The final curtain was drawn on Cinderella: Enchanted Edition Sunday, September 20th after two weekends of performances and nearly two months of preparation. The cast of 37 began work on the Rodgers and Hammerstein production August 3rd, rehearsing nearly every weekday during the summer and every night except Friday during the school week to polish the show before it opened to a nearly full house Saturday, September 18th.

“At first the rehearsals were intense,” senior Alison Sloan said. “We had the talent, but we were all rushing to put the pieces together. However, all of us enjoyed the process. We would meet at someone’s house to practice songs and line memorization, and we would have lunch or dinner runs. We’d grab everyone who was available, hop in a couple cars and drive to a restaurant to cool off after almost every rehearsal. It was a fun way to let off some steam while bonding with our new cast members. It was a two month process, and I couldn’t have been more proud of the outcome.”

Not everything went according to plan, however. Cinderella has been the first show in years that a majority of the cast came down with an unknown cold-like infection that caused sore throats, fevers and multiple school absences.

“We were always together,” senior Madison Stuart said. “We worked countless hours, had a lack of sleep and loads of stress!”

Students developed many treatments to try and cure their issues before each show.

“I used a humidifier, Mucinex, tried not to talk as much, and drank a lot of water and warm tea with honey,” Stuart said.

One of the stranger remedies was drinking a mouthful of straight apple cider vinegar, which strangely opens the throat and clears out the mucus, albeit accompanied by a bitter aftertaste. Some cast members learned the hard way to have something ready to get the harsh taste out of their mouth.

Mrs. Raya directed the production as always, and entered the show in the Dallas Summer Musicals’ High School Musical Theatre Awards. Three judges came on closing night to watch the performance.

“In the beginning we had no idea what night the judges were coming. We just performed every single show like they were there. It helped us stay consistent and put 110% of our energy into every performance,” senior Sophie Zurawel said. “Whenever we go for a nomination with the DSM, we always say that an award doesn’t matter; what matters is putting on a great show and never having to say, ‘I could’ve done that better.’”

The cast pushed on through hardships, and eventually closed the production with a performance worthy of remembering for years to come. “A lot of us being sick really put us on edge, but ultimately it didn’t affect the show poorly,” Stuart said. “We all worked harder and pushed through to create a great show.”