As of this November, the MHS theater season has officially begun, kicking it off with John Patrick’s The Curious Savage. Speculations surrounding the 2022 play selection circulated around mid-summer alongside several clues being dropped by the MHS theater’s social media pages. Eventually these hints culminated in a weeklong game of 20 questions via the Madison High School Theater Instagram account, leading up to the official July 19th announcement. Once again, this fall production was led by the direction of Ms. Radcliff, who previously directed MHS shows like 2020’s It’s a Wonderful Life and 2021’s Murder on the Orient Express. In conjunction with Radcliff this year was Blake Spence, who has poured countless hours of dedication into directing prior MHS musicals with credentials including, but not limited to last year’s Sweet Charity and 2019’s Brightstar, which secured six trophies at Papermill Playhouse’s Rising Star Awards, with one being “Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical.”
Debuting on Broadway in 1950, The Curious Savage centers around a widow, Ethel Savage, who inherits 10 million dollars from her recently deceased husband. Rather than supply her family with the money, however, she intends to use the 10 million on complete strangers and their “foolish dreams.” In an attempt to preserve their wealth, Savage’s relatives have her placed in a mental institution where Ethel quickly forms bonds alongside other patients, orchestrating a complex tale of compassion versus greed.
Luckily, I had the privilege of being able to get a quick glimpse into life backstage, just a few minutes before the house doors opened. Though I had only been in the room for a short moment, the supportive bond between the cast and the directors was a vividly tangible force. Even with just a few minutes remaining before the top of the show, Spence and Radcliff were still extensively involved in preparing the cast and crew with optimistic mindsets through active warm-ups and offering words of assurance.
With The Curious Savage being her final MHS drama production, it would be a shame to go without mentioning the performance of senior Erin Scheier, who played the lead role of Ethel P. Savage. Scheier incorporated such subtle nuances into her character and line deliveries that truly served as a “centerpiece” to the performance. Of course, this is not to discount the other cast members which consisted of Madeleine Drew, Isabella Rojas, Katie Varga, William Marinovic, Leland Borcherding, Ava Vazquez, Lukas Kolega, Dylan Murray, Athena Macagnano, Johnathan Lu, Ethan Cowan, and Michael McKeever. Each one of their individual performances was able to warp this imaginative storyline into reality at such a high level of professionalism that substantially breaks through the average individual’s preconceived notion of “high school theater” for the better.