“For this show we have to dig a lot deeper into what each character is thinking because it is really important to portray the message the right way.” – Gabrielle Kaprak

This fall, Wheeling’s theater department is putting on the production of Carrie. This musical is an adaptation of the movie based on the book by Steven King. The story is about Carrie White, played by Poli Tzarevski, a teenage girl who is bullied relentlessly at school and ridiculed at home by her mother (Gabrielle Kaprak.) Carrie finds out she has telekinetic powers and is not afraid to use them if pushed too far.

“There aren’t many musicals like this, It’s definitely a bit different than what people are used to since it’s going to be a bit more of a depressing story.” States Dan Haidau, a Junior who plays Billy Nolan, a supporting antagonist. This performance has to be interpreted the correct way or else the message of anti-bullying could be lost.

In order to get that done, every cast member is devoting all their effort to perfecting this production for their audience on November 16th-18th. Tzarevski states, “I’ve been putting all of my attention towards the musical right now, just so that I could really focus on getting this role.” Then when asked if she knows of anyone else who’s put this much commitment into the process she responds admirably with, “The student directors, because on top of their roles and they do have main leads, it’s Veronica Ruvinskiy, Sean Fielding, and Arhi Ellis. They’re all so hard working and they’re putting on so much to keep the social media up and to get all of us organized and to keep us on track and I think they are doing a lot.”

These students have been doing a great job at keeping the official Instagram account for WHS’s Carrie updated. To find out some cast members’ favorite horror movie and favorite part of the show check out whs_musical on Instagram. The bio reads, “A night you’ll never forget!”

The visible progression from the beginning of this production to the present has been extremely rewarding to the hard working cast and crew. Freshman CeCe Graves states, “Just looking back on what you were doing a month ago and seeing the progress you’ve made is so fulfilling.”

The cast itself is loaded with an inspiring group of friendly students here at WHS. Most would concur that this class of actors has a close-knit relationship with each other. As the lead has said herself, “This cast, it feels like family, there’s no cliches or anything like that, everyone is just so close and together and I really like that throughout the process.”

When asked what her favorite thing about this particular cast is, Noelle Lawson who plays Sue Snell, a classmate of Carrie’s, replied with, “Everyone’s ability to be creative with their parts. We’re all super comfortable with each other so we can do a lot of fun things together acting wise.”

Chris Hargensen, Carrie’s main bully, who is played by Emi Taba states that from these rehearsals, she has learned how close people can get in such a short amount of time. Multiple sources of this award winning theater department have all agreed that this cast is like no other with their close connection and a spark you wouldn’t be able to find at other schools.

To see this star striking bond, hard work, dedication, and talent, from the cast of Carrie, get tickets for yourself and your family for nights 1-3 on November 16th, 17th, and 18th.