Theater Performances Entertain

Theater Performance Times   Poudre High School will perform Hello Dolly! a musical, at 7:00 p.m. Thursday thru Saturday, Nov. 19, to 21.   A special matinee show will be performed at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21.  All performances are at the school, 201 Impala Dr. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for students, for evening performances. All seats are $5 for the matinee performance.  Live orchestra music.   Fort Collins High School entertains with Noises Off, a comedy, at 7:00 p.m., Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 19, to  21 in the McNeal Theater, 3400 Lambkin Way. Tickets, $8.   Fossil Ridge High School will present You Can’t Take It With You, a classic play, at 7:00 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Nov. 20 to 21, at the Fossil Ridge High School Performing Arts Center, 5400 Ziegler Rd. Tickets are $6 for students and seniors and $8 for adults.   Tickets for all performances may be ordered online at www.showtix4u.com , or purchased at the door prior to each performance, space permitting.

Theater Teaches Creativity, Innovation and Teamwork

Theater performances scheduled at Fort Collins, Fossil Ridge and Poudre High Schools November 19 to 21 promise hilarious comedy, toe-tapping music, incredible costumes, and two-story sets for audiences to enjoy.

The unsung heroes of every production are the stage and costume crews who work many hours making costumes and building sets.  Although these students will not get the accolades of stage performers, they will learn 21^st century skills including innovation and creativity, critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration and teamwork as they work behind the scenes.

Poudre High School’s costume crew began meeting in September to design the 200 elaborate costumes needed for Hello Dolly!   Wearing black pocket aprons bulging with tape measures, scissors and pins, the crew met underneath the school stage each day using lace and beads, taffeta and pin stripes to create visually rich costumes for Hello Dolly!

“These students are so dedicated,” said Kari Armstrong, a volunteer who has supervised Poudre’s costume crew since 2004.  “Each team has a lead costumer and the group is responsible for all details of each costume for several actors.”

Stage performers depend on the crew to transform them into turn of the century citizens using supplies gleaned from local thrift shops and period dress catalogs from 1895 to 1905. The crew created at least two costumes for each performer, some of whom are required make lightning-fast costume changes in as little as 90 seconds before reappearing on stage.

Three PHS students will enter five of their best costume renderings in the Colorado State Thespian Conference competition in December.  Each girl will prepare fabric swatches and illustrations along with a 10- minute presentation and compete against students from around the state.

Although none of this year’s costume crew plans to pursue costume design as a career field, past student designers have chosen to study and work in theater.  

“A graduate who took first place in the 2007 costume competition is studying in London this semester and working on a show while she is there,” Armstrong said.  “It has been a joy working with the extraordinary students and teachers who are part of the outstanding Poudre Theatre program over the years.