MASSILLON, Ohio — Tonight, a front-row seat to the return of high school plays and musicals. But, even as they manage restrictions in a pandemic, the productions are facing new problems like rising costs to build sets and supply chain issues.
There is good news though. Thanks to ingenuity, the show will go on, with theater lights shining as they never have before.
There's just something about the high school stage. Whether part of the cast, stage crew, tech or even from the seats, many of us remember shows performed at our schools.
But in order to make new memories, the arts are changing. It's a matter of survival.
"The pandemic has affected many things and in order to keep theater alive, we have to go to things we know," said Hannah Rissler, theater director at the Jackson School for the Arts.
The pandemic forced cancellations, and then scaled-back productions in best-case scenarios. Either way, it meant lost revenue, which often goes to fund future productions.
So Jackson School For The Arts in Massillon made a decision. They would put on "Footloose" this fall, a past-production revisited and updated to fit themes of today.
"Footloose tells the story of a community in conflict. And how do people with differing opinions learn to discuss and talk about those issues and agree to disagree?" said Rissler.
Footloose needed a new "look" too, a necessity in a world dealing with supply chain issues.
"The rising cost of lumber and building sets. There are no more costume companies. We used to have several sources from which we could rent costumes. They've since evaporated," said Susie Gardner, director for the Jackson School For the Arts.
Instead of a challenge, the program saw an opportunity to adapt and move in a new direction.
"Our students have had the honor to work with Artists in Residence OBLSK this year. They're out of Columbus and they do projection mapping," Rissler explained.
What is projection mapping?
To put it simply, instead of projecting onto a flat screen, light is mapped onto a surface, turning common objects into interactive displays.
In the case of theater productions, it helps set the scene, and provides depth to the characters, their journey, and experiences.
OBLSK isn't just providing the service to JSA, it's actually teaching students how to do it themselves.
"So I am in charge of the main projector that casts projection onto the five panels hanging from the top of the stage," said student Tess Parrott.
Projection mapping has been worked into the curriculum at Jackson School for the Arts and has interested even more students, who now see a connection to theater production they may not have seen before.
Even if lumber prices go back down and supply chain issues are solved, don't look for plays and musicals to go back to the "old ways" of doing things.
"I think in many things right now, everyone says that, 'how do you go back?' And I don't think you do. I think you move forward and you go at an acceleration that is just as fast as you can because when that creativity and that passion strikes, and we're starting to see that come out of our students again for the first time in a long time. We're going with it and we're going forward," said Rissler.
Final rehearsals on "Footloose" take place soon, with the curtain going up next week. Performances will be held on November 4-7.
You can find more information here.
Want to learn more about OBLSK and the work they do with projection mapping? Check them out here.
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