East Ridge High School Theater Program Shines in the SpotLight

“The Mystery of Edwin Drood” hits it big with 8 honors from Hennepin Theatre Trust.

By: Bobby Hart | From the issue: January 2012

Photo: Kirk Portrait Design

Joe Johnson (as Chairman) earned a SpotLight Award for Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role in "Mystery of Edwin Drood." Johnson also did the set design.

The East Ridge High School theater program is all about the comprehensive theater experience, according to Amanda Hestwood, director of the program’s fall musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. That helps explain why the show earned eight 2011-12 SpotLight honors, touching a variety of categories, from Hennepin Theatre Trust.

The show won Honorable Mention for Overall Performance, Overall Production and Performance by Student Orchestra, while the following individuals were awarded:

-Joe Johnson (as Chairman) earned Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role

-Allura Lindquist (as Princess Puffer) earned Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role

-Julia Reimann (as Rosa Bud) earned Honorable Mention Performance in a Leading Role

-Alyssa Wynn (as Edwin Drood) earned Honorable Mention Performance in a Leading Role

-Austin Robinson (as John Jasper) earned Honorable Mention Performance in a Leading Role

The Mystery of Edwin Drood is based off a novel of the same title by Charles Dickens. Dickens died before he could finish it, so the musical relies on audience participation to choose the ending. Relying on such a high volume of audience interaction is no easy task, according to Hestwood, who serves as the school’s English department chair as well as theater coordinator.

“Having a short run gives students little time to work on those skills, and in our case, we were evaluated by SpotLight the first weekend, with our first audiences,” she explains. “It is easier to get an audience for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (a production they performed in 2010), but we had strong, engaged audience for this show, which challenged students on a whole different level.”

Next up, East Ridge High School’s One-Act play, The Break of Noon, hits the Loft Stage for the District One Act Festival at 6:30 p.m. January 20 (general admission tickets are $5 at the door), before competing in the subsection tournament at the Loft at 3:30 p.m. on January 24 (open to the public, but because it’s a competition, people can’t enter performances late and exact start times are unavailable). Then this spring, May 3-5, The Loft Stage presents the comedy You Can’t Take it With You by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart.

Alyssa Wynn (as Edwin Drood) earned Honorable Mention Performance in a Leading Role.