.png;w=960;h=640;bgcolor=000000)
Pemberton Secondary School (PSS) drama teacher Renata Zablotney has been at her current post since 2015, but with a baby on the way, she knows her curtain call is fast approaching. She wanted to go out in style, though, and what better way to do so than with The Sound of Music?
Zablotney and her cast have done the legwork, and they can’t wait to strut their stuff in front of Sea to Sky audiences one more time.
The Sound of Music has captivated imaginations since 1959 on stages and big screens alike. It is, of course, the swan song of revered American theatre duo Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.
“I wanted my baby to hear all these songs,” Zablotney says. “It really makes me emotional. It’s a beautiful story. I wanted to put my signature stamp on it and [this play] is going to be my calling card as I leave.”
‘Such a large mantle’
Zablotney has full confidence in her cast, including her leading lady Grace Willis-Cook, who portrays Maria. This week’s production will also be Willis-Cook’s final PSS act—now in Grade 12, she impressed in narrating Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat last April.
Growing up, Willis-Cook dreamt of playing Liesl, Captain von Trapp’s eldest daughter. Now, she gets to bring an even more prominent role to life.
“It's such a large mantle to put myself in,” says Willis-Cook. “For my whole family, it's a tradition to watch The Sound of Music every Christmas. My grandma saw it about 16 times in the theatre, whenever it re-ran.”
While certain cast mainstays from Joseph returned, they’re joined by an influx of new talent this time around. Zablotney admits it was a challenge to get everyone up to speed, but insists she and the group never lowered their expectations for what a great show can be. It’s a tightly-knit culture that’s defined PSS drama for some time.
Back in Grade 10, Willis-Cook knew all of her fellow actors in her school’s interpretation of The Wedding Singer—a play based on the 1998 Adam Sandler romantic comedy of the same name—as virtually that whole cast grew up in the same Pemberton neighbourhood. Now, she’s had the opportunity to befriend and mentor younger students and learn what makes them tick.
My favourite things
Needless to say, it’s going to be a bittersweet week for Zablotney, who figures The Sound of Music is her 30th production at PSS. She’s grateful to have done so many, especially considering the fact many B.C. high school drama programs don’t tend to put on actual plays.
“Productions, I think, are the bread and butter of what theatre is,” Zablotney opines. “It's quite a selfless thing to get out in front of people and do something that the majority of people in the audience can't do: which is be in front of everybody. It's such a gift back to your community and to your school.
“I've seen these students grow through the theatre program so much, and that's what I'm going to miss the most. I've seen kids that have gone from not being able to speak or say anything, to singing in front of audiences. It’s just this miraculous transition.”
Through it all, Zablotney has learned to always keep her eyes open and keep one finger on the pulse of her class.
“I’ve never gone into a year thinking I know what play I'm going to do,” she explains. “I've just let the students speak to me through their mannerisms … and [what play we do] is determined by the cast. I think we should always strive for excellence. The students like to strive for excellence, too, and I think that that echoes into their lives outside of theatre.”
Three or four years ago, Willis-Cook could scarcely imagine herself in the performing arts. Now, she’s poised to pursue musical theatre in university, and she lauds her teacher for helping her blossom.
“[Ms. Zablotney has brought] so much more to Pemberton Secondary than she gives herself credit for,” says Willis-Cook. “There is no drama program without her. She's just such a great teacher, because she knows her students and she knows what kind of learning style they need to strive for excellence. She's shown me that [theatre] is more than just something you can do in high school for a couple of extra credits.”
The Sound of Music runs Dec. 12 and 16 at the Maury Young Arts Centre, and Dec. 14 and 15 at Pemberton Community Church. Find tickets and more information about the Whistler showings here and the Pemberton showings here.
