Lincoln High School is first again.
Last year, it claimed to be the first high school to produce “Beauty and the Beast” and this year, the first to do a modern version of “Aida.”
One of the directorial staff, Cindy Pertile, who has been doing musicals for 33 years, said she is ready to do different things.
“I have done tough ones. ‘Titanic’ was tough but that was with adults,” Pertile said. “If we didn’t have the talented students this year, we would not be able to do this. ‘Aida’ is very tough to do.”
Disney has just released “Aida,” based on Guiseppi Verdi’s 1871 opera. The Disney version with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice is new and exciting, Pertile said. So much so that the students don’t want to leave rehearsal. The music is difficult, but they want to try the songs again and again, she noted.
Pertile describes it as just Elton John wonderful, the most beautiful love story with moments of laughter and moments of deep tragedy.
Because no high school had done the production, sets, props and backdrops did not exist. Pertile, who describes herself as an Internet junkie, searched the Web until she found not only the incredible set but a woman who made the lavish wardrobe to fit the students.
The production has a motorized, revolving stage Pertile operates from a computer that offers special effects such as 1,200 pounds of sand that can be seen or covered up and a working water fountain.
“We could have done any number of musicals that wouldn’t require half the work or a quarter of the time, but that is not what we are about,” Pertile said. “When we do a musical, it is to elevate the students to offer them as much as possible and to elevate the community.”
In addition to Pertile, the directorial staff is Felicia Greco, Laura Adams and Angela Lansberry, who collaborate on choosing the production and sharing the duties and excitement.
Greco said the students auditioned for their parts in June, enabling them to listen to the music all summer and be familiar with the whole production. Pertile and Adams have gone to New York and seen “Aida” 15 times. Greco has seen it only 13 times, because she just wanted to see something different.
The leads are Tynan Hudson as Radames, Jamie Hulick in the title role, and Amy Wilson and Marisa Bunney sharing the role of Amneris.
The story is about a tragic love triangle with Aida, who is a slave of the Egyptian Princess Amneris. Radames, captain of the Egyptian army, is engaged to Amneris but falls in love with Aida.
In the office of the music department, there are more than 100 framed 8-by-10-inch photos of the leads from each year’s show. Included among them are shots of Greco and Adams. Now, for the first time, there will be a parent and child represented on that wall. Hulick’s picture will be added, joining that of her mother, Laurie DeFonde Hulick, who was a star in 1979.
“These are the leads,” Pertile said. “I look and I see that now they are beautiful mothers and fathers. They have careers and lives, all good people.
“It is emotional to look up and see them,” she continued. “If I could hang the pictures of all the special students that we have had, they would cover the walls of the school.”
If you’re going ...
WHAT — “Aida”
WHEN — 7:30 p.m. on Friday and 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday
WHERE — Lincoln High School in Ellwood City
HOW MUCH — Adult tickets are $12, senior citizen and student tickets are $10
HOW — Tickets can be obtained by calling (724) 759-7378.
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