Gallery • 10 Photos

Katie Martin

PAGE TO STAGE: Junior Elora Clarke performs as Princess Seraphima during the McCallum Theatre’s fall production of “Between the Lines.” Clarke said that although the show faced challenges, the hard work of the cast and crew ultimately allowed everything to come together. “I was a little nervous about it in the beginning,” Clarke said. “Everyone was super great and super talented. I think we pulled a great show together, despite the obstacles.” According to Clarke, the energy from the audience helped the cast bond throughout the show’s run. “The audience was surprisingly responsive to a lot of it,” Clarke said. “I think the whole cast got pretty close by the end of the second weekend of shows.” Clarke said that a personal favorite was the song ‘Out of Character,’ the show’s tap number featuring an ensemble of dancing dogs. “‘Out of Character’ was definitely a favorite,” Clarke said. “The dancers were all so talented and wonderful, getting to watch them was great.” Clarke’s favorite “Between the Lines” memory was watching junior Samantha Panzer, understudy for the role of Princess Seraphima, during her alternate performance. “Samantha did an amazing job on her alternate night,” Clarke said. “I really enjoyed getting to watch her shine.” Caption by Katie Martin.

Over the past two weekends, McCallum thespians transported their audience to a fairytale world with their performance of “Between the Lines.” Theater and tech theater majors have been preparing since the beginning of the school year to produce this musical, which follows the life of high school outcast Delilah, who falls into the world of her favorite storybook. Delilah soon falls in love with Prince Oliver, but will she get to live out her fairytale ending or be forced to return to the real world? Read on to see how McCallum students answered this question in their production of “Between the Lines.” 

We are proud to present MacTheatre’s production of “Between the Lines” as this week’s Thursday Top 10. 

PAGE TO STAGE: Junior Elora Clarke performs as Princess Seraphima during MacTheatre’s fall production of “Between the Lines.” Clarke said that although the show faced challenges, the hard work of the cast and crew ultimately allowed everything to come together.

“I was a little nervous about it in the beginning,” Clarke said. “Everyone was super great and super talented. I think we pulled a great show together, despite the obstacles.”
According to Clarke, the energy from the audience helped the cast bond throughout the show’s run.

“The audience was surprisingly responsive to a lot of it,” Clarke said. “I think the whole cast got pretty close by the end of the second weekend of shows.”

Clarke said that a personal favorite was the song ‘Out of Character,’ the show’s tap number featuring an ensemble of dancing dogs.

“‘Out of Character’ was definitely a favorite,” Clarke said. “The dancers were all so talented and wonderful, getting to watch them was great.”

Clarke’s favorite “Between the Lines” memory was watching junior Samantha Panzer, understudy for the role of Princess Seraphima, during her alternate performance.

“Samantha did an amazing job on her alternate night,” Clarke said. “I really enjoyed getting to watch her shine.”

Caption and photo by Katie Martin.

JONES TAKES THE LEAD: Junior Paityn Jones sings alongside co-star Pablo Arteaga in ‘Something to Hold Onto’ during act two of MacTheater’s production of “Between the Lines.” Jones was cast in the lead role of Delilah in early May when auditions for the play were held, and began rehearsing in August.

“This is the longest process I’ve had since I’ve been doing theatre here,” Jones said. “It was so useful not only towards making our show better but for building a stronger connection with our cast.”

The unusually long rehearsal process posed some challenges to cast members, but it was nothing to complain about, according to Jones.

“It was hard because people had less free days and rehearsals began overlapping with events that typically are after we’ve already performed,” Jones said. “However, none of us felt the need to complain because we all equally enjoy being at rehearsals, and we do it because it makes us happy.”

Receiving the lead role came as a surprise to Jones, but she made the most of it and worked for months to prepare for the show.

“This role has definitely been the most challenging role I’ve had in many ways,” Jones said. “I was not at all expecting to play Delilah, so when I got the opportunity, I spent all summer working on it.”

Learning to play a character that was so different from herself in real life was difficult for Jones, as were some of the songs.

“[Delilah’s] character is so different from me in real life, so I had to really do my homework on her,” Jones said. “Not only was it hard to act the part, but also to sing it, there were notes in her songs that I had never hit before and didn’t believe in myself to do, but I got to work with all of the wonderful directors on how to reach those hard notes.”

Even with the long rehearsals and difficult songs, Jones is proud of all the work put in by herself and the entire cast to create this year’s showing of “Between the Lines”.

“I am so proud of us for putting our hearts and souls into this performance because we truly gave it our all,” Jones said. “Everyone truly deserves their flowers for how talented and special they are.”

Caption by Daniela Di-Capua. Photo by Katie Martin.

SWIMMING THROUGH SONG: Sitting on the stage, flipping their tails, sophomore Lexie Yanklelov, Eberly Cook and Alina Curtin perform in MacTheatre’s production of “Between the Lines.” The show ran from Nov. 6-9 and Nov 13-16. Cook, who played a mermaid named Odine, said she liked performing her solo in the middle of the mermaids’ trio, along with the other small parts of her role.

“I loved singing my riff, and being on the scooters was pretty fun,” Cook said.

“Between the Lines” was Cook’s second musical, as she had also played a role in “Freaky Friday,” although Cook stated that she enjoyed “Between the Lines” more.

“I felt like I was in a better community, since it was a smaller cast and it was a lot more welcoming,” Cook said, “I also understood what I was doing a little bit more.”

While Cook loves performing, she sometimes gets in her own way. However, she has overcome this by telling herself little things before she performs to encourage herself.

“I tell myself I’ve nailed it in the past and that the crowd cheered for me before, so I shouldn’t be nervous again,” Cook said.

All together, she realizes that her favorite part of being a part of the musical is hanging out and talking with her fellow cast members.

“It was fun to make new friends and get new experiences,” Cook said.

Caption by Vera Petrowsky. Photo by Katie Martin.

BELTING FOR BETWEEN THE LINES: Junior Hallie Cooper, who plays Ms. Winx in MacTheatre’s production of “Between the Lines,” sings ‘Mr. Darcy and Me’ opening night of the musical.

“I felt waves of nervousness, but also of accomplishment and excitement,” Cooper said.
Cooper believes it was her acting that brought this character to life.

“Being able to embody this ditzy and kooky librarian made the song a lot more enjoyable for me and hopefully the audience, too,” Cooper said.

When Cooper first started theatre, she only played in acting roles. Since then, she has played roles with small singing bits; now, Between the Lines gave her the opportunity to sing two songs that she believes showcased her abilities.

“I’m really grateful that my directors offered me this opportunity and responsibility,” Cooper said.

During this song, Cooper had to run backstage and back while continuing to sing as part of the choreography, which took her many tries.

“I couldn’t have done it without the help of my understudy, Maggie Brown, and the help of the technical crew,” Cooper said.

Caption by Josie Linton. Photo by Harper Maxwell.

FLIPPING THE SCRIPT: Sophomore Sunday Cardinal portrays antagonist Allie McAndrews during MacTheater’s “Between the Lines” performance on Nov. 7. After receiving the cast list, Cardinal worried about performing as a character that differed from her previous roles, but grew into the persona.

“I began to love Allie,” Cardinal said. “I love getting to play a big and silly role that contrasts the usual shy and quiet roles I normally get cast in. This might be bad to say, but it’s pretty fun being mean.”

Being such an opposite role for Cardinal, her embodiment of the character was more difficult; however, she forced herself to make creative choices and improvise to understand the character.

“I worked on acting choices while memorizing my lines, so I’ll always have the emotion and objective in my head when speaking,” Cardinal said. “Creating my own relationships with people in the show that isn’t explicitly stated in the script is so fun because it gives me creative liberties. Knowing not only my character’s personal mindset, but also the way she thinks about other people makes my actions and words more motivated.”

During this performance, Cardinal noted that the audience and nerves kept her going.
“I don’t think the nerves of going on for your first line of the show ever go away,” Cardinal said. “The nerves help me not to get too comfortable and to always be on my feet when performing. I also love a loud audience. The applause and laughter definitely fuel the cast and make that show a million times better.”

Cardinal highlighted the show’s success so far and credited the MacTheater program, cast and crew for pulling off this performance.

“It’s been so amazing to have followed this show from the very start to what it became,” Cardinal said. “I’ve gotten some really positive feedback about the show, and I’m so proud of the performances we put on. I’m so thankful to have been a part of ‘Between the Lines’ and to have worked with so many amazing people.”

Cardinal mentioned her biggest insight from the show was simply how lucky she feels to be in the MacTheater program.

“It’s such a privilege to be able to make art at this high of a level,” Cardinal said. “I’ll never take my theater education for granted.”

Caption by Kaylee Breecker. Photo by Harper Maxwell.

INTO THE STORY: Over the past two weekends, “Between the Lines” brought McCallum audiences into a colorful fairytale world. Junior Pablo Arteaga said performing in the show was a memorable experience that showcased the dedication of everyone involved.

“My favorite part was seeing how everything we’d been working on finally came together on stage,” Arteaga said. “You could really feel the audience reacting and getting pulled into the story.”

From long rehearsals to the final curtain call, Arteaga said the process reminded him of what makes theatre such a collaborative art.

“It’s a lot about teamwork,” he said. “Every person plays a part in making it happen, and that’s what makes the end result very rewarding.”

As the cast took their final bows, Arteaga said it felt like the perfect celebration of all their hard work and creativity.

Caption by Mira Patel. Photo by Katie Martin.

BROWN BY BROWN: After the end of MacTheatre’s production of “Between the Lines”, seniors Coda Becker and Maggie Brown prepare to take a bow.

“Bows are always fun because we all come on stage to dance for the closing number,” Brown said. “Bows are how we celebrate the end of the show with the audience.”

“Between the Lines” is Brown’s 10th show with Mac Theatre. While she acted this time, in the next show, “Anything Goes,” Brown plans to serve as a Music Director—a role with which she has prior experience.

“As a music director, I have to balance being a leader and a friend to my peers,” Brown said. “As member of the cast, I’m along for the ride just like everybody else. I love both positions, and I’m glad I’ll be able to do both this year.”

In “Between the Lines,” Brown played a character named Ms. Brown, an eccentric chemistry teacher from Hoboken, New Jersey.

“Each night, I enjoyed watching the crowd’s reaction to my costume and character voice,” she said. “With some people saying they didn’t recognize me until they saw my name in the playbill.”

For Brown, the acting experience strengthened her relationships with other students in theatre.

“The show is centered on the characters’ journeys throughout the story,” Brown said. “Which means there’s many moments for connection and interaction with my friends on stage. When performing in the show, you get to be a part of the tight-knit family that forms between the cast.”

Caption by Jojo Barnard. Photo by Katie Martin.

PUTTING ON A SHOW: Juniors Elora Clarke and Finley McBride and Senior Eleanor Pringle Rodney converse as their respective characters in the show “Between the Lines”. Clarke said the moment was funny, as it involved making fun of her fellow actor.

“In that scene, my character is talking about how she is going to make a baby with Prince Oliver,” Clarke said. “She thinks babies come from baby powder, so we’re all making fun of her.”

Clarke said her favorite part of the show was watching her fellow castmates perform.
“I loved the song ‘Out of Character’ because I got to watch all the wonderful dancers,” Clarke said.

Clarke said that dedication and commitment to the show had come to fruition.

“It takes a lot of time and energy to put on a show,” Clarke said. “You have to make a huge time commitment, but I think it went super well. We pulled it together greatly, the whole cast is talented and hardworking, and we did a phenomenal job.”

Caption by Fletcher Vandegrift. Photo by Harper Maxwell.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Senior Sami Spear holds hands with junior Pablo Arteaga during the weekend one Sunday matinee of Between the Lines. The matinee was an understudy performance, where actors work as doubles for the main roles. Senior Sami Spear performed in the role of Delilah McPhee, being the understudy for junior Paityn Jones. According to Spear, working alongside Jones helped her through the rehearsal process.

“She was always there to answer any questions, along with helping me review my blocking.” Spear said. “At first, the learning process was extremely overwhelming, as the role has a lot of lines, but as rehearsals progressed, I was able to balance learning both my ensemble track and the Delilah tracks easily.”

With Delilah being a main character in a large production, Spear was able to take inspiration from various interpretations of the character, along with adding her own spin.

“I definitely took inspiration from the actress who originated the role, Arielle Jacobs,” she said. “I think that both me and Paityn had different interpretations of the character that we brought to the stage to carry out the story, but for me, I really wanted to portray Delilah’s struggle with mental health throughout the show to help the audience root for her growth.”

As a senior, Spear has spent time in numerous other McCallum productions, gaining new experiences with each show. For Between the Lines, she hopes to continue juggling her theatre life and school life.

“I had so many lines to memorise, so many dances to learn, plus school work and college applications at the same time,” she said, “I was very stressed out at the start. However, Between the Lines taught me that managing all of these things is very possible with the right scheduling and commitment.”

Caption by Wren Vanderford. Photo by Katie Martin.

HIGH SCHOOL HARMONY: Junior Berit Ellwanger is part of the ensemble as well as understudy for Grace, the mom in the musical, in “Between the Lines”. Ellwanger found that being a part of an ensemble comes naturally, while playing the part of Grace takes more dedication to nail the role.

“For Grace, I like to run my scenes with Sami, who plays Delilah, the daughter in the musical,” Ellwanger said. “It usually takes some time getting into Grace’s character, though, for the ensemble we’ve done countless rehearsals, so it comes naturally now.”
Ellwanger found that it can be a little stressful running on and off the stage. However, her peers helped calm her nerves and ran through the lines and choreography whenever they had the chance.

“In between scenes, my cast mates and I often review the choreography,” Ellwanger said. “It’s incredibly helpful to review the dances and my lines before a scene.”

Ellanger expresses her passion for musicals and her enjoyment of performing. Her favorite aspect of the musical is connecting with her peers and fellow cast members.

“The cast got so close this year because we’ve been working on this show together since before school started in August,” Ellwanger said. “We’ve all become a tight-knit group. By the time the show rolled around, it felt like I had another family.”

Caption by Eva Sanchez. Photo by Katie Martin.