Now that school is well under way, this also means that the Waupaca High School Music Department has been busy casting its annual musical theater production.
This year, the department has chosen “Hello, Dolly!” for its 50th musical presentation.
Students picked up audition material the third week of August and began working to put together an audition that would happen prior to the actual start of the school year.
This year’s cast was chosen by Assistant Director Anne Justmann and Musical Producer and Director Dan Wolfgram.
“The audition process can be a stressful process for some students,” Wolfgram said. “The students know that the annual musical is a large-scale production that demands an enormous amount of responsibility and hard work.”
The cast list for this year is Brayden Kendziora as Mrs. Dolly Gallegher Levi, Alexis Klismit as Erestina Money, Sawyer Olson as Horace Vandegelder, Cody Bussian as Ambrose Kemper, Jessica Barrows as Ermengarde, Isaac Baumgart as Cornelius Hackl, Luke Harger as Barnaby Tucker, Karah Wolfgram as Minnie Fay, Emma Kelley as Mrs. Irene Malloy, Caleb Abrahamson as Rudolph Reisenweber and the judge played by Zac Anderson and Ryan Milanowski.
“Hello, Dolly!” is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder’s 1938 farce “The Merchant of Yonkers,” which Wilder revised and retitled “The Matchmaker” in 1955.
“Hello, Dolly!” was first produced on Broadway by David Merrick in 1964, winning the Tony Award for Best Musical and nine other Tonys.The show album, “Hello, Dolly! An Original Cast Recording,” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002.
The show has become one of the most enduring musical theatre hits, enjoying three Broadway revivals and international success. It was also made into a 1969 film that was nominated for seven Academy Awards.
Production dates for “Hello, Dolly!” are 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30th; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1; 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3; and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5.
Tickets for this year’s production will be available in mid-October. Follow the County Post West for further show updates and ticket information.