`Scenes From a Dance’ scripts available
In November 2008, the Plymouth High School drama department premiered Wisconsin playwright Dick Grunert’s play “Scenes From a Dance,” which he wrote just for Plymouth High School. With the help of an Artist in Residence grant from the Kohler Foundation, Grunert – who currently resides near Los Angeles, Calif. – was able to create a new play for PHS students and visit with the cast and crew during the production process. During his visits to Plymouth, he also talked with several classes about his work as a production coordinator with Cartoon Network in Los Angeles, and he discussed his training and his work as a successful freelance writer and film producer.
After last year’s production closed, Grunert submitted a final copy of the script to Playscripts, Inc., a publishing company that promotes itself as “an innovative publisher of plays and musicals.” According to the Playscripts Web site, “Playscripts, Inc. is an independent publisher of new plays, established in 1998 by brothers Douglas and Jonathan Rand for the mutual benefit of playwrights and theaters worldwide.”
A few months after Grunert submitted his script, he was contacted by Playscripts, Inc. who said to him they would be happy to accept the script for publication. One year after its premiere production at PHS, professionally produced scripts and production rights for “Scenes From a Dance” are now available for purchase by contacting Playscripts, Inc. at playscripts.com.
The most exciting feature about the final published script is that pages 8-10 list the names of the entire original cast and crew members from Plymouth.
Grunert was a former student of PHS English and drama teacher Janet DeJean Newton when she worked with Cedarburg High School from 1990-93. This collaborative project began to take shape during the winter of 2008 when, on a whim, Newton decided to try and find Grunert through a “Google” search. To her delight, she found him.
Prior to last year’s project, Newton last worked with Grunert in 1992 when he was a high school senior at Cedarburg High School. At CHS, Newton directed four shows a year, including the annual senior class play. She remembers Grunert as an enthusiastic young man, mature beyond his teenage years, who was enchanted by anything to do with film production.
When Grunert was a sophomore, Newton encouraged him to write a script for CHS’s annual senior class play. He accepted the challenge and wrote a memorable and enjoyable piece titled “The Substitute,” which Newton directed in 1992. The CHS students, as well as local audiences, absolutely adored the production.
The high school senior, Grunert, had more than proven his abilities as a script writer.
“I always knew this kid would go far,” reminisces Newton. “Even as a high school student, Dick was such a genuine, personable, and dedicated young man. As we caught up on the last several years through numerous e-mail communications, I was not surprised to learn he had attended film school at Columbia College in Chicago and is currently working as a production coordinator for Cartoon Network in Los Angeles.”
In addition, Grunert continues to create and develop his own projects. In 2003, he co-wrote the short film “T For Terrorist,” produced by the Farrelly Brothers and starring Tony Shalhoub. The comedy about stereotypes in Hollywood played at several festivals worldwide and won awards in New York and San Francisco. In the fall of 2007, Dick wrote, produced, and directed the short horror film “Birthright,” which was chosen to be shown at the 2008 Atlanta Horror Film Festival.
In their communications, Newton asked Grunert if he would be interested in writing another play for her.
She was overjoyed when he sent a note back saying, “I would be honored.” Immediately, the two began to brainstorm ideas.
Fortunately for Plymouth High School, and a testament to the avid arts communities in Plymouth and in Sheboygan County, Newton has had the wonderful problem of having up to 80 or more students audition for PHS’s annual Fall Play. Considering this yearly challenge, Newton suggested to Grunert that a new play should feature several teenage characters interacting, as well as numerous opportunities for group scenes and dancing. Grunert devised a play that met all of these criteria, and he decided to call it “Scenes from a Dance.”
The play takes place at the fictional Fitzgerald High School Fall Fling, a dance where every stereotypical teenage character appears including the following characters and the names of the world premiere cast:
A lovesick adolescent named Riley (Austin Kuttruff) who has lost the love letter he wrote to the love-ofhis life, Shannon (Marissa York), at the dance and desperately enlists the help of his sidekick, Buddy (Zackary Mueller), to help him recover the private communication; the local jock bully Bulldog (Bob Larson) and his Sergeant (Jesse Meyer) who harass the nervous freshmen boys, but then discover Penny Franklin (Maria Travis), a girl who stands up to bullies as well as steals their hearts; the “geek of all geeks” (Luke Murray) who brings B.A.R.B. (Hannah Vogel), a suspiciously beautiful date to the dance; the perfect cheerleader, Missy Lancaster (Bridget Ceilley) who gets locked in the bathroom with her complete opposite, the “emo” chick Angela Meyers (Maddy Nesemann); the “Chick Magnet” (Eli Carlson) who has a Harry Potter-like encounter with Martin (Martin Roberts), the odd new kid; and the BFFs (Best Friends Forever) Rachel (Molly Thiesenhusen), Trevor (Greg Poser), Courtney (Laura Bunke), and Zach (Robert Peschke), who discover best friends sometimes harbor scary secrets.
The dance organizer and student council president, Dawn Miner (Erica Kiela), seems happy with the progress of the event until she learns the featured band all the kids are waiting to hear is not able to appear.
Fortunately, she convinces the local teen band – The Rabid Badgers – to perform instead, and the group up featured the following PHS student musicians:
Robert Peschke (vocalist), Cody Wisman and Chris Wilson (percussion), Max Thiesenhusen (guitar), Matt Osthelder (bass), Alex Gieryn and Cameron Collard (trumpet), Mike Eaton (saxophone), Bob Larson (trombone), Mitch McFadden (bass and keyboard) playing original music composed by Mitch McFadden and Matt Suemnicht.
Of course, the Fizgerald High School principal, Mr. Chowder (Kai Bachmann), often pipes in with a “Go Bobcats” while the ultimate D.J. (Jack Travis) keeps the recorded dance songs flowing.
Last year’s audiences laughed hysterically as they recognized many universal conflicts and dilemmas the teenage characters endured during the evening at the dance. The PHS premiere production also included several dance numbers choreographed to popular teen music, as well as to a few oldies, by student choreographer Hannah Vogel (class of 2010).
In addition to the above students, the large cast was made up of over 70 members on stage and almost as many students worked backstage including the following:
Andrew Larson, Charlie Martin, Adam Bunke, Sean Beitler, Lane Slaughter, Josh Smith, Mitch Krahn, Casey Mourlam, Alison Scherer, Lauren Schwalenberg, Marissa Murphy, Heather Mittmann, Elizabeth Kelling, Calie Blanke, Katherine Nye, Melissa Kiela, Allie Iserloth, Amber Osness, Johanna Schmidt, Madalyn Brown, Amber Osness, Cassie Reilly, Courtney Bonnett, Mallorie Kidder, Stephanie Stanczyk, Megan Schwalenberg, Elizabeth Stanczyk, Emily Ruehle, Heaven Protsmann, Qingyang Liu, Jourdan Klahn, Amanda Rizzi, Leah Glassford, Ally McManus, Sara Weisensel, and Ryan Martin.
Assisting director Janet DeJean Newton were assistant director Amy Larson, student director Aubrey Leigh Newton, student theatre managers Josh Schultz and Matt Suemnicht, and the student technical director, Peter Siech.
To read a portion of the script, and to purchase scripts and production rights, contact Playscripts, Inc. at playscripts.com. For more information about the original production, contact PHS English and drama teacher, Janet DeJean Newton at (920) 893-6911.
