It is the night of November 1st. For some students, it is just a regular day. But for others, it is the opening night of a play that they have spent tireless amounts of time preparing.

Bellevue East’s theater troupe will be performing the production ‘Frankenstein” right in the school’s auditorium, with show dates being set to November 1st and 2nd at 7 PM, and November 3rd at 2 PM. Admission is free for students with activity cards; otherwise, tickets are five for seniors and all other students, and eight for adults.

“We always choose our shows based on the personnel we have,” advisor Joseph Hamik said. “We also choose based on something we believe will provide a challenge and an interesting opportunity for the students to learn and develop new skills.”

Originally, the production was set to be based on the Ray Bradbury novel “Something Wicked This Way Comes”, released in 1962. Both “Frankenstein” and “Something Wicked This Way Comes” fall under the horror fiction genre. 

“We ended up going away from it because we didn’t feel like it was the right fit for this crew of kids,” advisor Jerry Geho said. “We usually try to decide on it the school year before.”

Actors, also known as the Cast, are the students that are selected to perform certain roles. Auditioners read out lines from a character’s monologue, and afterwards are directed to act out scenes with other auditioners to see who works the best together.

Playing the lead role as the menacing Victor Frankenstein himself is senior Asher Briggs. “The way that auditions go for Bellevue East is they are cold reads,” Briggs said. “They are transitioning to having already prepared monologues be read, but those are completely optional. Auditioning will always be scary, but the less you worry the easier it will be. Have fun with it! If you don’t get casted, it’s not the end of the world.”

Of course, a play would not be a play without the students on Crew as well. According to the Center Theatre Group, students on crew are responsible for working backstage and keeping the show running. 

“We have our Light and Sound Crew kids, Makeup, Run Crew, and we also have our Special Effects Crew,” Geho said. “We also have our stage managers and student directors.”

Run Crew, as the name suggests, quickly adjusts the stage during intermissions for the next part of the play. Hair and Makeup are responsible for glamming up (or down) the actors for their roles, Light and Sound Crew control the lighting and music during the show, and the Special Effects Crew control the lighting and other effects that come from props.

As for set building, students in the school’s stagecraft classes are responsible for that. “We have five different stagecraft classes between myself and Mr. Hamik,” Geho said. “I have three of the introductory classes, so we get started on things, but Mr. Hamik’s are the advanced production classes. They have been taking a lot of the lead in designing sets and figuring out how to put things together.”

One of the largest challenges that theater has faced are scheduling conflicts. Many of the students are involved in other extracurriculars.

“Our band is stellar, our choir is amazing, our color guard is also amazing, and of course, those amazing kids share those talents with us,” Geho said.

Just as important as the rest of the theater troupe themselves are student directors. Responsible for helping the actors, senior Charli O’Quinn works with the advisors and stage managers to ensure a smooth show.

“Whenever I see that there might be an issue, or so and so are fighting, I have to bring that up to Geho and Hamik,” O’Quinn said.

For over one hundred years, from before Bellevue High was split into two different schools, students have been creating theater productions. The tradition continues to live on to this day.

“My favorite part of the productions is always seeing the students enjoying the creative process and having an outlet to express themselves,” Hamik said.