Tuck Everlasting, MacTheatre’s fall-semester musical, has been nominated for 10 Heller Awards for Young Artists. The award ceremony will take place on April 16 at the Long Center and will include multiple performances from nominated schools including McCallum. While the cast and crew was elated at the number of nominations they received, they viewed them as a testament to the hard work they put into the show, their tight bond as a cast and their general love for their roles. 

The cast crowded around the TV screen one the evening on March 2 anxious to find out if they had received any nominations for the show. Sophomore Elora Clarke, who was nominated for the “Best Featured Performer,” was surprised when her name popped up on the screen. 

“I was expecting probably anyone’s name but mine,” Clarke said. “Our whole cast was so deserving, our whole ensemble was so beautiful and talented; I am very excited.”

Sophomore Delilah Grad earned a nomination in the “Best Female Lead” category for her portrayal of main character Winnie Foster. Grad tried to keep her expectations low before the nominations were announced but was pleasantly surprised by the results. 

“I was trying not to expect them,” Grad said. “I definitely wanted my expectations to be low to avoid any disappointment. I had no idea if I would be nominated or not but I secretly was pretty hopeful for the show itself.”

Like Clarke, senior Aydan Courtney from the ensemble was nominated for in the

“Best Featured Performer” category, which considers choreography.

According to choreographer Natalie Uehara, the show was a dream to choreograph. 

“I was able to create a very unique vocabulary of movement that matched the time period and style,” Uehara said. “Another wonderful thing was the ballet at the end of the show that really helped to complete the story through movement.”

Uehara also thought that the two student choreographers, seniors Zoe Maxwell and Zalie Mann, captured the essence of the show. Grad agrees that the choreography expresses the story powerfully and credited the team behind the production. 

“We had an amazing team of directors, performers, technicians and musicians that all had such a contribution to the quality of our show,” Grad. “This show was also so so special to everyone involved in it, and I think that the audience could tell that.”

While Clarke agrees that the cast was able to really connect to the show itself, she also said the musical itself just offered good material. Ultimately, she added, it was the theatre community at McCallum that fostered a positive environment in which the cast could thrive. 

“The material is pretty beautiful,” Clarke said. “Tuck was really the best example ever of this community and how beautifully, well everyone works together.”

Grad said that the tightness of that community enabled the cast to overcome some significant challenges during the production. One significant challenge came on the two performances where half the understudies played principal roles. The understudies performed well on both nights, but the shifting roles created holes in the ensemble.

“We had to totally rearrange the ensemble in two different ways from the original, which was a little bit complicated,” Grad said. “[Also,] due to some scheduling issues, we had to switch back and forth between performing with the orchestra and with tracks, so that was a little confusing from time to time.”

While there were some challenges when it came to the music as well, Clarke said the ensemble worked hard to make sure the production was beautiful. Additionally, Clarke believes that some worthy cast members deserved Heller nominations, among them sophomore Fiona Kirsch, who played the lead, Mae Tuck.

“Our ensemble was really beautiful, and we all worked really hard, and I think we were deserving of a Best Ensemble nomination,” Clarke said. “We [also] deserve the best production nomination, and I also think there are some other individuals, like Fiona [Kirsch], who maybe should have gotten nominated just because of how beautiful their work was, but it’s not in my hands.”

Overall, Grad and Clarke both feel like the show was beautifully performed with plenty of love and care from the cast. Grad will keep the experience close to her for a very long time. 

“This show and this role are so unbelievably special to me, and it was truly an experience that I will never get over,” Grad said. “I do think that my love for what I was doing showed in my performance and that the audience felt it as well.”

Uehara believes that the cast and crew were very special for this show, and that they created an unforgettable bond with one another. Clarke and Grad are both very thankful for the original opportunity of getting to perform back in September and also the chance to perform part of it again during the opening ceremony of the award show. 

“I love everyone who worked on Tuck in any capacity, so much, and I think that we put together such a beautiful thing,” Clarke said. “No matter what happens at the HAYAS, I think that we should all be proud of the work and the fact that we got to share it with everyone.”