Lakeside Theatre Company has been working on their productions of Dirty Work at the Crossroads and The Angel Next Door/Theatre People since the start of the school year in August. These productions have some award winning notable names such as Amelia Wilson, Rhyse Sterling, Caleb Kraft, Kobe Cohen, Layla Alexander, Patrick Oliver, and Carlson Schaffner. Amelia Wilson won a Shuler award for best performing actress as Ms Honey in Matilda the musical as well as all star cast at GHSA regions, Rhyse Sterling won best performer at GTC, Caleb Kraft won best overall actor at GHSA regions, Kobe Cohen won best overall actor at last years GHSA regions competition and best supporting actor at this years GTC competition, Layla Alexander won all star cast at GTC, Patrick Oliver won all star cast at GTC, Carlson Schaffner won all star cast at GHSA regions, and let’s not forget that The Angel Next Door/Theatre People placed first at GTC.
One of the many things Lakeside High School is known for is its performing arts program. Their program has won many awards and their productions are often liked amongst students, faculty and staff. Vivian Moore (11) saw The Angel Next Door and Dirty Work at The Crossroads on Saturday November 8th. She claimed, “I loved the set design of both shows. I feel like it brought everything together.” She said, “Both shows were done amazingly, but Dirty Work especially stood out to me.” Other students shared similar thoughts. Some of the things said were, “The acting was really strong this year.” and “You could tell they were having fun.”
Behind the scenes a lot of work went into these productions. The cast and crew of both shows had to spend countless hours after school at rehearsal creating these sets by hand. Walls were repainted a dozen times, workshopping had to be done, and the final products had to be approved. On the other hand, the cast had to memorize lines, rehearse for up to 4 hours, and build their character. Both parts impacted these performances significantly.
Lakeside Theatre company always accomplishes bringing families, friends, and staff together in/for their productions. Performing these plays for a packed house is a feeling like no other. The shows drew out large crowds especially over the weekend, with many audience members praising the creativity, effort, and energy of both shows’ cast and crew.
