The Memorial theatre department will be putting on their very first show of the school year this week, a re-envisioned version of lip sync, which was a staple at Rider High School.
“Prom: A Lip Sync Musical” is a student-directed production that details the events of students before the high school prom. A cheating scandal, a dance battle in the school parking lot and a promposal that all take place before the prom is sure to keep audiences at the edge of their seats.
When coming up with ideas for Memorial’s first production, theatre teacher Zachary Jackson knew he wanted to stick with the concept of lip sync and student directing.
“I still wanted to give students the chance to direct since they were concerned they would not be able to at the new schools,” Jackson said.
Although Jackson was completely on board with carrying lip sync over to Memorial, he knew he wanted to make some changes.
“I wanted all the scenes to be in the same world, where the scenes included their own stories with music, but I wanted all the characters to be intertwined in some way,” Jackson said. “This helps give the show more of a flow instead of random scenes that didn’t have any connection.”
Two of the seven students who were given the opportunity to direct a lip sync scene were seniors Shannon Cook and Kylie Goins.
Cook, who also serves as the Memorial theatre department president, is directing Aerosmith’s version of “Come Together,” a song originally made famous by The Beatles. Cook initially had a hard time settling on a song for her lip sync.
“Originally, I wanted to do a really melodramatic, exaggerated song, but I couldn’t find a song that worked,” Cook said. “I ended up thinking about how we were going to get a big set ready for the prom scene in such a short amount of time, and that’s when I decided that’s what my song would be about, a group of people coming together to set up for prom.”
Goins is directing Beabadoobee’s “The Glue Song,” a love song about two people who are “stuck together like glue.”
“I went into Spotify and started going through love songs and then ‘The Glue Song’ came on and it was perfect,” Goins said
Cook and Goins both agreed that their favorite part of lip sync was about the bonds they make during the show.
“My favorite thing is getting to meet new people and introduce new people to theatre,” Goins said.
Cook echoed this sentiment, stating that “despite the stress, people build relationships and have a lot of laughs during the show.”
When asked why people should come see lip sync, Jackson praised the students involved in the production.
“Everyone should come support these students and all their hard work they’ve put into this production,” Jackson said. “It really does matter to the cast and crew when they get to see their friends, family, teachers and coaches come see their hard work.”
PROM: A LIP SYNC MUSICAL
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday
Where: Memorial High School auditorium
Tickets: $10 at the door
