Worthington Christian musical AMÉLIE celebrates the importance of being out in the world and finding a sense of community
The musical Amélie centers on the power of human connection. Yet junior Hope Spires celebrated alone after being cast in the title role of Worthington Christian’s upcoming production of the show.
“When the cast list came up, I was driving home from school,” Spires said. “I remember pulling over to the side of the road to read the list. I honestly didn’t think I was going to get it, so I was pretty shocked.
“I just started blasting the soundtrack and trying to sing all of the parts. I had a little bit of a party in my car before I got home.”
The production will run 7 PM. Feb. 19-20 and 2 PM and 7 PM on Feb. 21 at the WC Auditorium. The auditorium is located in the K-2 Building of the Lower School at 6675 Worthington Galena Road.
Amélie debuted on Broadway in 2017, but O’Roark believes its message couldn’t be more appropriate for a world shaking off the social effects of the pandemic.
“The (Christian) tie-in is that God didn’t create us to be alone in the world. He created us to be in a community of believers,” he said. “We can find God through other people, and we can find a sense of belonging that points us to God.
“COVID taught us we can attend church from home. I’m afraid that’s something God never intended us to do. I’m not anti-internet, but never being out nor connecting with other people is a detriment to us.”
Written by Daniel Messé (music and lyrics), Nathan Tysen (lyrics), and Craig Lucas (book), the quirky musical is based on the 2001 French film, Amélie.
In the story, neurotic parents Raphael (Isaac Hudak) and Amadine (MacKenzie Barnes) keep their daughter away from the world after they fear she has a heart condition. Eventually, Amélie leaves home in search of love, adventure, and, most of all, a community to which she can belong.
Junior Ben Winfrey plays Nino, the male lead. Third-graders Annie Clutz and Mia Weyand split the role of playing the younger version of Amélie in a series of flashbacks. Rounding out the rest of the cast is Charlotte Ball (Collignon’s Mother), Jaden Barthel (Bretodeau/Beggar), Natasha Baugher (Train Announcer 1), Ellis Bjorgen (Sylvie), Alaina Bourgeois (Suzanne), Keira Dively (Georgette), Noelle Doyel (Gina), Alyssa Kuch (Train Announcer 2), Serena Lu (Lucien), Eli Rider (Fluffy/Gnome), Nelson Stevenson (Elton John/Hipolito), and Jake Thomas (Dufayel/Adrien/Collignon’s father).
After building a massive, climbable tree for last year’s Tuck Everlasting, the production team faces a different challenge with Amélie: managing a stage filled with moving elements.
“We have a lot of set pieces, and we’re finding places to hide them so we can bring them out when we need them,” O’Roark said.
The cast began working on the music in mid-December. When students returned to school after the Christmas holiday, the length and the intensity of the practices increased.
O’Roark said musicals have “so many more layers of rehearsal” than a play.
“For a play, we can cover 20 pages of script in a single practice,” he said. “With a musical, you can have a song and a page of dialogue, and it will take you two or three days to get through it.”
As the practices have become more demanding, Spires has begun to see parallels between Amélie and herself. In the musical, the death of Princess Diana becomes a moment that awakens Amélie to the absence of people who practice everyday kindness.
“It’s made me think about my own life,” Spires said. “What good am I doing for other people? I’m valuing the relationships with my family and my friends a little bit more than I did before.”
The one place Spires feels most at home is within the theater community. She calls the students she works with “her second family.”
“Everybody wants to make something so beautiful, and that brings us together,” she said. “We just want to tell this beautiful story and dance and sing along with it.”
Spires may have been by herself when she found out she landed the lead role, but she has forged a new sense of togetherness along the way to presenting Amélie.