Liberty Produces First Student-Run Musical
“The Trail to Oregon” hits the stage Friday and Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
January 30, 2021
Liberty’s first completely student-run musical “The Trail to Oregon” is showing on Jan. 29 and Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. The director Michelle Yoder had the idea to have a student-run musical shortly after “Cinderella” finished in November 2019, when she needed a project to do in her free time. The senior started looking at musicals and decided on “The Trail to Oregon.”
“I spent a lot of time picking a show, and then I found ‘The Trail to Oregon’ and it was a lot cheaper than other shows and it didn’t have as many people in it so I felt like it was a lot more manageable,” Yoder said.
When she first told people her idea, no one thought that the school would let her do it, but after giving Ms. Gehrke a 20-minute presentation convincing her, the show was put into action. Joining Yoder is her sister Amanda Yoder as a choreographer and set designer, Rhett Cunningham as technical director, and Alyssa Place as the musical director. As well as the cast including Shaina Feinstein (12), Anna Decker (12), Michelle Gannon (11), Anna Wright (10), Shane Wolz (10), Morgan Feinstein (10), Aicha Beye (9) and Connor Higlen (9).
“I love working with every one and this has brought me a sense of accomplishment, I’m really proud of the work we have done,” Yoder said.
The story is a parody of the classic game, “The Oregon Trail” and follows travelers as they set off from Independence, Missouri, and try to avoid all the dangers of the trail.
With this being entirely student-run comes with its own sets of challenges. One of which was purchasing the sets and materials needed for the show. Obviously, the students couldn’t handle the school’s money on their own so all purchases had to go through Mrs. Gehrke.
As with everything this year, COVID-19 has created difficulties for events and shows. The thespian and drama club sponsor Mrs. Gehrke was quarantined multiple times during this process which was a struggle. Even though this musical is entirely student-run the students still needed a sponsor at their rehearsals and someone to go to for any questions they had.
Despite this challenge, they powered through and are about to have their first showing Friday, Jan 29 at 7 p.m. Members of cast and crew got five tickets for their friends and family to see the show in person following CDC guidelines. To make sure everyone can watch, a recording of the show will be streamed on both nights with the help of the LHS Live Stream Team and Liberty Publications.
