Bishop Feehan's Performance of "Anything Goes" Bittersweet

The success of Bishop Feehan’s performance of the Broadway classic “Anything Goes” is bittersweet for the graduating seniors who are performing on the school's stage for the last time.

“It’s very sad," senior Cassandra Knipper said. "It doesn’t really seem real right now.

"I’m just going to miss it so much," Knipper added. "This auditorium is my happy place, this is my spot where I feel comfortable."

Knipper, who played the role of nightclub singer Reno Sweeney, has been a part of the Feehan theatre longer than any current Feehan student.

“I was lucky enough that my mom did costumes when I was in eighth grade, so he (Alden Harrison, the school’s theatre director) let me be in the ensemble in 8th grade,” Knipper said.

Fellow seniors, Taylor MacLeod, who played the role of Sir Eveylyn Oaleigh, and Marie Atwill, who played the role of Bonnie, a fast talking sidekick of gangster Moonface Martin, echoed Knipper’s sentiments.

“It’s bittersweet," MacLeod said. "I loved my time at Bishop Feehan and being in the theatre company. I’m just going to miss everyone."

"It’s been so much fun," Atwell said. "Theatre has been a huge part of my life."

While Atwill may be saddened by her high school theatre career ending, she does leave knowing she left the audience in stitches with her performance of Bonnie.

Atwill and Joseph St. Thomas kept the audience laughing with their loud-mouthed, Brooklyn-accented gangster duo of Bonnie and Moonface. The two provided some of the biggest laughs with both their physical comedy as well as their rapid fire dialogue.

Atwill attributed the duo’s success to their friendship in real life, saying “It’s just very easy for us to work together.”

The play is not just a comedy. The performance included musical and dance numbers and often featured large ensembles of singing, tap dancing and other choreography.

These large musical numbers were the most difficult part of the show, according to the actors, and were the main reason why the group needed to rehearse four times a week every week since the end of the school’s winter break.

“There was a lot of sweat, tears and frustration," MacLeod said. "Eventually we got through it and it brought us really close together."

Atwill, in particular, had to put in extra work as she had to learn to tap dance in just a month after landing the part.

“I’ve never tap danced before in my life,” said Atwill. “It was hard work, a lot of long hours of just tapping over and over.”

All three of the seniors hope to continue there theatre experience in college, with Knipper and MacLeod majoring in music, and Atwill intending to continue theatre on the side.

 They will also have two more performances in the Bishop Feehan auditorium as they are scheduled to perform “Anything Goes” tonight at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

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