High schoolers team up with Seattle Rep to put on musical

Assignment: Pick a topic with potential for dramatic conflict.

Subject: mothers and daughters.

At least that much was a no-brainer. The harder part came next, as a cast and crew of more than 50 high school students plus theater professionals from Seattle Repertory Theatre collaborated on a new work, called "Boxes."

The play, which runs Wednesday and Thursday in the Rep's Leo K Theatre, is a retelling of the myths of Pandora and Persephone through the stories of two teenage girls (complete with a teen Greek chorus).

More than that, it's an opportunity for drama students from The Center School in Seattle to try musical theater, something none of the students knew they were in for when they signed up for the Drama Intensive program, now in its seventh year as a collaboration between the Rep and The Center School. The Center School is a public high school with an emphasis on the arts.

"For some of them, it's their first exposure to a musical," said director Scott Koh from the Rep. "Others are Broadway babies."

But all of them learned to sing, and in some cases play instruments, as well as act during the production. They also built the sets, learned to run the light booth and supplied feedback on the script, written by Andrea Allen, director of education at the Rep. She held brainstorming sessions with the students and incorporated many of their ideas, including dialogue, into the play.

At one point, the character Candace and her friend Midge talk about arguing with their mothers:

Candace: OMG, the other day, my mom got all up in my face. Something about "You're my little girl" and "nah-nah-nah -- you're all I have in the world" and I said, "hold off with the guilt salad, please. I need to save some room for dessert."

Midge: Did she back off?

Candace: No, she totally started in about my "attitude" and my lack of "responsibility" and I said, "I'm talking on the phone here."

Fathers aren't spared, either.

In a later conversation, Candace and Midge discuss their partying.

Candace (laughing): I stayed out all night. My dad yelled at me for like 10 straight hours. I was all "Watev, dude, that's your baggage, not mine."

During a recent rehearsal, the cast members, mostly young women, delivered their lines with naturalistic aplomb, and in the next breath burst into rousing musical numbers with choreography by movement director Fran Kao.

"A little more energy, please!" she shouted. "Take the energy right into your solar plexus and straight out through your face."

The cast and crew leapt around the newly constructed set, which still smelled of sawdust, until the choreography settled into their bodies.

"OK, roll it back," said Koh, and they started the scene again.

For Erica Olsen, who plays the character Stephanie and has done theater, the best part about this production was feeling a part of it from its inception. The conflicts come straight from the students' own lives, she said.

For Angel Bosworth-Hope, who plays Hades, and is one of only three male cast members, the dramatics extended to working with his female peers.

"The cast is almost all high school women, so there's so much subtle drama going on between them all the time," he said during a scene break. The three young women circled around him rolled their eyes.

"Yeah, well, guys have it, too," shot back Millie Pierce, 18, who plays Greek Chorus member No. 2.

The cast and crew make up an eclectic group. Many of them likely would not have crossed paths in school, but their camaraderie was evident as opening day drew near.

"They're getting a crash course in musical theater," said musical director Chris Dewar, also of the Rep. "After this, they'll be prepared for anything."

IF YOU GO

Tickets are $5 and proceeds support the Drama Intensive program. Showtimes are 7 p.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday. For more information: seattlerep.org, or call 206-443-2222