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Left to right: Clayton (Clay) Lawhead, Sydney Knudson, Cymmone Yancey, Iain Hemenway, Emma Skaggs.

The Georgia Singer’s Company puts on two shows every year. Georgia Singer’s spring musical was “The Pajama Game.” Their most recent musical was “High School Musical Two.”

The leads were freshman Emma Skaggs as Gabriella Montez, freshman Iain Hemenway as Troy Bolton, freshman Sydney Knudson as Sharpay Evans and freshman Clayton (Clay) Lawhead as Ryan Evans.

The supporting roles consisted of freshman Ava Whitley as Taylor McKessie, freshman Diana Avina as Jackie Scott, freshman Melissa (Missy) McAllister as Kelsi Nielsen, and freshman Cymmone Yancey as Blossom.

Emma Skaggs said that the role of Gabriella Montez was her first leading role. Emma Skaggs said, “I’ve played numerous supporting roles. I’ve found that supporting roles are really different from leading roles. As a supporting role, you can change up your character’s personality. And it’s super fun because you get to play around with it. But as a lead, you don’t really get to change up your character’s personality. It’s all set in stone.” Emma said some of her favorite backstage memories were pre-show prayers with the cast. Emma Skaggs will be performing as a Laker Girl in the school’s coming-up musical, “Monty Python’s Spamalot.” Emma said, “I’m hoping to learn a lot more about harmonizing and getting better at it. I’m looking forward to taking and learning from the upper classmen.”

Iain Hemenway said, “The one life lesson I learned in this particular musical is that you can’t wait last minute, whether it be your lines or your music, you must memorize.” Iain said he was glad to see many new cast members. He said, “They’re gonna learn a lot. They’ll definitely learn the basics before high school. They will be totally ready to take on the stage more than ever.” Iain said his greatest memory was carpooling to the Homecoming game to find out if Ava Whitley would be crowned as 2015’s Homecoming Duchess.

Sydney Knudson’s first leading role was as the narrator in Georgia Singer’s “Aladdin.” She said Sharpay was her second leading role. Sydney said, “I liked playing the role of Sharpay. I got to be sassy all the time. And I’m normally not sassy. So, it was fun.” She said she enjoyed getting to know the many new cast members. She said, “They were fun and interesting people. I just really enjoyed learning news things about them everyday.” Sydney said that the turn out of the show was great, concluding that opening night and the final shows were the best turn outs. She said one great memory she has of her and the cast is when someone’s birthday came along. She said, “We would sing the rock version of Happy Birthday, and it would always end up with everyone laughing.” Sydney said that she is still unsure if she will be auditioning for the next musical, “Little Mermaid” in spring 2016.

Clayton (Clay) Lawhead has played a total of six roles. He had been in a golf cart accident one week before the show. He broke three ribs, had road rash along his face and had minor damage to his right arm. Clayton said, “After the crash, I was more determined than ever to finish the musical. The only thing that scared me was if I would get the same reaction I would normally get from the crowd with less movements on stage. It was hard at first because I had to sit out and watch the rehearsal go on. I really wanted to get up and have fun with my friends. When it came to the week of the show, I had enough practice cutting down my movements to get the same reaction I wanted. It was a great success for me.” He said his greatest memories with some cast members were the inside jokes they made. Clayton said he really liked the new cast members. He said, “They were all so fun to hang with. And as I observed them rehearsing, I realized that everyone has different acting ways, taking their character’s personalities to a different level. And with so many of them being young, I was impressed to see that they took their roles seriously.” Clayton will be playing the role of The Not Yet Dead Man in the school’s musical “Spamalot.” He said, “I can’t wait to have fun on stage, have a good time, make new friends, and develop my new role.”

Ava Whitley said she has played five roles, counting her role in the school’s Spamalot. Ava said she really enjoyed the many new cast members. She said, “They were so excited about everything. I saw a lot of myself in them and they were just so cute. They just all were exited to learn new things.” She even included that a good memory of hers was one of the cast members. Ava said, “I called, Drew, my mini me and b.a.e.. She gave me a gift at the end of the musical and she was just so cute.” Ava recalls her greatest memory from backstage. She said, “I had a blast singing Bet on It with Missy backstage. Sometimes we would try not to make each other laugh.” Ava said she really loves The Georgia Singer’s Company. She said, “They are laid back. I can make decisions on how to fix my role before they correct me. I also feel well respected as an actress when I work with the directors and producers.” Ava is planning on being on the technology crew for the company’s Spring musical. She said she is looking forward to working with the old cast members.

Diana Avina said she has been in two musicals, Georgia Singer’s The Pajama Game and High School Musical Two. She said she struggled the most with developing her character, Jackie Scott. Diana said, “My character doesn’t exist in then movie. So it was hard to make up what kind of person Jackie was. But I learned and grew to be an even better actress.” Diana said she liked the new cast members. She said, “They had a lot of energy and were all excited to be doing something in the musical.” She said her most favorite memories with some cast members were the bathroom gatherings. Diana said, “There was this spot that was like a little room. It has two sinks and a bunch of lockers. And my friends and I would sit in there during breaks and eat our snacks and talk about school. Overall, the bonding is what made those memories the best.” She said at the end of the final show she felt happy and relieved. She said, “I thought, ‘Yay! We did it!'”

Melissa (Missy) McAllister said she enjoyed he role as Kelsi because she was behind the piano with her friend, Diana Avina. She said that she made new friends with some of the new cast members. Melissa said, “I can’t wait to see the kids grow as actors and actress and see the future of Georgia Singer’s Company.” Melissa said some of the good memories she made with the cast were watching Emma Skaggs making her videos for her blog and eating lunch with her friends while listening to dubsmash. She said, “I hope the kids and The Georgia Singer’s Company have a lot of good memories in the future. I just love how they bring people together to put on amazing shows. They keep bringing people together, and that makes me happy.” Melissa said she is unsure if she will be auditioning for the company’s Spring musical. She said, “I have to think about my high school schedule and see if it works out first.”

Cymmone Yancey has been in four productions.  She said the hardest part to playing her role was being perky. Cymmone said, “I’m never really perky. Most of the time I’m serious. So it was a definite challenge for me there.” She also said that the hardest thing for her when it comes to costumes is her hair. She said, “I have black girl’s hair. And sometimes it’s a struggle because the curls will become loose and fall into my face. And I know the directors don’t like that. And I definitely know the audience can’t see me if my hair is in the way.” She said she was able to pull her hair back and keep it back. Cymmone said she liked the new cast members. She said, “They were eager to learn and were all so very cooperative.” Of the many memories she made with the cast members, she said she really enjoyed being with her friend, Kryston backstage. Cymmone said, ” Being backstage with her was great! We would sing the harmony parts of some songs or try not to laugh at funny parts. At other times we would try to help each other with some of our very quick costume changes. She’s such a great friend.”  Cymmone Yancey is planning to audition for the company’s Little Mermaid.

Although there were ups and downs to their musical during rehearsals, all the leads and supporting roles agreed that the musical had a great turn out. With a lot of hard work, sweat from dancing and tears of joy, the Georgia Singer’s Company and their cast were able to pull of High School Musical Two.