“Cinderella” was a success. It was sophomore Rebecca Hamby’s first lead role at Horizon Honors and she did an outstanding job. The cast and crew all came together to perfect this complex show, including various special effects such as a dress changing into a different costume while onstage. They all learned a lot about themselves and theater from this experience.

Editor’s note: Interview responses have been edited for clarity.

The Horizon Sun: What was your favorite part about Cinderella?

Rebecca Hamby, sophomore: I loved everything about it, honestly. I think just getting to try something completely different. I was in the play this fall and I did plays when I was a kid and this was nothing like anything I’ve ever done. It was just so much fun to get to know the new people and just getting to see the kids afterward was really exciting because they were all excited to meet you. Everything about it was so much fun.

Seth Freymuth, junior: My favorite part about Cinderella was probably just really becoming a character and being on stage with everybody. Seeing everyone as their characters and just performing so well, it was just really awesome to share the stage with all these amazing people.

Rebecca Ger, sophomore: I liked being able to meet new people and get to know them, as well as being able to get closer to people I already know.

Noah Dinardo, eighth grader: Being a part of the cast and making new friends.

Roman Corey, freshman: Doing the shows. The audience said it was one of the best shows that’s ever been at the school.

The Sun: What went well with the show?

RH: I think that the chemistry between everyone, like scene partners, was just amazing because we’re all – they call it the drama family, and I realize why now. It’s because everyone is such good friends and we’re all so encouraging that just getting to embody those characters together in each scene was really fun and just, like, play off each others strengths.

SF: I thought that the acting and the singing was really good.

RG: In general, I think it was a really fun show to do and I think the audience enjoyed it and appreciated, which I loved. It was nice to see the audience laugh and have fun.

ND: What went well was all of the scene changes and everybody was on their cues.

RC: Most people said the transition scene, because we actually had it. The dress actually changed during the show.

The Sun: What was your favorite special effect?

RH: Definitely the dress. The transformation dress where it goes from peasant to ballgown was just insane. Mrs. Baird sewed it and the amount of time and effort she put into it was, like – I’m so thankful for it because it was amazing and just the audience’s reaction and getting to do it was so much fun.

SF: I really loved the transformation dress because I was a part of the show and every time I saw that I thought it was amazing. I don’t even know how it happened; I still don’t know how it happened but it looked like magic.

RG: I loved the dress transformation. It was amazing and everybody did a phenomenal job with that.

ND: When Cinderella spun around and her dress popped out.

RC: The dress transformation.

The Sun: How did the dress transformation work?

RH: Magic. It’s really complicated. There’s the peasant dress and it’s got a tan skirt and a vest looking thing on the top that’s attached to the green. The green is actually a skirt like the tan one but you tuck the bottoms of it into the vest and so the transformation dress, the purple ball gown, is underneath the top of the dress. The bottom of the ballgown flips out so that the purple’s on the inside. It’s insane, and Mrs. Baird and Miss Shaheen’s design is ingenious. I will forever be thankful that they figured it out because that was an insane project.

RG: There were two dresses and you had to flip them around. One of the dresses was doublesided I guess.

RC: Basically, underneath her regular clothes was the ballgown so all she had to do was turn around and unbutton her shirt and it became the ballgown.

The Sun: What was the most difficult thing about the show?

RH: I think for me it was just memorizing lines and not getting down on myself when I didn’t do something right the first time because there was a lot of pressure because it was like, “I’m Cinderella now,” so I was just trying to do things perfectly. The nice thing is that you learn you don’t have to do it perfectly; you’re developing it as you go and it’s scary to try and memorize it all at once but afterwards you have people to support you and help you, so it was really fun.

SF: The most difficult thing about the show was probably just singing for hours, day after day after day. It gets hard.

RG: Timing. There was a lot of things where you were dependent on other people and things had to happen at the same time so it was crucial to get everything going at the same time.

ND: The most difficult thing was to sing the right note for the music.

RC: During the blackout when you had the scenes. I had to move some of the stands all the way across the stage.

The Sun: What was something new that you tried?

RH: I learned to waltz. I have never waltzed before. I’ve never done a dip before, like in a dance, never a real one. That was a learning experience for me but it was really fun and really exciting.

SF: It was my first really big singing role. I guess being a lead singer, and also being a lead. I’ve been a lead before, but in a musical, probably being a lead.

RG: This was my first show so I actually had a lot of fun with it and getting to know the whole drama process was nice.

ND: Something new that I tried was dancing.

RC: I actually tried to be on task because usually when I’m in the shows I don’t pay attention to what I’m supposed to do, but this time I actually did.

The Sun: Why did you join the show?

RH: As a kid, at my last school, we did plays, but everyone was required to. It was part of the classes, I guess, but we all had to take a music class and that was something they did. I enjoyed those, but I ended up stopping. We didn’t do one eighth grade, and I just played volleyball freshman year, and I just really wanted to come back to it. I really enjoyed it and I’m so glad that I did.

SF: I joined the show because I really love acting and I love performing and I love the family.

RG: I always came to see the plays and the shows and the musical,s and I love the energy you get from that, and I really wanted to be a part of that.

ND: The reason I joined the show was because I love to act.

RC: I really enjoy doing them, they’re fun, and it’s a great way to meet friends.

The Sun: What is your main takeaway from the show?

RH: There are a lot of takeaways. From the show itself, the lesson is to set your goals and then work toward them. Don’t just imagine what you could do. Work towards it and amazing things can happen, so just perseverance would be what I learned because it applied to rehearsals and everything, too. We wanted the show to happen and we tried really hard and we did. So just putting in the effort. If you are willing to put in the effort you can do great things.

SF: My main takeaway is probably that no matter how hard something is or how difficult you perceive something to be, if you just keep on pushing and keep on working at it, eventually it will work out.

RG: I learned that things mess up sometimes and you have to go along with it and work around it. Don’t let that get you down and just make everything else better.

ND: The main takeaway was to make new friends and to try something new, and always there’s music in you!

RC: Working hard can make a positive impact.

This might have been the last show of this year, but there are many more to come in the future. Make sure to watch as many performances as you can because the future holds great things for Horizon Honors’ theater program.