![In room 4101, Natalie Patterson ‘26, Ariana Magor ‘25 and Celina Salazar ‘25 create a poster in science teacher Kerry Reilly’s Chemistry Honors April 18. The three completed a worksheet and drawing to explain the implosion of a tank for their unit on gas laws. “At the start of class, we watched a video of the tank imploding,” Patterson said. “I think [making a drawing] is something new. I like more artsy activities.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_5019-1200x900.jpeg)
![The girls varsity soccer team walk back to their bench during halftime April 1. The Jags played against the Castle View Sabercats at the Douglas County Stadium and scored 3-0 W. “It felt really good [to beat Castle View]. I feel like that was a big win for us because knowing that we came together to beat a pretty good team has definitely given us some leverage for this season,” attacking midfielder Grace Rossner ‘24 said.](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DSC_4906-1-1200x1057.jpg)
![English teacher Colleen Lamb grades College Prep English assignments during period two Nov. 10. Lamb, who has been teaching for 27 years, decorates her classroom with posters and handmade college flags from her senior students. Everything I enjoy about English happens primarily in the classroom, Lamb said. So, thankfully, the college [I worked at] had a teaching program, and I was able to do my post-grad work for free while I was working [there].”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_1158-1200x900.jpeg)
![At Prairie View High School, the winterguard team poses with their plaque after winning first place at their competition Feb. 24. This was the second time they won first place this year, this time with a score of 74.190 points. “I [love being] a witch, but my favorite [part of the show] is the trios, it’s so cool,” Heather Strickland ‘27 said.](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/PRARIE-VIEW-BY-MARGO-SANFORD-e1709531739910-1200x910.jpg)
A Production in Quotes, “9-5: The Musical”
Inside the production of the musical “9 to 5.”
April 2, 2023
The auditorium silences as the stage lights click on and the curtains rise. The audience lights up with excitement as the pit orchestra begins to play. The students on stage begin to act and sing.
Here’s what those involved in the musical “9 to 5,” which showed March 29 to April 1 and was the first musical to sell out all seats for two nights, have to say about it.
Addi Martin ‘25:
Q: What is your role in the production?
A: I’m in the ensemble.
Q: How long have you been performing?
A: I have been performing for about a decade.
Q: How many hours a week do you work on the show at home?
A: One to two hours a week.
Q: How many hours a week do you work on the show at school?
A: 13 hours a week.
Q: Have you spent any money on this show? If so, what for?
A: Probably like $50 on a costume and the shirt.
Q: What are you most looking forward to?
A: I am looking forward to performing and seeing the outcome of everything we’ve put together.
Q: What are you going to miss most?
A: I’m going to miss my classmates the most.
Q: Have you had a role like this before, so what’s different, if not what’s different?
A: I have had a role like this before. Last year, I was in the musical “Matilda” and had an ensemble part.
Lola Claggett ‘25:
Q: What is your role in the play?
A: I am Margaret Palmer and I’m the understudy for Roz.
Q: How long have you been performing?
A: For about seven years. I did my first play in 2014, I was in “101 Dalmations.”
Q: How much time do you think you’ve spent on the show at home?
A: I would say about at least four and a half hours goes into “9 to 5” outside of school.
Q: What are you most looking forward to?
A: I just love performing and getting to share what we’ve been working on for so long and hard on for an audience.
Q: What are you going to miss most?
A: Well, I don’t know what to do with my life after the shows ends because I’ve dedicated so much time and hours to it that, once it’s over, I just don’t know what to do with my free time.
Q: Have you had a role like this before?
A: I played an alcoholic last year in the musical “Matilda,” I was a chicken. But, this is definitely one of the hardest roles I’ve played because it’s definitely more challenging, I’m not an alcoholic.
Q: What is the craziest, funniest, or most interesting story you have from any show you’ve done?
A: When I was in third or fourth grade, somebody was trapped in the school where we were performing, and then they died. So then the ambulance and people were coming during the middle of our show.
Kate Benevento ‘26:
Q: What is your role in the production?
A: I’m in the ensemble, and also the understudy for Doralee.
Q: How long have you been performing?
A: I have been performing since I was in first grade.
Q: How many hours a week do you work on the show at home?
A: At least a couple hours a week, maybe like four or five.
Q: How many hours a week do you work on the show at school?
A: We have rehearsal every day after school for about three hours, so I probably spend about 15 hours working on the show at school.
Q: Have you spent any money on this show? If so, what for?
A: I just bought the t-shirt, but everything else, like a costume and makeup, was either provided or I brought it in.
Q: What are you most looking forward to?
A: I’m looking forward to being able to hang out with and perform with some of my favorite people.
Q: What are you going to miss most?
A: I’m going to miss all the seniors when they leave.
Q: Have you had a role like this before? If so, what’s different, if not, what’s different?
A: I’ve been in an ensemble before. Not much is different, I just have to change how I act according to the role. But, I’ve never had this big of an understudy role before, I’m very excited.
Q: What is the craziest, funniest, or most interesting story you have from any show you’ve done?
A: One time, during the first act of a show, my mic died in the middle of the first scene. So I got another mic over my wig. Then that one also died. So I have to use a handheld mic for the rest of the show.
Kayla Mumpy ‘23:
Q: What is your role for this production?
A: I’m the stage manager for the play, so I watch over the actors and the tech part of the musical and make both work together.
Q: How long have you been preparing for this?
A: Since the beginning of the semester.
Q: What is the most stressful part?
A: Probably opening night and making sure that everything works together, especially now with an audience.
Q: What is your favorite part?
A: Closing night, and strike, which is when we take down the set and we all go to dinner together. It’s just really fun to bond with everyone.
Q: Do you have a crazy or funny story from the show?
A: I was in charge of hanging Braden from the catwalks with the furnace. That was a funny experience to figure out how that works and see the ways that we had to get him up there. Sometimes he would just be hanging and spinning in circles, waiting for me to help get him down.
Tyler Chu ‘25:
Q: What is your part in this show?
A: I am the assistant light head.
Q: How long have you been preparing for this?
A: I haven’t really been preparing, so much as teaching frequently, to the point of 40-ish hours put into construction to help build and finalize our set.
Q: What is your favorite part?
A: My favorite part is the people I’m finding along the way. Oddly enough, when it seems like you aren’t going to find anyone or if you’re alone, there are so many amazing and fantastic people right in front of you. Theater is just another way to connect with other people, and it has absolutely been integral to my experience this year.
Q: What are you going to miss the most?
A: I’m probably gonna miss the seniors the most, since yes, we do lose quite a lot of talents and skills, though we have many new people on the way, but we also lose close friends. And the friendships have to now last over distances, though I hope they’ll stay strong.
Q: Do you have a crazy or funny story from this show?
A: The funniest story I have so far is probably with the stained glass, which Will Drobish ’23 imagined and created, but ended up causing everyone at construction to lose their minds. Whether it was from the painting or the gluing or even the design itself, those nightmares would literally crack or someone would accidentally touch it and at that sound, every single person knew what happened. And that we would inevitably have to fix it.
Brooke Schenderlein ‘25:
Q: What is your part in the show?
A: I’m costume head.
Q: How long have you been preparing for this?
A: Four or five months.
Q: What is the most stressful part?
A: The quick changes. We have about 20 quick changes, which is one of the most in any show we’ve ever put on.
Q: What is your favorite part of the show?
A: Probably the scene for the song “One of the Boys.” I have to run onstage for a quick change, which is both exciting and terrifying.
Q: What are you going to miss most after it’s over?
A: All the seniors, because we have a really, really big senior class and I love them all with my whole heart. I am going to miss working with them and making memories with them.
Q: What’s your craziest or funniest story from any production?
A: Honestly, it might be yesterday, when one of the crew almost pantsed one of the leads.
Anna Benevento ‘23:
Q: What’s your role in the play?
A: I play Judy Bernly.
Q: How long have you been performing?
A: In high school, since freshman year, but I’ve been doing theater stuff just around for probably as long as I can remember. I think the first thing I did was a production of “Rapunzel.”
Q: How much time do you think you spent at home?
A: Oh my god, at home maybe 10 or 15 hours a week.
Q: How long have you been working on the show at school?
A: Maybe 20 hours a week, because we have rehearsals and then I’m also in a drama class that does stuff for the musical.
Q: What are you most looking forward to?
A: I’m most looking forward to people seeing what we worked so hard to put together, but also to do a senior musical with my friends because this is something we’ve been looking forward to since we were freshmen.
Q: What are you going to miss most?
A: I am going to miss getting to see these people every day and getting to work with them, and having such a supportive environment to come to after school every day.
Q: Have you had a role like this before? If not, what’s been different?
A: I played the lead last year in “Matilda,” which was fun. This one was a little bit different and more challenging because it was something I hadn’t experienced because she’s much older, then Matilda was two years old. This one was different because I’ve had to find and learn different acting strategies that work to play much older characters. But I also think I’ve had more fun with this because I’ve got to work with my friends more.
Q: What’s the craziest story you have from any production?
A: Oh, someone fell off the stage into the pit last year, mid-play, so that was pretty shocking and memorable.
Braden McCollam ‘23:
Q: What is your role in the production?
A: I play Hart.
Q: How long have you been performing?
A: I started acting in third grade. My first show was “Beauty and the Beast” and I was the Beast.
Q: How much time have you spent working on the show at home?
A: Not that much, we do a really good job of staying focused during rehearsals.
Q: How long have you been working on the show at school?
A: We started working on the show, I believe the first week [of semester two]. We normally start out with local rehearsals and then we get into more acting rehearsals in the middle of February.
Q: What are you most looking forward to?
A: This is my last show at Rock Canyon, so I think there’s just something special. I’m just excited to get to spend it with the people I’ve built relationships with these past four years and I’m just gonna all work together and see the show come together.
Q: What are you going to miss most?
A: Probably just this community. We’re really close family here and we always are. But this show was definitely something special and so I think I’m just gonna miss the laughter and the pure enjoyment that comes with rehearsal and doing the show and everything.
Q: Have you had a role like this before? If so, what’s different, if not what’s different?
A: This role is definitely a lot different than ones I’ve had before because it’s really mean and Hart’s a really bad person. It’s definitely a new challenge but it’s something I really enjoyed to try and tackle.
Q: What is the craziest, funniest, or most interesting story you have from any show you’ve done?
A: I’ve had some crazy costume things go on. Last year when I was in “Matilda,” I wore tearaway pants, and then my sophomore year, I had a bald cap because I had two mohawks in the same show.
Theater teacher Cindy Baker:
Q: What do you do at Rock Canyon?
A: I’m the theater teacher and I’m the director of “9 to 5.”
Q: How much time has been spent on this production?
A: It’s been 10 hours a week since we got back from winter break. But then, preparation time on top of that, I would say that was an additional 10 to 20 hours.
Q: How much money has gone into the show?
A: At least $12,000.
Q: What was the process of figuring out the show for this year?
A: Well, we always discuss possibilities in the summer after school is out and we have time to sit down and really spread the music out and look at scripts. Then, we consider the range of voices that we have that year and try to tailor the musical to the voices that we have.
Q: How long does it take to build all the sets?
A: We started those the same time we started rehearsing, and we still have small things to complete.
Q: What has been your favorite memory from this production so far?
A: I like how everything is so colorful and upbeat and it’s got a totally different message than any of the other musicals that we’ve done. Plus, it’s a comedy so it’s a lot of fun.
Q: What are your emotions about the seniors that are leaving this year?
A: So sad, they’re all so wonderful. They’ve gone through a lot in the four years they’ve been here, since freshman year, when we did [“The Hunchback of Notre Dame”]. Then, right after, it was [the pandemic], and these are the [students] that stuck around and did the musical in masks. Then “Matilda” last year, and then all the way through to being the leads in this show. It’s been great.
Emily Johnson ‘23:
Q: What is your role in the production?
A: I play Doralee Rhodes.
Q: How long have you been performing?
A: I have been performing since about third grade, but I didn’t start doing theater until freshman year.
Q: How long have you been working on this show at home?
A: I’d say in total about 30 to 35 hours since we started rehearsing.
Q: How long have you been working on this show at school?
A: We’ve been working on the musical for about three months and have had three-hour rehearsals every day after school since January.
Q: What are you most looking forward to or favorite part?
A: I think my favorite part of this show has just been getting to perform with a lot of amazing people and I really love getting to see our hard work pay off.
Q: What are you going to miss?
A: I’m going to miss getting to go on stage and performing in front of an audience.
Q: Have you had a role like this before? If so, what’s different? If not, what’s different?
A: I haven’t had a role like this before. I think what makes it so different is that I’ve been playing a person that is so well-known, and I really wanted to be able to do justice to Dolly Parton.
Q: What is your craziest or funniest story from theater?
A: My funniest theater story would have to be that I’ve fallen on stage about nine times in the span of four shows.
![The girls varsity soccer team walk back to their bench during halftime April 1. The Jags played against the Castle View Sabercats at the Douglas County Stadium and scored 3-0 W. “It felt really good [to beat Castle View]. I feel like that was a big win for us because knowing that we came together to beat a pretty good team has definitely given us some leverage for this season,” attacking midfielder Grace Rossner ‘24 said.](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DSC_4906-1-600x529.jpg)
![Grabbing at the exercise bands, Jonas Thelander ‘24 pulls Emmet Dunham ‘25 back from grabbing dodgeballs during Hungry Hippos Jan. 19. Before the game began, participants were tied together with the bands and had to take their shoes off. “I enjoyed being apart [the game]. I didn’t really know the rules, so I was just trying to grab as many as I could,” Thelander said.](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/DSC_0698-1-1-600x415.jpg)
![Shooting guard Mac Terry 24 runs alongside a Falcon guarding him near the end of the fourth quarter Jan. 13. With three minutes and 45 seconds left on the clock, the teams were tied 57-57. [The hardest part was that] they’re full-court press team. Theyre just putting on pressure the whole time, so getting the ball off the court and just finding my open teammates [was hard], Terry said.](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/DSC_0376-1-1-600x452.jpg)
![Principal Andrew Abner, the varsity poms team and Athletics Director Tom Brieske smile with the State trophy and poster after being announced as State Champions Dec. 9. This was the team’s sixth state championship win in school history. “When they announced us [as] the winners, we were all so excited and relieved that our work had paid off. Our next step is Nationals,” varsity poms dancer Harper Rank ‘25 said.](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Team-w_-Abner-and-Brieske-1-e1703101639674-600x472.jpeg)