For the past few months, students across the county have been practicing for the Floyd County Musical. On February 27th, the curtains opened for the first night of Grease: The Musical! Abbie Carson, Bethany Cranford, and Patricia (Trai) Main are students from AHS who participated in the show. Abbie played the female lead, Sandy Olsson, Trai was Eugene Felnic, and Bethany contributed through the ensemble.
This year, Abbie Carson decided to try something new and auditioned to be in Floyd County’s Grease: The Musical. When she found out, she was dumbfounded. She didn’t expect to get a role, and definitely not the lead role: Sandy Olsson. She said, “I was shocked! I didn’t even know I could sing that well!” Abbie also said, “I’ve always been kind of a musical theater nerd”, and she finally got to exercise her passion for it. Abbie also got to exercise her passion for Grease. Grease has always been very important to her throughout her whole life. Even as a little girl, Abbie watched Grease many times, and it has stuck with her everyday since her childhood. Even now while she is in high school, Grease and its characters have molded Abbie into who she is today, especially Sandy Olsson. Sandy has been a pivotal figure in Abbie’s life these past few months. She has learned from Sandy, and has even shared a connection with her: She said, “Sandy is the new girl at Rydell High, and I’m kind of the new girl in musical theater.” Even though Grease doesn’t have the best moral message, Abbie still learned how to grow and “how to step out of her comfort zone” just like Sandy. Abbie has enjoyed letting Sandy come alive and she has learned how to portray her character specifically by “feeding into the motifs of what’s really happening.” Abbie truly enjoyed her involvement in the Floyd County Musical this year, and she was able to learn and make so many new friends. She especially enjoyed the performances, where she was able to deliver her favorite line: “tell me about it, stud.”
Bethany Cranford, however, has been in musical theater for many years now and contributed to many different stages around Rome. She has acted in different Floyd County events, Armuchee events, and even in the Rome Little Theatre. This year, Bethany was inspired by the musical and faced some new obstacles as well as experiences. Bethany also had an opportunity to make some new friends. Bethany met Caedmon Burnett because of her participation in Grease: The Musical. She said “I can confidently say that we’re going to keep in touch after [the] production.” As well as new friends, Bethany was faced with many new challenges as well. Bethany is an alto singer, but, unfortunately for her, Grease: The Musical has higher notes and requires a higher range than Bethany’s. Therefore, Bethany has learned to stretch her range further and it has become easier for her to reach those high notes. Additionally, balancing the musical with everything else Bethany does has been a challenge for her. She is involved in many activities and hard classes including, two advanced placement classes, one dual enrollment class, and she is also the girls soloist on the Literary Team.
Similarly, Trai Main is a very experienced actress who has performed in many musicals, plays, and dramas. Trai is also involved in winterguard, so she has been working hard to keep her performance well in both activities. Trai has learned a lot from her experience in the Floyd County Musical this year. She said, “I’ve learned [how] to work with people from other schools,” and “[how] to work in environments I’m not exactly used to.” Since the Floyd County Musical includes students from all of the four county schools, it can be challenging for each student to find where they fit in and put their differences aside to work together on the musical. These challenges have taught Trai a lot about true friendships, collaboration, and the real world environment of musical theater. Trai enjoys each part of the musical, but her favorite song is “Greased Lightnin’”. She said, “My favorite song has to be the infamous “Greased Lightnin’” Everybody loves “Greased Lightnin’.”
On the other end of the musical theater stick, there are the audience members. Fallyn Himkamper and Sarah Buckenham are two students who went to see the musical. Fallyn Himkamper went to see the performance on Saturday night, while Sarah Buckenham watched the show at the matinee on Sunday. Both said that their favorite part was at the end when Sandy became a “greaser girl”. Fallyn said, “My favorite part was when Sandy got yassified at the end.” However, when talking about favorite characters, the girls had different opinions. Sarah really liked Betty Rizzo, while Fallyn preferred Sandy. They also disagreed about their favorite song. “Hopelessly Devoted to You” spoke out to Fallyn, while Sarah had fun listening to “We Go Together”. They both agreed that the actors did a great job portraying their characters, however, Sarah didn’t know everything about the characters and their personalities. She said, “I do believe that each person portrayed their character well, but I’ve never seen the movie, so I’m going to assume they did.” Both Sarah and Fallyn savored the performance, and they enjoyed it immensely.
Each of our actresses and audience members from Armuchee have come from different paths, but they all came together in this year’s Floyd County Musical. Abbie is new to musical theater, but yet, so excited to be involved in such a wonderful environment and activity. While Trai and Bethany are more experienced in the musical theater world, Abbie has made a name for herself through her talents, just like Trai and Bethany. Sarah and Fallyn enjoyed the musical, and praised each of the actors for their performances. All three actresses made their way to the stage and took on Grease: The Musical, as the audience watched in awe.
Congratulations to AHS senior Abbie Carson, who plays the lead in Grease, sponsored by the Floyd County Schools Fine Arts Department. The performance takes place February 27th-March 2nd at Model High School. Congratulations to Senior Tray Main and Junior Bethany Cranford who perform in the Ensemble cast. The musical features vocals, dancing, and dialogue.
