Pine-Richland High School will return to the classics with '42nd Street' musical

Students at Pine-Richland High School will offer “big number” performances and plenty of tap routines during five showings of “42nd Street” next month.

The 1980 musical, based on a 1930s novel and film adaptation, is a meta-musical romance that follows an often troubled Broadway production during the Great Depression.

The show’s director, Kathy Morrissey, said that after three years of more contemporary productions, she opted for something different and more classic.

But that meant she would have to train her 60-student cast, the largest in recent memory, to tap dance — even though most of them had never slid on a pair of tap shoes before. She put out some training material before auditions, and once the cast was set, she said she made December “tap boot camp.”

“It’s unbelievable how well they’ve done, and they took it so seriously and practiced on their own,” Morrissey said. “It’s been incredible.”

“42nd Street,” she said, is like watching a black-and-white film, and it will offer audiences the chance to hear “old standards they haven’t heard in years.”

Jake Pazin plays Billy Lawlor, the male lead in the musical’s fictional Broadway show. He said the production is classic Broadway.

A senior, Pazin said he had no experience with tap dancing before auditions, but he said he thinks the cast’s blank slate made them more excited to “make the show amazing.”

“This is kind of my last chance to grow as a performer so I wanted it to be as challenging as possible,” he said.

Another musical veteran, Anna Karmanos, plays Dorothy Brock, a primadonna but poor dancer who initially occupies the female lead in the act’s fictional show.

Because of her character’s two left feet, Karmanos said she does not dance much during the show, but that has allowed her to see “everything come together” as her fellow cast members get the hang of the numbers.

Karmanos said she is glad the show has offered something “entirely new” to the cast, and it has been fun to “fall in love” with the musical, she said.

But for one lead, just about everything is entirely new.

Vaughn Spencer has never participated in a musical, nor has he really sung or danced, he said. But the senior did win the first state wrestling championship for Pine-Richland since 1982 last year.

After his fourth surgery, the latest for a torn ACL, Spencer said he had a lot of time on his hands. Plus, both of his parents, Brad and JoAnn Spencer, are longtime stage actors who still perform in local shows.

With his background and newfound idleness, Spencer said he had “no excuse” not to get involved in the musical.

“I’m having a lot of fun with it. This is something I’ve never done before, and it was out of my comfort zone,” Spencer said. “But now that I’m in it, I’m so thankful and glad that I decided to do this.”

Before auditions, he said he took some voice lessons and practiced singing with his parents around the house. And when the time came, he managed to snag the lead role of Julian Marsh, the director of the fictional show.

Morrissey said Spencer had musical talent “in his DNA,” and she is glad he has been able to “unlock it.”

“People are not going to believe it when he opens his mouth to sing,” she said. “He’s absolutely amazing; it’s like he’s been doing it all his life.”

Though the senior is committed to Lehigh University to wrestle, Spencer said he could see himself doing more performances in the future.

Up next, the cast will continue its 15 hours of weekly rehearsals as it begins to integrate with the crew and live orchestra — boosting the total production team to about 120 students.

Even with such large numbers to manage, Morrissey said it has not been hard to direct the show because of student professionalism. She said she is “very proud” of their work so far.

The curtains will rise for the first show at 7:30 p.m. March 7. That will be followed by shows on March 8 and 14 at the same time. The final shows, at 2 and 7:30 p.m., will take place March 15.