By Josh LaBella
Voice Reporter
While students from the high school prepare for the debut of Cinderella next week, another show is in the works, and this one is a bit different. Courtney Skeens, a senior at WHHS, was chosen as the director of the senior show.
Skeens said she is in process of getting the show together. Her jobs include writing and directing the play, casting it, and designing the costumes. Skeens said she has wanted to direct the senior show since she was a sophomore.
“It wasn’t until sophomore year where people started writing their own shows,” said Skeens. “My friend Tyler Newkirk – that was when he wrote it. It was his senior year. I was like ‘That is so cool.’”
At the end of last year, Skeens said she asked Margaret Maher, the director of the Theatre Workshop, if she could run this year’s show and got the OK.
While Skeens said she did not want to give much away about her show, she did say it was about a house party where everything isn’t as it seems.
“It’s about this one woman who is absolutely nuts,” said Skeens. “She wants to invite friends and family over for this party. But she really just tricks them into refurbishing her house. She’s also having an affair with one of her guests. So much stuff just spills out and it ends in chaos.”
The show will premiere on May 17 and Skeens said they will begin casting two weeks after Cinderella closes. She said her friend Mya Ginsberg is helping her write the script and they are having a fun time with it, especially coming up with jokes.
“I think I want my audience to take it lightly,” said Skeens. “It’s just about going to a show and having a laugh.”
According to Skeens, her favorite part of doing theater is making the costumes. Skeens said she has been sewing since she was 9 and while acting and writing are hobbies, costume design is her passion.
“I’ve been doing theater in school since fifth grade,” said Skeens. “I don’t think I really started getting into it [costume design] until eight grade. At Bailey, they brought in costumes from here [WHHS] to let us borrow and I just wanted to look at everything. I was just so drawn to it.”
Skeens said she plans on going to SUNY Purchase to study costume design. She said she wants to work in film after she graduates because she has a love for movies and travelling.