelle (Josie Ehrhart).
Katie Wrath (Sr.) did an excellent job creating a foundation of the play through her writing. Bella Dicosola (Jr.) brought the show together as the Director and Kalee Shah (Sr.) personified the world of this script as Stage Manager.
While Natalie is a nurse who just lost a patient, Lana is a lawyer whose client was given a life sentence for murder, and Isabelle was a high school chemistry teacher that blew up her school, Kenna obviously had the worst luck as a struggling artist that could not pay rent. After the mysterious barista at their local coffee shop, who is secretly a time traveler named Tony (Daniel Smith), invites them for a meeting inside an eerie apartment to “rewind,” the group, particularly struggling Kenna, is faced with serious decisions about how to fix their rotten hand. However, turning back the clock has some serious consequences, which Kenna faces through her heartfelt voyage across time, spanning from the Renaissance Movement to her first pottery class.
While this voyage moved along rather quickly, the set pieces of this show did not (as a result of a lack of wheels on furniture), which greatly extended the timing of production and interrupted the story’s flow with a crash. That would have been a great thing to Rewind! But, the stage crew, which was headed by Teba Demarco (Student Tech Director), Wesley Zagortz (Lights), and Amarachi Nze (Sound), managed to persevere through countless challenges. Ultimately, in spite of any disturbances, whatever alternate universe they are in, Natalie, Isabelle, and Lana, deliver hilarious one-liners and prove that friendship can pull through any situation.
In the end, the plot finished on a sweet note, as the characters learn that it is important to look out for your friends interests, and that in the end, everything in life will eventually work out.
The second Black Box play, rather jukebox musical, by Jackie Houghtaling (Sr.) and Abbie Herbold (Sr.), was anything but Lackluster. From start to finish, scenes were woven together by Director, Madi Storm, and Stage Manager, Maggie Frigo, who both made every second of this display magical.
Featuring the dreary corporate businessman, Lack (Elijah Zimmerman), alongside his optimistic counterpart Luster (Paige Brondyke), the show was wonderfully fast-paced and peppy. Similar to the last play, our main female lead is a struggling artist… which seems to be a prevailing theme with our writers at GBW Theatre.
After a case of mistaken identities and confused contracts, Lack needed to partner with Luster and create a mural. Now, that may not sound bad, but he also had the task of convincing his boss, Chase (Gio Scarpelli), that Luster is a member of Sports Illustrated to appease his company, or rather work “family”. During this journey, we witness iconic moments, such as the paint scene, moments between Luster, Debby (Gabby Knapp), and Ray (Griffith Albrecht), and that one time Chase and Waldo (Madeline Strawn) couldn’t help but Falling in Love. With additional quips from the snarky barista/radio announcer (Maddie Allen), the show kept every audience member on their toes and excited for more.
Vocally, the cast belted classic, familiar, and copyrighted tunes, such as the opener: 9 to 5. This was no small feat, considering the sheer amount of songs.
While the season for Black Box performances is over, anyone interested in supporting Glenbard West Theatre can catch The Play that Goes Wrong from February 1st through 3rd.
