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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 2016)
SEPTEMBER 23, 2016, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5 KeizerCommunity McNary drama ‘reaching for more’ KEIZERTIMES.COM By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes From going to space to The Addams Family to a twist on Shakespeare, the McNary drama department is “reaching for more” in its 30th season inside the Ken Collins Theater. The fi rst show, Defying Gravity, Nov. 2-5, centers around the 1986 Challenger explosion and focuses primarily on the teacher, who lost her life, and her daughter. “It’s 20 years later and the daughter is reminiscing about her mother and how absent she was in that year she was getting ready,” said Dallas Myers, McNary drama director. “Now as an adult, she’s wrestling with it and the times she didn’t have her mom, all the time that her mom was literally reaching for more. The daughter essentially sounds like and feels like she’s talking to a therapist, like the audience is her therapist.” Also in the play are a NASA mechanic, a bartender, an Oregon couple driving across the country to see the launch and the French Impressionist painter Claude Monet, who has his own artistic quest. Myers believes the play will be good for his students who weren’t alive when the Challenger exploded. “I love this play,” Myers said. “I think there’s some really touching moments in it. I remember what it was like. Everybody waiting for the teacher and then how tragic it was.” On Friday, Nov. 18, Myers is inviting all McNary drama alumni back for a 30th anniversary celebration. “Ken Collins was a giant of theater and Linda Baker was a giant of theater in the city,” Myers said. “Their legacy is what we want to celebrate so we want to do a small cabaret night with a single piano and people can come and sing songs that they sang when they were at McNary or tell stories about Ken or Linda and anybody else who was involved in the theater.” In January, McNary will present its annual musical— The Addams Family. The story centers around Wednesday, her love for a normal boy and the meeting of the two families. “The version available for high schools is super fun,” Myers said. “It’s hilarious and it’s every Addams Family thing that you can think. It’s awesome. I love it.” While the Broadway version had 22 people, Myers has cast 42. Along with the main characters is an ensemble of 33 ghostly ancestors. “I love to do shows that have huge ensembles. This one is probably a stretch but it will just be a cooler, bigger sound for when they sing on stage. It gives more kids an opportunity.” The drama department will host its annual One Act Festival in March, which for the fi rst time last year was all student written. Myers had the diffi cult task of selecting seven original plays out of 16 and has another 30 kids in his playwriting class this year. Also in March, McNary will perform Crimes of the Heart, a small play about three sisters in the south struggling to fi gure out life after one sister shoots her abusive husband. McNary is known for its original looks at Shakespeare and this season will be no different as Myers is setting the story of Julius Caesar in a high school. “All the characters will be high school students and one of the things that I think students really need to think about a lot is how they behave with each other online,” Myers said. “Instead of brutally murdering Caesar, we’re going to socially murder Caesar. I think it will be really neat to explore that with these kids because it’s something they deal with all of the time, online bullying and what does it mean to be a friend? We have a lot of fun with Shakespeare. We usually go pretty big with our Shakespeare plays.” The show is tentatively titled #Caesar and will be performed the fi rst weekend of May. Community book sale Oct. 7-8 The Keizer Community Library’s Fall Book Sale is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, at Keizer City Hall, 930 Chemawa Rd. NE. Items include overstock books, books on tape and CD, movies on videotape and DVD, and puzzles. Prices are 50 cents for paperback books, $1 for hardcover books, and $1 or less for most other items, with special pricing on a few select items and furnishings. Bargain time is 3-4 p.m. Saturday, when full grocery bags sell for $4 and full boxes for $5 Shoppers are asked to bring their own bag or box. The library is also offering buy one, get one at 50 percent off the special bargain prices. Donations of the above- mentioned items are always welcome. To donate, visit the library during the following hours: 1 to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 1 to 4 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday; and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Or call the library during those hours at 503- 390-2370. Additional information is available on the library’s website, www.keizerlibrary.org. We are Everything Except Overpriced Simple Cremation $795 Inexpensive Burial and Funeral Options Submitted Avery Smith (Pugsley Addams), front, Josiah Henifi n (Uncle Fester), Skyla Cawthon (Morticia Addams, Ashton Thomas (Gomez Addams), Emma Blanco (Wednesday Addams), Annie Purkey (Grandma Addams) and Matthew Albright (Lurch), back, make up the cast of The Addams Family musical to be performed by the McNary drama department in January. Homecoming court KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley McNary seniors Jaylene Montano, front, left, Alyssa Looney, Rebecca Amerino, Katelyn Lester, Kolby Barker, Alex Martin, Bryce Looney and Tyler Sorenson were named to the 2016 homecoming court. KEIZER MAYOR CATHY CLARK JOINS GATOR AND DENISE EVERY WEDNESDAY AT 5:30 PM Pre-Planning Available On-Site Crematory 4365 RIVER RD N, KEIZER 503.393.7037 Se habla español TUNE IN AS WE TALK ALL THINGS KEIZER!
