By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
The stars of Union High School's spring musical, "South Pacific," date in real life.
But that doesn't make her romantic scenes with her boyfriend junior Bill Davis (French plantation owner Emile DeBecque, a widower with two children) any easier for senior Kristin Krueger as Navy Ensign Nellie Forbush.
"I've never been in love on stage before," she said. "Even though it's Bill, I still feel like I'm falling in love with him again. (Nellie the nurse) is way more open about her feelings about the guy she's in love with. That's not really me. I don't like showing that much affection. Even though I'm doing these scenes with my boyfriend, it's still hard for me to get out of my comfort zone."
Krueger plans on attending Southwestern Michigan College for two years before continuing at Grand Valley State University to a master's degree in occupational therapy.
DeBecque fled France because of a death. Davis said Emile is harder than his role a year ago in "Annie Get Your Gun" because of the necessary accent.
"I've never taken French in my life," he admitted during the pizza break at Thursday night's dress rehearsal. "It's a lot of fun, and it's really nice because Kristin is the other lead. I'm the romantic type, and my character definitely is. He's one to get emotional over a lot of things."
Senior Jordan Eby (who makes women swoon strutting around in his military uniform as Lt. Joseph Cable) is just glad to be back on stage in a musical.
Right before "Annie Get Your Gun" he became ill and had to bow out, with Davis stepping in. This time he gets the girl (Jessica Hargett, who was "Annie," is love interest Liat, "Bloody Mary's" daughter, as well as Emile's servant Henrietta).
"The last time I did a musical was 'Charlie Brown' sophomore year," Eby said. "It's really good to be doing a musical and not a play. It's also nice not having any choreography because I suck at that."
"One of the interesting things about this play," Eby said, "is that vocally, everybody's doing something new. Nobody's in their natural range. I'm singing a higher part than I normally would and Bill and Tyler are singing lower."
"Definitely," Krueger agreed. "I'm lower. Much lower."
"This is going to be my last time on stage," added Eby, who expects "to get into a totally different aspect of theater" after high school.
"I'm going to do shows at SMC and Beckwith, but for the most part I'm leaving onstage and moving to a different part of theater – backstage to the tech, the lights" after acting in "13 or 14" productions.
Sophomore Chelsea Thompson is "Bloody Mary." It's her first sizable part since moving here in eighth grade from Battle Creek, where she did community theater.
"I'm pretty spontaneous, so she's a lot like me," Thompson said. "She's pretty crazy and she's trying to hook up her daughter."
Thompson appeared in the chorus for "Annie Get Your Gun" and wants to be a music therapist, helping autistic children, after graduating. She has sung in choir and plays clarinet in band.
Junior Derek Wilkins is Capt. George Brackett. He was recruited out of Jeff Robinson's choir. "I was going to be in the tech crew, lighting and building stuff," he said, "but Bill (Davis, a fellow drummer in band) and (Musical Director Josh) Bartz pushed me into trying it. This year I thought I'd try something else. It's been great."
For his first directing job in Dowagiac, DUHS math teacher Keith Klann is tackling a show he appeared in at Watervliet High School as con artist Luther Billis in a coconut bra and grass skirt, just like sophomore Tyler Hall.
Billis is a cocky troublemaker with an ulterior motive of using people to get what he wants. Hall said he's having fun portraying someone with a personality "very different" from his own. He also has a larger part than in "Annie Get Your Gun," although, "I did sing more last year. I had a whole song to myself. This year I have more lines."
Hall feels no pressure stepping into the same part his director had in high school. Klann "doesn't really talk about it, so I don't know if when he was Billis it went well or not. He just said, 'Hey, that's the part I did.' "
Klann's high school director, Jim Keech, who has directed numerous productions at Beckwith Theatre, "taught me everything I know," he said. "This is actually my second musical that I've directed, but I've been in the pit forever" playing saxophone, including starting college as a music major and at Eau Claire.