Fostoria high school to stage one act play

FOSTORIA --- First-year Choral Director Lila Wolfe wasn't sure of what she'd gotten herself into at Fostoria Junior/Senior High School. After plans for a musical production under someone else's command fell through, the ambitious graduate of Ashland University expressed a desire to fill the theatre void for 2024 by directing a one-act comedic play to be put before the public. And though she was told by some it might not fly, she's ready to turn a cast and crew of 19 students in grades 7 through 12 loose this weekend in performing "Check, Please," a Jonathan Rand-written, often-performed play by high schools worldwide that first hit the stage in 2003. The story deals with the trials and tribulations of modern dating. Performances in the school's Wainwright Performing Arts Center are scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Tickets are priced at $6 for students and senior citizens and $8 for others. "I'm just so extremely proud of these kids," Wolfe said. "These are kids who, a year ago, I wouldn't have known. So, them just being so comfortable with me and with (assistant director) Miss (Hayli) Herrera to be their goofiest selves when they don't even do that in my own classroom is so fun to see. They have hit this out of the park. It's been lovely. I'm so proud of them." It's been a long road traveled in short time from a point where Wolfe was just waiting to see if she'd have a play to direct. After all, she'd been told that the number of students interested may not work out. "We actually had a real nice turnout to auditions," Wolfe said. "I know it sounds bad, but it really surprised me because going into the process of starting this, I was warned by a few people, 'Hey, our numbers aren't great. Like, we haven't had a lot of turnout before; there aren't a lot of kids interested.' But we had enough kids audition that some kids didn't get a part. "That was very shocking to me because I was ready to take whatever we got and work with whatever we got. But we had at least one kid from every grade represented. Our two leads are seniors. ... I remember sitting in my classroom during auditions with the other two judges and we were just, like, 'They actually want to do this.' "Like, I was ready to bribe people," Wolfe said with a laugh about finding cast members. Those who did not get parts in the play are working on the crew. The school actually had the right person in place at the right time to head up a show with a short turnaround. Wolfe has considerable experience in theatre, having taking part in it since growing up in Mansfield. And, the situation at Fostoria being as it was, "Check, Please" came to mind as something doable. "I came across this play during my student teaching," she said. "I student taught at Shelby High School under (Director of Choral Activities) Brian Nabors, and he did this play with his kids. ... He did a larger-scale production that had some music involved. So, I was already familiar with the play. This year, I just wanted to get something on stage for our kids. The kids haven't had a real production since (2022). ... Coming here, that was one thing – I want to get this theatre program going again. We have such a beautiful facility. The Wainwright theatre is absolutely gorgeous. When I took the job, I walked in and I was, like, 'This is the stage I get to use?' I was so excited." A rookie director is working with a rookie cast, albeit for senior Laura Cook, who in 2022 was part of Fostoria's cast of a musical titled "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee." Wolfe said Cook's experience has shown in her ability to pick up on pointers quickly as act as a leader for the others, particularly the seventh- and eighth-graders. "It's been kind of stressful just to make sure everyone gets their parts and their lines down and all the things like that," Cook said. "But it's been fun and it's been good to be able to step up and know how everything should be running and to help run everything smoothly." Prince Makel-Pree not only is one of just three seniors in the cast, but he's the only male. That, however, causes no awkwardness in how the actors go about their work, he said. "I'm friends with everybody," he said. "Most everybody, I do band with. So, I've known them quite a while. It doesn't really affect anything about the play." The days leading up to Friday are being spent in dress rehearsals, with the actors also getting used to speaking into their microphones. "I'm definitely excited and ready to get it on stage and get going with our tech week to do full makeup, costumes, all that," Cook said in an interview late last week. I'm really excited to get that going, just so you can feel how it is and how it's going to look out there." Jenna Crow joins Cook and Makel-Pree as the cast's seniors. Rounding out the cast are juniors Lily Coleman and Isabella Rios, freshmen August Ceravolo, Chloe Mercado and Cheyne Cunningham, eighth-graders Winnie Cobb, Brin Weidner and Ella Holmes and seventh-grader Regyn Robinson. Crew members are Allison Hammer, Iyzella Carrick, Bella Taylor, Toby Etzinger, Lincon Augsburger, Alicia Ceravolo and Ax Naus.