The show’s director, Kelsey Wright, speaks to stage right lead crew member River Yatko about where to move a couch during a scene transition while cast members Julia Waltz (who plays Daisy Buchanan, on left) and Stella Marx (who plays Jordan Baker, on right) stand on their marks.
Glenn Battishill | The Gazette
Nick Carraway (played by Hayes High School senior Aito Tatman) monologues about Jay Gatsby (in back, played by junior Nicholas Hejmanowski) during a rehearsal for the Hayes Thespians’ upcoming performance of “The Great Gatsby.”
Glenn Battishill | The Gazette
As the end of the month approaches, the cast and crew of Hayes High School’s production of “The Great Gatsby” are hard at work to bring the show and characters to life when the curtains rise on Oct. 26 and 28.
The show is directed by English teacher and Hayes Thespians advisor Kelsey Wright and is an adaptation of the iconic novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The show opens on Oct. 26 at 7:30 p.m. and will be performed a second time at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 28.
Wright said she selected the show because it was on her “bucket list” of shows to produce while at Hayes.
“‘The Great Gatsby’ has always been at the top of that list, as it is one of my all-time favorite novels,” Wright said. “Because I teach sophomores, I don’t have the opportunity to teach the novel in class, so I thought that bringing it to life on the stage was the next best thing. This show is really fun because it gives students a chance to step out of their real lives and comfort zones and bring characters to life that they don’t interact with on a daily basis. Not only that, but this show allows our crew members to experiment with lighting, sound effects/music, and an extremely cool set.”
Wright said another positive of the show is that the setting allows Thespians to use costumes that were created for a previous show.
“I chose the show at this specific time because we’re in the middle of the new roaring ’20s, and it allowed us to use costumes and set pieces from our 2020 production of ‘Chicago’ that never got to see a live audience,” Wright said. “I wanted to wait long enough that no student involved in ‘Chicago’ would have to wear the costumes again or see the set pieces, as I know there was a lot of heartache over the experience of having the show cancelled, so I waited until the freshman class of 2020 graduated.”
Wright said learning their characters was a big focus for cast members.
“It has been fun to watch our students to step into roles of mafia-intertwined bootleggers, Charleston-dancing adults, and debaucherous cheating married couples, when in real life they are pretty wholesome teenagers who get their homework done and focus on respecting those around them,” Wright said.
Wright added she even encouraged members of the ensemble to create a character for themselves.
“We compared it to building a (‘Dungeons and Dragons’) character, and they took the task very seriously,” Wright said. “They have full backstories that show through in each scene they take part in, which has been a special part of this specific show.”
Wright said fans of the novel and two film adaptations will find similarities and differences with the stage adaptation.
“The plot remains fairly similar to the novel, so those who have read and loved F. Scott Fitzgerald’s text will get the nostalgia of reading the novel,” Wright said. “However, we have added our own flair with the green light, sounds of the ’20s, and unique interactions between ensemble members. Our set is not as wild as Baz Luhrmann’s film version, but we are proud of the work our stage crew has done, and we can’t wait to bring ‘The Great Gatsby’ to life in a few weeks!”
Junior Nicholas Hejmanowski plays the titular Jay Gatsby and said the role is “less pressure” than he thought.
“Gatsby isn’t even the main character of the story,” Hejmanowski said. “Nick has the majority of speaking in the show. Nick has these massive monologues but most of Jay’s stuff is conversation, so it’s a lot easier to keep track of. Even if you mess up a few lines, it still makes sense as long as the other person knows where the conversation is going.”
Hejmanowski said the story “pivots” on Gatsby, even though he doesn’t take much action in the story itself.
A veteran musical actor at Hayes, Hejmanowski said this was his first time acting in a play at the school.
This is the first year where band and the play have worked out where I can do both at the same time,” he said. “I like the opportunity to play Gatsby. He’s a fun character. It’s easy to take a glance at him and figure out a character to play from that … he can be as shallow or as deep as you want him to be.”
Julia Waltz, a senior, plays Daisy Buchanan, Gatsby’s love interest in the show. Waltz said she “really likes” the play and is enjoying the character focus of rehearsals.
“The rehearsal process has been fun,” Waltz said. “We dove a lot more into our characters. (We) did a book study of our characters, (so) we have more direction of where to (take our characters).”
Last week was the first time the cast rehearsed with microphones. Waltz said she felt like the show was becoming “more real.”
“I’m excited,” she said. “These people are fun. We all depend on each other.”
Senior Aito Tatman, who plays the story’s protagonist, Nick Carraway, said he was nervous about the lead role but excited the show is nearing its debut.
“The show has been very fun, but also a little bit stressful in certain ways. It’s really coming together, so the excitement is picking up a lot,” Tatman said.
Tatman, who was last seen in Hayes’ production of “SpongeBob: The Musical” as SpongeBob, said that while Nick is a very different character, the transition between the two modes wasn’t difficult.
“There’s a very big difference but also not that hard for me,” Tatman said. “SpongeBob is one part of my personality, Nick is another part. Nick is who I am as a baseline. SpongeBob has my sense of joy and humor. Nick is just like me, it’s very easy to get into character.”
Tatman said he’s enjoyed playing Nick and enjoyed the challenge of “finding his character within the monologues.”
“Nick means a lot to me as a character,” Tatman said. “I feel that’s really important to me, as an actor, that I’m very honored to be able to play this role. I feel like bringing him to the stage is very important to me. I love theater, and I love my character. Being able to play a character I relate so much to is really nice.”
Tickets are available at https://www.onthestage.tickets/delaware-hayes-thespians and are $9 for adults and $6 for seniors. The show’s runtime is two hours.
Glenn Battishill can be reached at 740-413-0903.
