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11/14/2017 11:00 PMSource Staff Writer
Twelve kids is a lot to handle – especially when the kids are all related. This week the Daniel Hand High School (DHHS) Hands-On-Stage Company is bringing the famous and hilarious adventures of one spectacularly large family to life on the DHHS stage Nov. 16-18.
Based upon the book “Cheaper by the Dozen” by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, the play follows the well-known adventure of a family with 12 kids. Director Joy Grabow said this was the perfect production for the fall play because of the number of roles.
“I have an all-inclusive program; everybody who auditions makes it so I have to have a show that I can have an ensemble in where they will have something to do,” she said. “I need to have something that they will have fun doing and something that an audience member, even if they are not involved with anyone at the high school they will recognize the name and want to come see it.”
While taking on such a well-known production can have its challenges, Grabow said the students worked hard to bring their own spin and understanding to each of the characters.
“Cheaper by the Dozen was originally written back in the 50’s so it is fun that it is something they are familiar with but there are lots of different twists on it,” she said. “I always say to them you are not to watch the movie, I don’t want to copy it, I want us to make our own production so the kids do come up with their own characters – we do the same lines but we have our version.”
For this production, 29 students will be on stage and a crew of over 40 students – who do everything from designing the sets to making costumes – are working behind the scenes.
“The fall play is always smaller than the musical,” she said. “We have a core that only do the musical, we have a core that only does the play because they don’t like the singing and dancing part and then we have a core that does both and they grow up in the theater program. I know them for four years and then they leave me.”
The production features a couple of unique elements. Students are using a projector to include video components in the show for scenes that were either impossible to put on stage (a driving sequence) or ones that might have been a bit too dangerous to do live (a kid hanging from a chandelier).
“The kids have worked so hard on it, they are having such a great time, and we are so excited,” said Grabow.
The Daniel Hand High School Hands-On-Stage Company Theater Arts Program is completely self-funded and students are not required to pay a fee to participate. Funding for the program has relied solely on ticket sales and program book ads.
The show runs from Thursday Nov. 16 to Saturday, Nov. 18. Shows are 7 p.m. in the DHHS Assembly Hall, 286 Green Hill Road.
Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Tickets can be purchased at R.J. Julia Booksellers, the DHHS office, and online at handsonstagecompany.weebly.com/tickets.html