Mama Mia, Big Fish, and The Musical Comedy of Murders are just a few of the wonderful musicals Ames High Drama Club has put together these past few years. This spring, AHS drama took on what may be their biggest musical project

to date, Mary Poppins.  This show required extreme precision as they had many challenging obstacles to work around, including an incredibly large set and a live pit orchestra. 

“ We had a really big set, and everything was constantly moving, which for all shows is really difficult, but especially for Mary Poppins,” says Junior Dunkin Bearson, who starred as Roberson Ay in the musical. “We had to get the timing just right, especially since we were playing with a live pit.” 

Being in a musical this big required countless hours of work, including up to 9 hours every Saturday at the school to prepare for opening night as well as even more time after school on weekdays. Actors not only had to prepare for roles with script analysis and memorization, but also work cohesively with the technical side of the production for precise timing and mastering of the intricate choreography for the musical numbers. 

“We had a lot of moving parts and it was a lot of work to figure out. But we just rep the show alot to help us practice. After so many times you start getting used to it and figuring it out” says Junior Avie Niemi, who starred as Jane Banks. 

But possibly the most challenging part of the show didn’t have to do with things on the ground like the set, but rather with things that weren’t. 

“[When they told me I was going to fly] I was ecstatic. It’s always been my dream to fly, since I was a little girl. I flipped out,” says Senior Madie Fischer. Fischer secured the role of Mary Poppins back in December, and, since then has been tirelessly working alongside other members of the club to bring the world of Mary Poppins to life. 

During the show, members of the Mary Poppins tech crew, as well as teachers Alex Grapp and Kate Engelkes, were tasked with ensuring that all of the flying was done safely and securely.

“ Backstage there is a complicated rope system that was installed and then we had to be trained on how to attach [the actors] harnesses and how to pull on the rope system to get them up in the air,” said Alex Grapp, who was one of the few people trained on the flying aspect of the musical.

Putting someone in the air required a counterweight pulley system and multiple people working the different parts of

it. This included Grapp pulling on the counterweight part of the rope-which allowed the actors to move up and down,

and tech crew member Miles Peterson pulling on the rope across the stage so the flying actors could move from left and right. 

“We had to make decisions on when we were able to fly the actors based on the different set pieces being in the way or not. There were definitely other times during the musical we could have flown [Mary poppins] again, but it would have been too complicated,”says Grapp. 

But despite all of these challenges, Ames High Drama managed to debut their incredible production on the night of April 11 and wrapped up the show on April 13. Post show, Members of the drama club recalled how much the Ames High theatre program has impacted them. 

“Theatre is what I love to do. While there might be a day where I’d rather sleep or than go to musical rehearsal, I realize this is what I do.” Says Fischer. “ I am very grateful that Ames High has such a good drama program that has given me the opportunity to do these things.”