Tap Dancing, Bar Fights and Cross-County Travel: DGS' Musical "Crazy for You" Has It All

Mistaken identities, comedy, Gershwin and plenty of tap dancing -- that's what you'll find in South's musical "Crazy for You," which opens Thursday night.

"Crazy for You," with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and music by George Gershwin, is an adaptation of the couple's 1930's musical "Girl Crazy." "Crazy for You" won the Tony award for best musical in 1992.

The musical tells the story of Bobby Child (played by junior Billy Chengary), the rich son of a banking family whose dream is to dance. He's engaged to the wealthy Irene (senior Claire Drews), a manipulative sort of temptress.

He travels to Nevada to foreclose on an old theater and falls for Polly (junior Erin Christine Walsh), the daughter of the theater's owner, who is disheartened to hear that he is the banker shutting them down. Romance, bar fighting, tap dancing and plenty of action ensue.

"There's something for everyone," Drews said. "There's never a dull moment."

The students perform will perform four shows this weekend: Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets are $8 for adults, free for seniors and $7 for students.

The school's musical is its largest production of the year, with a cast of more than 80 students, plus the pit orchestra, student directors, set and tech crew.

Every year, South's A Capella Choir, its audition-only choir for juniors and seniors, puts on the musical. Every member of the choir is a part of the chorus, and only members of that chorus are allowed to audition for speaking parts.

Most of the students have never performed in a theatrical production before.

Auditions were held in January and rehearsals started in February. The cast practices the music, blocks chorus scenes and works on large dance numbers during school, while extra rehearsals are held after school for those with speaking parts, as well as special dance groups.

The full cast then dedicates time after school leading up to the show's opening.

Scheduling rehearsals for 84 students is tricky, said Joy Belt-Roselieb, director of the A Capella Choir. That's why the choir focuses on rehearsing well during the school day, when all of the students will be together.

"It's a big challenge because in high school, kids are involved in many, many activities," Belt-Roselieb said.

"We support activities in other areas, and we're juggling 80 schedules. There's a great understanding from parents to get (the students) here when they have to, and they bring them dinner."

All of that rehearsal time brings the choir together.

"They really get a sense of what it means to be a team," she said. "Every person has a role to play. For the kids who have never done this before, they bond with the other kids, and they know that they can cover for each other on stage."

It's a special experience for the students that they won't soon forget, she said.

"They don't know this now, but this will be one of their most special memories as they get older."

Drews said rehearsing with 84 students can be difficult, but gratifying.

"You have more people talking when we stop rehearsing, but when everyone plugs in and focuses a lot of energy on one thing, it adds a lot to the show," she said.

Belt-Roselieb said the musical's directors chose "Crazy for You" for the 2011 musical among 30 different musicals being considered.

"The four of us -- Mr. Evans, Mr. Roselieb, Mr. Blum and I -- spent four hours poring over 30 shows," Belt-Roselieb said.

"'Crazy for You' stood out because there were plenty of roles and plenty of supporting roles, which is important for a large cast of 84 kids. We also wanted to utilize the talent of our All-State musicians (in the pit orchestra). And it's important for kids to know these American composers."

The musical requires tap dancing -- a lot of tap dancing.

"Every single kid is in tap shoes," she said. "About five percent of them had had formal dance training before this, and they all learned how to tap in two months. We heard from other teachers that kids would be practicing in the hallways."

Chengary, who plays Bobby Child, said learning all of his steps was the hardest part of rehearsing.

"I came into the show without any tape dancing experience," Chengary said. "I have five tap solos, we do a Viennese waltz and a fox trot. I had to learn a 3-minute dance -- not tap dancing, just a solo of me dancing. We took private dance lessons and drilled the dances every day."

Chengary, Drews and Walsh have all been in multiple South productions before "Crazy for You." Getting a lead as a junior is no small feat, but Walsh said she was ready for the challenge.

"I want to pursue this as a career," she said. "It was surprising, but it's a welcome challenge."

Why should you go see "Crazy for You?" Belt-Roselieb, Chengary, Drews and Walsh all said it goes above and beyond a high school musical. 

"(The audience is) going to love it," Belt-Roselieb said. "It goes above and beyond any high school musical I've ever seen or experienced."