All-State Play Produced at Maine West

Most Illinois high school students spent Labor Day weekend outside of school, but 71 theater students and musicians from across the state drilled, painted, sang, danced and played instruments at Maine West High School.

The students were preparing for the 2011 Illinois All-State Play, which will run Jan. 6 - 8 as a part of the Illinois High School Theatre Festival at the University of Illinois. Maine West is the host of all five of the three-day rehearsals.

The scheduled performance of Into the Woods, a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, has generated all the activity and sacrifice. The festival, first held in 1976, is the largest of its kind, a non-competitive high school theater festival attracting more than 4,000 students, teachers, exhibitors, volunteers and university representatives each year, according to its website.

"The kids are the top talents at their home schools, without a doubt," said Director Mark Begovich."This is a chance for them to be pushed to an even higher level by interacting with all these different top talents at all these different schools."

Begovich said Into the Woods fits the theme of the festival, Theatre: Scenes From Life.

"It's all about these magical moments, magical stories, so deep and beyond the surface level, and how in any scene you have a surface level, and then you have a deeper level and a deeper understanding," Begovich said. "And that's the type of show we were looking for, and it just fits with the theme."

The production will be one of many at the event, but it is the only one designed to assemble a staff, company and crew from schools across the state. Students were required to get faculty sponsors at their schools in order to apply. Actors and musicians auditioned, and crew members completed an interview process.

Bernie Gerstmayr, the show's music director and Maine West's director of bands, said the score for Into the Woods was substantial, with something happening musically throughout the 2 1/2-hour show.

"The show's very difficult because -- different from some traditional shows --  early shows, where it was play a song all together, yea for us, we dance and sing, then it stops, and there's dialogue that tells a story," he said. "The story is going on through the music and over the music. So there really isn't much stop; there's music going on throughout the entire show."

Though the musical has a hefty score, Gerstmayr said there were many rewarding aspects to the experience including working with staff members from across the state.

"One of the biggest things for me is being able to work with a staff that just gets it," he said. "We are all on the same wavelength. We believe in the same way to work with kids on a very human, teenage level.

"We want what's best for kids, but at the same time it's all about the process," Gerstmayr added. "It's about the work; it's about the product that we're going to create together. And it's really about the journey. That's a philosophy that we all share."

Lucas Jackson, a Maine West junior and cellist, said he considered himself fortunate to be rehearsing for the show at his school.

"If I was at another school practicing hard music I would be all uncomfortable," he said. "But now that I'm home practicing hard music, I feel like it's a lot more comfortable. I feel better."

Jackson enjoyed participating in the production and connecting with the other musicians, actors, crew and staff.

"This is just so great," he said. "It's like a bunch of people; we're all like loving and talented and hilarious. And we're getting together, and everybody's doing what they love the most out of everything. So it's a whole lot of happiness generated. It's wonderful."

Gerstmayr said having the Illinois All-State Play rehearsals at Maine West shed a positive light on the school and community.

"It's good that people see that it's happening here, and that the prestige of the theater festival is coming to our community," he said. "I think it's very good for our community."