Gustavo Pereira Batista also contributed to this article.
Malden High School has done many plays in the past. Many great performances and shows have been produced by the student body. The newest and upcoming play is “Sammy Roo”, a parody of “Scooby Doo” which will be held May 17th and May 18th at the auditorium in Jenkins house.
Students have been preparing for it since March, which isn’t the longest time but they have been putting in the work. “It’s not quite a lot of time to work on it, but that’s theater,” PlayPro teacher Ariana Messana said.
The play was created by Messana. She had written the play in her college years and it has become an inside joke between her and her students. Collaboratively, students have contributed to script modifications, ensuring a production that resonates with both the creators and the audience.
The students weren’t sure what play to do for their last show but once they knew Messana had this play they knew it was the one. Messana said, “It was kind of an idea that came out of a joke,”
The Play Pro students have been popularizing the play with many TikTok and Instagram posts. Their funny content is something students love to engage in. It spreads the word about the play while also doing something our generation likes. You can follow their TikTok @Mhs.play.pro and their Instagram @mhsplaypro.
Messana hopes her students, especially those who are graduating, will be able to get some foundational skills in theater. She explained what she hopes they will gain from these skills: “I want them to have all the skills they need to be successful in their careers.”
This play will have a lot of unique aspects to it including original songs intertwined with recognizable songs from the public domain. As for characters, you can get a little sneak peek on their TikTok. There will be many unique elements to this show. So definitely be on the lookout for the costumes, props, and creepy monsters in the show.
When it comes to the question of how the actors feel about the play and the characters, Brian Vences, Emma Spignese-Smolinsky, Sarahy Escobar, and DeAndre Charlotte, as well as many others have expressed how well they think the play will be and the fun it brings with their favorite personal scenes.
Vences shared his experience on how the play is currently going, “kind of the usual stuff, just doing blocking in the theater and trying to memorize lines.” In theater, blocking is where everyone is on the stage, when they come out, what they do in the background, and where they stand. While this is something all actors share in common during the play, a challenge Vences also faces is having to get all the sound queues ready as he is part of the tech team.
During the production, Brian has learned more about the cast members: “Since this is such a comedic show, we are seeing a lot more people that haven’t really done comedy-type roles, stepping out and finding their comedic timing and finding more of a comedic aspect to their acting they haven’t really done before.”
Having the opportunity to expand your acting skills in not only a comedic direction but more so a direction you are not familiar with helps the actors find their other aspects aside from their dramatic type of acting. Getting the chance to step out into a role that has a theme you haven’t done much of can teach you more things about yourself like how well you do in comedic plays but also if you would be willing to do another comedic play again.
To further explain some challenges Vences may face as being part of the tech team is getting “tons of people to work together in such a quick succession” he stated as he referred to this big chase scene that happens in the play.
While Vences gives great insight into how it is being part of both the play and tech team, Ace Showstead added on to their personal experience of being part of the tech team as well.“From a tech perspective, it’s been going very well so far but a lot of people haven’t been doing work because certain people have certain jobs so like some people don’t have anything to do in tech,” Showstead explained. While the play itself has been going great, some people haven’t had the chance to do much or “see themselves not doing anything” from time to time due to them being restricted to one certain job they were assigned.
“We are used to doing musicals and so switching it up with a comedy is pretty fun,” Stage manager Sarahy Escobar gives further insight to how Sammy Roo came about and why they decided on a more comedic aspect.
Escobar also mentioned her favorite part is that new things are happening. Such as the tech crew being involved in the play. She added, “That was something that never happened before, tech is usually put to the side but this time they are going to be recognized.”
So far they have been building props, painting, and finding costumes. As the play progresses more and more, Showstead has made many new friends along the way and noticed how great the community is. Work-wise, the class itself is an Honors class so the tech week and the show are graded on a test level.
The aforementioned challenge Showstead has faced is just sitting around having nothing to do; “I think we should think more ahead of what we want to do because then we would be finished faster.” But tech week for Showstead personally is his favorite thing about the production process so far.
Charlotte, an actor, has prepared so far by “blocking everything step by step.” While learning how to interact with the peers he has been cast with. While he loves the play, stating it to be a “great play,” some challenges he faces are parts of the play they have been blocked with, “trying to remember it and all.”
Charlotte finds making a new creative version of Scooby Doo, Sammy Roo to be an interesting aspect that made him want to be part of the production. His favorite part of the production process is the chase scene, a scene that seems to stick out to both him and Vences.
Erin Grondin, who works in props for the play, finds the play to be “really interesting, unique, and very student-like since we helped write it.” So far, Grondin has learned, in a jokingly tone, “I do not like dancing for 5 minutes but I have also learned that when there are a lot of characters in the play it is very difficult to separate the chaos to a certain pinpoint of where the audience is supposed to look at.”
Some challenges Grondin has faced are finding specific things they need for the props themselves. When it comes to what inspired Grondin to be part of the production, “I like Scooby Doo, I think it is an interesting franchise and I used to watch ‘Mystery Incorporated’ all the time.” Sammy Roo connects not only with the audience but the cast members, the tech team, and all parties involved and Scooby Doo is a very well-known childhood series people have been known to love.
Grondin’s favorite part of the production process is watching the run crews as they state how every time they try, they get better. Showing the hard efforts being put into the play and how they want to perfect it. To finalize Grondin’s opinions about the play, their favorite scene is the party scene.
Spignese-Smolinsky shares how this will be her last play in high school and how she is very excited about it. She stated, “I love how collaborative this play is, we are learning so much from each other.” She also mentioned how there will be a lot of improv and silly scenes.
With tickets soon to be available, anticipation mounts for the vibrant play the “Sammy Roo” promises to deliver. From its colorful characters to its funny moments of humor, this production is not to be missed.
