Behind the scenes

Published 10:17 am Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Katherine Clarke-Johnson, 16, has spent every waking minute of the last few weeks pulling together costumes for her school’s musical “The Spitfire Grill.”

She choreographed the actors’ changes of clothes – there are several – and factored in the seasons of the year in rural Wisconsin. She’s raided the school’s drama closet, driven out to Goodwill and fixed ripped boots.

At the Edmonds Homeschool Resource Center, where about one-fourth of the school takes drama, students do almost everything, from lighting and stage design to costumes and even directing. The budget for shows is probably one-fifth that of other schools, said drama teacher Shileah Corey, which gives students more chances to participate and be creative.

“We do everything ourselves,” she said.

The center is a kindergarten through 12th grade alternative school in the Edmonds School District. Parents teach students on campus and students can do group activities like drama.

Despite the lack of ready cash, its drama program has won awards for years.

At rehearsal two days before opening night, Clarke-Johnson was fussing with the beard and wig on “The Stranger,” a homeless character who appears part-way through the show.

To save money, the hair pieces came from a costume store, and their volume and stiffness threatened to overpower the face of student John Orrell. Before rehearsal, Clarke-Johnson ratted them with a comb and did some trimming while Orrell’s eyes looked out impassively from behind the effusion.

Other students worked long hours on lighting, sound and other elements of the musical.

Kenn Grambihler, a ninth-grader at the school, spent 30 hours a week in the weeks before opening night to get the lighting just right.

“The Spitfire Grill” takes place in a small-town diner, with some scenes set outside, but is so realistic that colored lights just don’t work, Grambihler said.

“There’s no room for error,” he said. “Everything is so subtle.”

Student Isaiah Corey has been dividing his time between assistant directing and playing the role of Joe the parole officer in the show.

He calls the last week of rehearsal hell week: five hour rehearsals weekdays and up to 12 hour rehearsals on the weekends.

“Theater consumes my life,” he said. “And I love it.”

The school’s drama program is unique in other ways. There’s a drama class for every level: kindergarten through third grade, third through eighth grade and sixth to 12th grade.

Of roughly 425 students at the school, about 150 are in drama classes. The school puts on eight musicals a year.

Several current and former students perform at venues like Fifth Avenue Theater in Seattle, Village Theater in Issaquah and Seattle Musical Theater.

The school’s productions have been honored each year for the last three years at the annual 5th Avenue High School Musical Theatre Awards.

The school’s next show is “The Wiz,” running May 7-10. About 40 students will participate.