Last year, a talented opera writer named Claudia Stevens wanted to stage her new production. Andersen, her opera, was a story about the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen. You might know him as the author of well-known fairy tales, such as ‘The Little Mermaid’. 

However, Stevens faced several barriers. Actually producing her opera in Los Angeles would’ve taken too much time and money to be an attractive project for her since she wanted to continue writing. After some consideration, Stevens had an idea. Instead of producing Andersen in LA, Stevens decided to adapt the opera for her son, CHS’s Mr. Becker, to direct as a play in our award-winning theater department.

“She just had this lightbulb moment,” says Mr. Becker. “Why don’t we stage it as a high school production?”

After several rounds of edits, Ms. Stevens turned the original opera into a one-act play. It now features shortened versions of a few songs, written by Stevens’ husband, Allen Shearer. As of mid-September, Andersen is cast and in rehearsals. TheatreCHS will perform the play, for the first time ever, on October 23rd in the Black Box.

To make sure the show is finished on that tight schedule, the cast and musicians are rehearsing three times a week. “I think we’re all very committed,” says Robin Baranowski, the show’s lead actor. “And want to turn something that we all love and we all enjoy into a fun experience.”

Olivia Colvin, who plays the Would Be Director, says rehearsals always have “what I call moments of magic… where people click or understand their character for the first time, where people are able to really connect.”

Andersen‘s design team has been working equally hard. Every week, you can find tech theater students building sets, finishing costumes, and practicing running crew on Tech Tuesdays. Head costume designer Esme Ogden-Amt says the production’s tech elements are “ambitious.” Esme won 2nd place for costume design last year in the entire state of Virginia, and she’s been hand-sewing a huge portion of the show’s costumes.

However, it can be difficult for students to balance rehearsals and tech theater work with the rest of life. “I’m a high school student. I’m taking three AP classes, and I have other projects that I’m working on actively,” Robin shared. “But I still made this play the priority, because I know how much [Theatre CHS] wants this play to succeed”.

The weekend after the local performance, the cast and crew of Andersen will travel to Richmond for the Virginia Theater Association conference. TheatreCHS will perform it in the one-act play competition. If the show receives high scores from judges, they’ll advance to the regional level. Last year’s one-act entry, Property Rites, almost made it to the regional level, and the new cast is excited to compete. 

“At VTA, I’m hoping to perform and place in the top six,” says Olivia Colvin. “I also want to go to the dance workshop, Improvathon, and I want to enter something into the script-writing competition.” Two tech theater students, Esme and Ceres, also plan to enter the costume and set design competitions.

The play is scheduled for one night only on October 23rd at 7 pm. Tickets are free for CHS students, but will cost a small fee for other attendees. Make sure you arrive at the Black Box early to get seats!