Selma High School’s drama program has been working on a sitcom play known as “Make Em Laugh,” which was taking place at the end of year from December 6th through 8th. This play was directed by Mrs. Saponara, who is the drama teacher. The cast and director spent a great amount of effort and time to truly make this play enjoyable for their audience.
“Last year we performed a drama so this year our goal was to find a comedy. When I found this play and saw how fun it would be, I knew the students would have a great time,” stated Saponara.
To create a comedy play the cast was also more challenged as compared to a drama play because the cast had to learn comedic timing. Saponara had explained how comedic timing is not an easy thing to learn or teach.
“Make Em Laugh” is a play that is inspired by sitcoms and based on how the main character has gone through time and is stuck in different types of sitcoms. Some of the sitcoms that inspired the play are well known ones such as Friends, Steinbeck, or even the Golden Girls. Getting inspiration from these shows, some of the characters were also based off of these shows.
Senior Mia Huratdo plays Regan, who is a reference to Rachel Green in the show Friends. As well as Mia, another cast member who is also a senior, Hernan Vasquez, plays Ron, Greg, and Tim in the play. His three roles are also inspired by Friends and Steinbeck characters.
“My experience has been amazing in this play, our lines are super playful and funny,” says Mia. Hernan also adds that “Being a part of thai show and working alongside an amazing group of people has truly made this the best of experiences.”
These experiences from the cast members are also shared with Saponara.
“They love to laugh together which serves them well in performing a comedy. They also really care about each other and want each other and the show to be successful,” said Saponara.
Saponara explained how she believes one of the strongest attributes of this cast is being able to have such a great sense of humor and being able to push each other into making a great show. Not only does the cast do a great job in having determination, they have also shown discipline and are committed to making the play.
“Our rehearsal schedule is Monday through Thursday from 3:45 to 5:30,” says Saponara, “We chunked the show into three parts and worked our way through the blocking and continuous run-throughs of each part until we put all three parts together.”
After putting in all their hard work Mia and Hernan explained how they are feeling more excited than any other emotion in the upcoming days of the play. Both had stated that being at the Arts Center and getting prepared for the days to come is when they become excited because of knowing all their time and work will be shown.
The production of this play was not left unnoticed of how great they did as it had left people smiling cheek to cheek and amazed at how well they performed.
