Drama Club to present third production, ‘The Smell of the Kill’
May 8, 2009 Leave a comment
[Originally printed April 09, 2008 in The Newburyport Daily News]
AMESBURY — With the upcoming production of “The Smell of the Kill,” the high school Drama Club is breaking a school record while overcoming a lack of funding and support.
“The Smell of the Kill” is Drama Club’s third of four scheduled productions this year. Never before has the Amesbury High School Drama Club produced so many shows in one year.
Drama Club has only hired an outside director for its final production, “Godspell,” coming in April. This year’s other shows, “The Haunting of Hill House,” “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” and “The Smell of the Kill,” have all been student-directed.
“The leaders of the group are the most devoted and most passionate,” said president Kate Miller in explaining a major reason for this record-breaking activity.
Vice president Christopher Sheehan agreed.
“This is what we want to do with our lives,” he said.
Nearly all of the seniors in the club plan on continuing with theater in college. Most of them are pursuing drama or musical theater professionally. Sheehan, who is directing “The Smell of the Kill,” will major in musical theater.
He chose “The Smell of the Kill” for its humor. The play is a mature comedy written by Michele Lowe in 2002.
It is the story of three women, unhappy with their marriages, who must decide whether to release their husbands from the meat locker in which the men find themselves locked.
The cast includes Kate Miller as Debra; Bethany Kolenda as Nicky; and Megan Little as Molly. Julia McDonald, Little’s understudy, will play Molly on March 28.
“The Smell of the Kill” will run tomorrow, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Amesbury Middle School Performance Center.
In selecting “The Smell of the Kill,” Sheehan said he “knew the girls would really like it and do a good job with it.” Because the cast only has three female roles, Sheehan’s biggest challenge so far has been letting go of so many girls.
A major challenge faced by the group as a whole is that they “aren’t given funding due to budget cuts. This is the main reason (they) do so many plays,” explained treasurer Ben Hall.
Without school funding, Drama Club has to raise all of the money for sets, costumes and outside directors. By student-directing, they save money and are able to raise the necessary money independently.
“The biggest challenge is a lack of school and community support in terms of money and morale,” Miller said. She fears that the lack of support, which she finds very frustrating, may cause the program to suffer.
Miller added, “Because the school does not have a formal drama department (the students) don’t have a full-time director or teacher (they) can turn to.”
During the tech week of their last show, Drama Club adviser Fiore Leo resigned. Jean Brockmyre, a high school English teacher, filled the position.
Drama Club has also overcome the recurring problem at Amesbury High School of limited facilities. Without an auditorium, Drama Club uses classrooms for rehearsals and their final productions run in the middle school Performance Center.
Drama Club invites the community to attend “The Smell of the Kill” to witness their hard work and dedication firsthand. They thank their supporters in advance.
What: Drama Club production of the comedy “The Smell of the Kill”
Where: Middle School Performance Center
When: March 26, 28 and 29 at 7 p.m.
Fee: $7 admission
