Niles West Theatre Starting off the School Year With “The Fundamentals”

Poster+for+Niles+West+Theatres+upcoming+show%2C+The+Fundamentals.

Marija Kraljevic

Poster for Niles West Theatre’s upcoming show, “The Fundamentals”.

By Julie Abelson, Staff Writer

It’s the last week before the big show, and in theatre that means one thing: tech week. The crew busily works through the final kinks of the show working with the lights and sound effects. The cast excitedly steps into their elaborate costumes for the first time. It’s the first time the show is being transformed from a paper script to real life. Tech week is when everything comes together to tell the story that the production wants to share with the entire audience.

All the elements of the show are coming together as the cast finally get their hands on the props, hear the sound effects and see the bright lights shining down on them.

According to senior Lorelei Werneckle, “When everything comes together for the first time, and you get to watch the first full run-through with all the technical elements, it’s like magic. It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with theatre.”

Senior Sarah Collins discusses how she looks forward to the new theatre season and the current freshmen joining.

I’m personally excited this year for new faces to come into the department; we can always be enhanced by new perspectives, and as a senior thinking back to when I was a freshman, I know that some passionate people will be joining us,” Collins said.  

When talking about their upcoming play, “The Fundamentals,” Henry Gussis talks about how excited he is to see the audience’s reaction to the play.

I’m excited to see the audience react to the show since it’s very different from some of the previous thespian shows here at West,” Gussis said. 

Senior Alexis Aponte is also excited; although, she has a case of the butterflies thinking about her performance.

I’m terrified but also so excited for people to see the way me and my cast-mates perceive the adult world and attempt to express ourselves through these characters,” Aponte said. 

“The Fundamentals” production begins this week in the Black Box Theatre, with ticket prices being $10 for adults and the discounted price of $7 for students who bring their IDs. Shows begin on Thursday, Aug. 29 at 10 am and 5 pm and continue on Friday, Aug. 30 at 4 and 7:30 pm. Their final show is at 4 pm on Saturday, Aug. 31.