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Craig Middle School Drama Club presents spring play ‘Typecast’

The cast and crew of "Typecast" show off their variety of skills and personalities on the stage of Craig Middle School.
Andy Bockelman

Craig Middle School Drama Club — "Typecast"

Cast

Jane — Brenna Boatman

Audrey — Evanie Allen

Heidi — Raven Doolin

Debra — Madisyn Caddy

Myra — Veronica Bade

Juliet — Abbigail Stehle

Willow — Arianna Crain

Ms. Diane Thespis — Natalie Moore

Mr. Cal Ball — Lukas Vigil

Crew 

Director — Jordyn Caddy

Stage Manager — Daphne Vest

Stage Technician — Leah LePlatt

Lightning Technician/Spotlight Operator — Tristan Lovelace

Front of House — Isadora Hitz

With a show within a show, the actors of Craig Middle School are learning the value of stepping out of their comfort zones.

CMS Drama Club presents its spring play at 7 p.m. Friday in the Craig Middle School auditorium, 915 Yampa Ave.

“Typecast” tells the tale of a student theater troupe whose latest production is full of hardships, namely because each of the cast and crew members has been assigned to the wrong position.



Despite being more comfortable backstage, the protagonist Jane is moved from stage manager to the star of the show, a combination of two of the most popular fairy tale ladies — Cinder White.

Brenna Boatman plays the girl who, contrary to the show’s title, is cast very much against type.



“Everybody’s really fun to get to know,” she said.

For a girl named Audrey, a résumé that mostly includes acting as part of the scenery changes drastically when cast as a hero named Prince Pleasant. And, just as her character grows, sixth-grader Evanie Allen said certain elements of acting have also gotten easier.

“I feel like I can memorize lines a lot better now,” she said.

Meanwhile, ditzy Juliet is tasked with handling stage duties, despite struggling with a task as simple as a light switch.

“I have to play dumb, but it’s kind of a nice learning experience for everyone,” Abbigail Stehle said of the character.

Likewise, a girl named Heidi used to portraying kindly characters in productions is instead forced to be the Evil Stepmother.

“She’s very nice and bubbly and likes to have a lot of friends and the stepmother isn’t so nice,” eighth-grader Raven Doolin said of her part. “I’m kind of both because it’s hard to be extremely nice, but being super-rude is a little bit hard, too.”

Alternately, seventh-grader Veronica Bade plays Myra, whose personality fits well for the Evil Stepsister, though Myra has next to no interest in even being in a play.

Bade said she has a tendency to crack up easily onstage, which makes it hard to portray someone with a bad attitude.

“It’s kind of hard to be mean while laughing hysterically at something completely stupid,” she said with a smile.

The adults in the show are also somewhat out of their element, including a basketball coach suddenly thrown into a last-minute role of director.

But, Lukas Vigil said his part of the coach has a tough love approach that becomes beneficial.

“I get sick and tired of everybody in the play, and I have to get them to work together and make it work,” he said.

Natalie Moore portrays Diane Thespis, an eccentric bohemian whose style ultimately works out against all odds.

“I disappear part-way through and then come back right when they’re about to do the show,” Moore said.

She added the role gave her an appreciation for what her own director has been experiencing.

CMS’s director and Drama Club adviser is teacher Jordyn Caddy, who has been overseeing the show the past two months.

Caddy said she staged a holiday-themed show before winter break and was ready to try something bigger for the spring, a one-act play that is just over an hour in length.

“We struggled at first with characters they’re not used to being, but they’ve all come into it, just like the show does,” Caddy said. “They’ve worked their tails off.”

The conflicts of the smaller play have been reflected slightly in the larger show as the final week of preparation has everyone working out any stage fright or other issues, though Boatman is confident everything will come together by showtime.

“I’m sure we’ll be able to work it all out,” she said.

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