Musical goes West
The Wrangler Ranch cast practice one of the big musical numbers, songs range from ballads, polka, and a sprinkle of rapping.
Alexander (Judah Guenther, left) dances with Peggy Lane (Gabriella Smith, right) and twirls her around. In Wrangler Ranch, Alexander must overcome his clumsy nature and general wariness of nature to win a rodeo contest for the Wrangler Ranch School.
Alexander (Judah Guenther) drops his pizza welcome gift to shake Miss Clark’s (Britta Berg) hand. Alexander goes on to step on the pizza while shaking more hands.
The Wrangler Ranch cast practice one of the big musical numbers, songs range from ballads, polka, and a sprinkle of rapping.
Alexander (Judah Guenther, left) dances with Peggy Lane (Gabriella Smith, right) and twirls her around. In Wrangler Ranch, Alexander must overcome his clumsy nature and general wariness of nature to win a rodeo contest for the Wrangler Ranch School.
Alexander (Judah Guenther) drops his pizza welcome gift to shake Miss Clark’s (Britta Berg) hand. Alexander goes on to step on the pizza while shaking more hands.
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NEW ULM -- For this year’s musical production at St. Paul's, 45 students are going western.
The students will be doing a rendition of Wrangler Ranch, produced by special arrangement with Pioneer Drama Service, Inc.
Mrs. Fitzhugh (Olive Clemons) discovers her long-lost grandson Alexander (Judah Guenther) is a clumsy teen working in a New Jersey pizza parlor. She enrolls him in Wrangler Ranch School so he's in a better environment. Hijinks ensue as Alexander battles horse allergies and disgust for fresh air to try and fit in while a plot brews to force Mrs. Fitzhugh to disinherit him.
And when the best rodeo rider is forced to drop out of the upcoming saddle bronc competition, it will be up to Alexander to win the competition for Wrangler Ranch.
Co-Director Cindy Ring said they chose a Western to break away from the themes of previous plays.
"In the last few years, we’ve been doing more of the fairy tale princess ones," she said. "We feel like we needed to do something different and see if we could get a few more kids interested in it if it wasn’t just a fairytale."
With one week left to prepare after Thursday's practice, Ring said the biggest challenge has been nailing the songs and choreography together.
"There’s quite a few songs," she said. "That takes up a lot of time learning the songs and we're just this week learning the choreography. That’s challenging for some; it’s a little trickier to sing and dance at the same time. Then the ones that have bigger roles there are quite a few lines to learn."
Backdrops and sets for this production will include the warm sunset skies of Wrangler Ranch in Arizona and a Pizza Shack restaurant in New Jersey where Alexander is originally found.
While there is still plenty of work to be done, costumes to be made, and actors to perform without scripts, Ring said seeing everything start to come together has been a phenomenal experience.
"After all the practicing that the kids have done, you see them smiling and having fun with what they’ve worked so hard to learn," she said. "Since we’re also a Lutheran Christian school, I’m excited to see they’re doing this to show the gifts that God has given them. They can let those shine and that they’re not doing it for themselves."
Ring said so far "Rodeo" and "Ride em Cowboy" have been the cast’s favorite songs. Songs range from ballads, polka, and even a sprinkle of rapping.
Performances will be held March 15 and 16 at 7 p.m. There is no cost to attend, but a free-will donation will be available, with proceeds going to the St. Paul Raiders Musical fund.