Up the Down Staircase -
Rehearsals this week:
Monday - 3:45-5 PM - Pages 1-9 in script (All cast on those pages, stage
managers)
Tuesday - 3:45-5 PM - Sylvia, Bea, Paul, students, Ellen, stage managers
Wednesday (none due to early release day)
Thursday - 3:45-5 PM - Begin with Paul, Alice, stage managers then continue
with Sylvia, students
Friday - 3:45-5 PM - Entire cast, stage managers (character biographies due)
Production Staff Meetings this week:
Sets - Monday & Thursday - 3:45-5 PM
Publicity - Monday & Thursday - 3:45-4:30 PM
Props - Tuesday & Thursday - 3:45-4:30 PM; Friday - 3:45-4:15 PM
Housemanagers - Friday - 3:45-4:45 PM
Director - Susan Dickson
Stage Managers - Punya Chatterjee, Jazmyn Ogiste-Hayes, Jacob Lundquist, M.J.
Mitchell
(Alternates: Libby Davis, Eliza Blackley, Courtney Lake, Jody Lita, Eryn
Schmelter)
Lighting Operators - Sam Todd & Joy Pan
Sound Operators - Elizabeth Cohen, Nathanial Banks & D'Angelo Gonzalez
(Lighting and Sound Alternates: Libby Davis (lighting only), Kaely Puckett,
Meghan Hettenhaus, Kate Stallworth, Ethan Chen, Lance Allid, Loren Temple,
Luke Victor, Anastasia Santos, Brodi Ward)
Properties Masters - Eliza Blackley, Brittany Bower, Trilby Brush, Kathryn
Cardenas, Audrey Donovan, Allyson Hayes, Griffin Mason, Julia Melnick, Wendy
Potter, Kaely Puckett
Set Designers & Crew - Lance Allid, Nathanial Banks, Grant Cannon, Katrina
Barton-DeJean, Kaitlyn Flynn, Katie Freeland, Samantha Frizzell, O'Neal Hart,
Kendall Heil, Jody Lita, Chris Perry, Jasmine Snowberger, Kate Stallworth,
Loren Temple, Brodi Ward
Publicity Designers - Neha Sukumar (design leader), Brittany Head, Meghan
Hettenhaus, Davis Hochstatter, Anilya Krishnan, Lindsey Logan, Jasmine
Perales, Jake Ramsey
Housemanagers - Sydnie Chatman, Ethan Chen, Lianna Contreras, Courtney Lake,
Allie McCaughey, Rushi Patel, Anastasia Santos, Lukas Seymour, Luke Victor
After the first read through of the new cutting, if the time limit allows, 1
to 2 characters MAY be added. This may not be possible as 6 characters have
already been added at this time.
Thanks to everyone for working so hard and doing such a fantastic job at
auditions. You are amazing. After Feb. 3, if you want to get specific
critiques of what to improve for future auditions, please contact Mrs.
Dickson. Please wait until after Feb. 3. Thank you.
Up the Down Staircase
Cast:
Members of the faculty & staff:
Sylvia Barrett – Paige Ward
Beatrice Schachter – Deja Greer
J.J. McHabe – Bradley Sternberg
Paul Barringer – Omar Sahibzada
Ellen (Sylvia’s friend) – Sujana Kumar
Dr. Clarke – David Johnson
Ella Friedenberg (counselor)- Libby Davis
Sadie Finch (attendance)– Amanda Brooks
Charlotte Wolf (librarian)- M. J. Mitchell
Students in Room 304:
Lou Martin – Brandon Johnson
Lennie Neumark – Nam Nguyen
Charles – Kyle Waldo
Rusty – Emmet McCullough
Alice Blake – Adriana Esparza
Vivian Paine- Ophelie Herve
Carole Blanca – Claudette Lassandro
Linda Rosen – Alexis Nandin
Harry A. Kagan – Noah Melles
Jill Norris – Kimberly Sladek
Rachel Gordon – Navya Kumar
Carrie Blaine - Laura Libert
Elizabeth Ellis – Liza Vinnik
Joe Ferone – D.J. Martinez
Katherine Wolzow – Emily Sandlin
Fran Gardner – Kylie Shannon
Alternates/Understudies:
Cast members switching to other roles, Lance Allid, Nathanial Banks, Eliza
Blackley, Grant Cannon, Sydnie Chatman, Punya Chatterjee, Ethan Chen, Natalie
Davis, Zach Estabrook, Samantha Frizzell, O’Neal Hart, Meghan Hettenhaus,
Hunter Hill, Skyler Hill, Zane Horton, Courtney Lake, Jody Lita, Jacob
Lundquist, Julie Moritz, Will Moritz, Jazmyn Ogiste-Hayes, Chris Perry, David
Sanchez, Eryn Schmelter, Kate Stallworth, Neha Sukumar, Loren Temple,
Jonathon Tolj, Sydney Tomlinson
Additional understudies: All actors who auditioned.
Production staff will be posted this weekend.
********
Thank you to the entire Grisham family who donated $905 of cash and HEB gift
cards as well as Bush’s Chicken meal vouchers to families in need. That is 3
to 4 times the amount normally collected at shows. Thank you for your giving
spirit during the holiday season. You are making a difference for families
who need our help. Thank you!
And congratulations to Grisham Theatre students who earned the highest rating
at contest, a Superior. Grisham is the only school who earned a Superior at
this competition both last year and this year. And Grisham Theatre took all
of the top individual District awards as well!
It should be noted that the critic judge, Dr. McKelvey, stated that not only
could Grisham Theatre compete with any middle school, but that they could
also compete with any high school production. This is high praise from one
of the top theatre and musical directors in the state who judges high school
UIL one act play.
Dr. McKelvey also invited Kylie Shannon to audition for the Zilker Park
musical, Annie, this summer, which he is directing.
This is the first time that a critic judge has ever awarded both Best Actor
and Best Actress to one school!
• 7th grader, Laura Libert was named Best Actress in Round Rock ISD for
her performance of the Shakespearean Scholar.
• 8th grader, Nam Nguyen was named Best Actor in Round Rock ISD for his
performance as Juliet.
Also receiving individual acting awards were:
• 6th grader, Kylie Shannon, was awarded All Star Cast for her roles of
McDuff and Sampson.
• 7th grader, Kyle Waldo, was awarded All Star Cast for his roles of
MacBeth and the reluctant Hamlet.
• 8th grader, Deja Greer, was awarded Honorable Mention All Star Cast
for her roles of Benvolio & Witch.
• 8th grader, Brandon Johnson, was awarded Honorable Mention All Star
Cast for his role of Hamlet.
• Kendall Heil was awarded the Outstanding Technical Theatre Award.
The other actors in the award winning cast are: Lance Allid, Punya
Chatterjee, Ethan Chen, Libby Davis, Shea Donnelly, Adriana Esparza, Shelby
Hill, Zane Horton, Sujana Kumar, Courtney Lake, Claudette Lassandro, Jacob
Lundquist, Will Moritz, Omar Sahibzada, Kimberly Sladek, Sam Todd, and Paige
Ward.
The other contest/production staff members who helped earn the Superior
Rating are: Amanda Brooks, Jazmyn Ogiste-Hayes and Eryn Schmelter.
The Grisham production staff members who also earned the Superior are:
High School Intern & Technical Assistant – Sarah Esparza (who also won a
technical theatre award)
Properties Masters – Sabrina Aldrete, Eliza Blackley, Trilby Brush,
Elizabeth Cohen, Katie Freeland, Kaitlyn Flynn, Samantha Frizzell, Kendall
Heil, Griffin Mason, Emily Moshier, Muteramyi Nintunze, Rushi Patel, Wendy
Potter, Anastasia Santos
Costume Coordinators – Maddie Burton, Patrick Canterbury, Brandon Dozier,
Sydnie Chatman, Avni Gharpurey, Anilya Krishnan, Emily Sandlin, Brandion
Perkins, Kaely Puckett, Neha Shah, Tala Sisente, Loren Temple, Namita
Tendolkar, Sydney Tomlinson,
Brodi Ward
Publicity Designers – Jacob Johnson, Audrey McConnell, Howard Moon, Wendy
Potter, Kavya Rajesh, Neha Sukumar, Kerie Rene’ Turner
House managers – Caroline Anton, Tatum Apodaca, Cambyl Cottrell, Brittney
Bower, Allyson Hayes, Morgan Litaker, Julia Melnick
Understudies - Eliza Blackley, David Johnson, Navya Kumar, Julie Moritz,
Emily Sandlin, Kerie Rene’ Turner, Luke Victor.
Please give these students a pat on the back for doing a good job at the show
Friday night and a FANTASTIC job at contest. Not only did they do a great
job, but they unanimously voted for all of the Theatre donations to go to
needy families for the holidays. Community Service starts at home. Way to
go, Grizzly Theatre!
*********
For more questions, please call 428-2720 or e-mail
Susan_Dickson@roundrockisd.org.**
Susan Dickson
Grisham Theatre Arts