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AREYOUAWARE?
Appleton, Wisconsin February 2016 Vol. XXI Issue I
Page 10
You may have rolled
your eyes at the tree dis-
play at Target, cringed at
the carols playing on the
radio, and avoided eye
contact with the Santa at
the mall, but the holidays
came and went and, with
advertisements and pro-
motions galore, they were
impossible to dismiss.
They may have past, but it
is impossilbe to forget the
season of cheer synony-
mous with baked goods,
wishlists, seasonal drinks,
pointless coffee-cup argu-
ments, family reunions,
and of course music.
For the fifth year in a
row,
An Evening of Holi-
day Mischief
provided the
community with a night of
hijinks, holiday cheer, and
genuine generosity. North
alum Cory Chisel hosted
alongside his longtime col-
laborator and partner, Adriel
Denae. Attendees enjoyed
solo performances from
both Chisel and Denae, as
well as collaborative pieces.
According to the event’s
official Facebook page,
“Rhodes Wilder Chisel [the
couple’s son] brought down
the house with his perfor-
mance” as well.
With the duo’s Ameri-
cana take on classic holiday
songs, you can be certain
this wasn’t your grandma’s
Christmas pageant. Many
surprise guests joined the
headliners throughout the
concert. In years past, these
performers have included
community choirs and local
artists, and this year includ-
ed the Appleton Boychoir
and John Wheelock, a local
singer and bass player.
To spread the cheer
throughout the community,
Willems Student Marketing
team, which features many
Appleton North Students
and is headed by North’s
own Mrs. Dechant, held a
gift drive during the con-
cert, wherein attendees were
encouraged to bring a new
unwrapped gift to the per-
formance. These gifts have
since been donated to fami-
lies in need at the Fox Val-
ley Warming Shelter, COTS,
Homeless Connections, and
the Harbor House.
Overall,
the evening,
which was standing room
only, has been labeled a suc-
cess by the event’s coordi-
nators and can be expected
to run once more in Decem-
ber 2016. For more informa-
tion, check the Mile of Mu-
sic Facebook page or their
website at http://mileofmu-
sic.com/.
An evening of holiday mischief
By Molly Biskupic
By Rachel Sina
Student perspective: One Act performing
“Go!” the stage manager
shouts queuing a flood of
set pieces to surge onto the
stage in a choreographed
frenzy. For the next forty
minutes or less, the Apple-
ton North One Act cast
and crew becomes one in
purpose: to immerse our-
selves and our audience in
Wonderland. As the timer
ticks, we are an instrument
of concentration, rendering
Lewis Carroll’s beloved
story.
I play Alice Liddell in
North’s One Act produc-
tion of Alice in Wonder-
land this year. Although
Alice One Act isn’t the
first production I’ve been
a part of with the North
Theatre Program, it is cer-
tainly among the ones I’ve
grown the most fond of
because of its whimsical
and wonderfully abstract
nature. Not to be confused
with either one of Disney’s
Alice in Wonderland’s, the
North theatre production
is an original adaptation
of Lewis Carroll’s novel,
condensed into a single act
and performed as a part of
the Wisconsin High School
Forensic Association’s One
Act competition.
Working in the Alice cast
is an indescribable experi-
ence, but I’ll try my best to
explain nonetheless. On one
hand, there are exceptional
bonds formed between fel-
low cast and crewmembers
that are comparable to be-
ing part of a family; we are
driven not only by the love
of the theatre, but also by
a shared desire to uphold
the reputation of our the-
atre program’s ancestors.
One Act excellence is a
tradition at North, with our
Theatre Program obtaining
the coveted Critic’s Choice
award at the Wisconsin
High School Theatre Fes-
tival for the past sixteen
consecutive years, so each
member of the cast and
crew is eager to continue
to be the best we can and
to tell of Alice’s adventures
with honesty and heart.
On the other hand, One
Act is an experience not for
the weak-hearted.
For one, there is the un-
derlying stress of each per-
formance, with set up and
take down included, having
to be under forty minutes in
order to meet the guidelines
of the competition. Then,
there are the grueling eight
to twelve hour rehearsals
wherein numerous changes
are constantly made; with
surpassing the trials of
district and sectional com-
petitions, the intensity of
rehearsals as the show trav-
els to state become more
heightened than ever.
Frankly, it gets pretty de-
manding. From my person-
al perspective as an actor,
making sure you’re seen,
heard, and understood are
all crucial elements of the
production. For everyone
involved, it is paramount to
be in, ahead, and above the
moment all at once. Practice
makes perfect, and staying
at school until around ten
at night as well as mentally
reviewing scenes individu-
ally is necessary to achieve
this perfection.
After all, receiving Crit-
ic’s Choice is completely
dependent on how three es-
teemed theatre profession-
als interpret the play. Pro-
jecting a single sentence
or remembering a simple
gesture can be the differ-
ence between the judges’
full understanding of the
show and their complete
dismissal of a vital part of
the story. Alice, as abstract
as we have made it to be,
can only be done right with
utmost precision and with
maintaining the efficiency
of our carefully crafted,
well-oiled machine. This
system is what defines us
as One Act performers, as
participants in such a com-
manding production.
Walking off stage as the
final seconds of our pro-
duction elapse, the pas-
sage of time seems surreal
because of our collective
enthrallment in the remark-
able happenings onstage.
Afterwards, we await our
results in a silent storm of
exhaustion and nervous
energy. Stop or advance,
pass or fail, win or lose, it
would be a lie to say that
the judge’s’ jurisdiction
won’t mean the world to
us, because it will.
Still, whether or not we
put on a show that reflects
our blood, sweat and tears
and that inspires other
theatre programs to do
the same is what will last.
That, for me, is our entire
purpose.
For more information re-
garding upcoming shows,
visit appletonnorththeatre.
com.
From left to right: North theatre director Ron Parker, actress Rachel Sina, and
stage managers Kamy Veith and Maddy Cuff in an early rehearsal of the Alice in
Wonderland One Act.
Photo by Maddy Schilling
A tabled filled with gifts donated by attendees have
been sent to families in need across the Fox Valley.
Photo Courtesy of Mile of Music.