Originally written by Minnesota’s own F. Scott Fitzgerald, the drama department is performing the famous novel The Great Gatsby.
This year, theater teacher Kirsten Pardun-Johanssen directs The Great Gatsby. She directed many Orono Middle School plays before, however this is her first production at the high school.
“It’s a story that’s especially poignant considering that a great number of cast members are seniors,” Pardun-Johanssen said. “I thought it was a story that high schoolers would want to see.”
Pardun-Johanssen also mentioned that Orono is one of two high schools in Minnesota that is being allowed to perform this play.
“Once I got the rights I thought ‘Okay! We’re going to run with it,’” Pardun-Johanssen said.
This year nearly 60 Orono High School students are involved, many of which have not been in a play production at the high school before.
“I thought it would be a lot of fun because a lot of my friends were trying out too,” junior Chase Olsen said. “We thought it would be a good idea if we all tried out for the play.”
Acting as one of the leads, Jay Gatsby, is senior Thor Parrish. Parrish took Acting I first semester this year, but said he has never done anything quite like it before.
“She [Ms. PJ] had me try out and read a lot of the Gatsby lines. She said I would fit really well as a Gatsby character,” Parrish said. “I’m excited for the experience of it because I’ve never had anything like this where I perform in front of a huge crowd.”
Senior Leah Walk is acting as the notorious Daisy Buchanan. Walk has been involved with numerous high school productions for a few years.
Walk noted that her character, Daisy, was quite similar to the author F. Scott Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda. Zelda Fitzgerald went through the roaring twenties with profound psychological problems including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
“It’s definitely a hard character to connect to because there are a lot of really strong emotions,” Walk said. “I can’t say I’ve had the same situations that she’s had, but there are definitely more feelings I’ve felt, so you kind of have to go back and relive those feelings and remember those certain scenarios that happened and bring that out in your acting.”
The performances start at 7 p.m. Apr. 23 and 24 (Thursday and Friday). On Saturday, Apr. 25, there is a matinee at 2 p.m. and tickets go on sale for all three performances on Apr. 14. Adults tickets are $10, student tickets are $7, and it costs $5 for seniors 65 and older.
To purchase tickets, follow this link: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=53846