Sandy High School’s (SHS) new drama teacher and director, Colin Murray, spent about six weeks last school year getting acquainted with the students and the department. This year, for the school’s first production and the first show under his direction, Murray wanted something
happy and family friendly. Enter Gilbert and Sullivan’s, “The Pirates of
Penzance.”

“It’s such an upbeat, fun fantastical story,” Murray said. “The students have
been doing a fantastic job tackling complex music.”

Murray, who graduated from Sandy High School in the 1990s, worked on the
show once before as a designer for the Gresham High School production in
2004. But thanks to the capabilities of SHS’s theater and the different student
population he’s casting from, Murray noted this production is very different.
“It’s been fun and interesting to design it again and tackle it again,” he said,
noting that in this production he cast the police force entirely as women. “We
have a lot of great, comical actresses here.”

Seniors Dagan Godfrey and Charlie Andrade, both 17, play the romantic leads,
Frederic and Mabel, respectively. The two veterans of the SHS stage noted
that the story is all over the place, with the main story concerning Frederic
being an apprentice on a pirate ship, which he can’t leave until he turns 21.
Unfortunately, he was born on a leap year day.

“It’s really stupid goofy and I love it,” Godfrey said.

Andrade, who will attend Willamette University next fall and intends to study
choir and performance, noted that she was impressed at the talented students
that came out to audition for the production, both as actors and musicians.
“We have a lot of talent, I was surprised at how many people came from
beyond (the acting program),” she said. “I’m really excited to see how it pulls
together on stage.

Murray noted that he’s been impressed with the school’s facilities, which are
an upgrade over the theater space at the former high school, the Pioneer
Building, but that he also had a level of familiarity with the new space thanks
to student teaching with former drama teacher Chris Harris during the new
high school’s first year being open.

“It’s so fantastic to have this space that is so multi functional and big,” said
Murray, who received his BA from Willamette University and his MFA in
Directing from the University of Portland. “It gives room to grow.”

“It’s been a really fantastic experience so far,” Murray added. “I’ve never
worked so hard in my life. Teaching all day, then doing rehearsal, work parties
on Saturdays.”

Sandy High School Drama presents “The Pirates of Penzance,” book and lyrics
by William Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan, at 7 p.m. Nov. 10, 11, 16, 17
and 18, at 37400 SE Bell Street in Sandy.

Festival seating will be available, no reservations, and tickets are $7 for adults
and $5 for students and senior citizens. For more information, call 503-668-
8011, ext. 7313.

Sandy offers gentle comedy
Tobias Andersen, director of the Sandy Actors Theatre’s November production
of “Heroes,” notes that while the play’s author, Gerald Sibleyras, may not be a
household name, the person who translated it may possibly be the “greatest
living playwright.” That would be Tom Stoppard, whose writings include the
movie “Shakespeare in Love” and plays such as “Arcadia” and “Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern Are Dead.”

“It’s his translation that I think has given it a sly humor,” Andersen said.
Set in August, 1959, the comedy centers on three men in a home for retired
military men located somewhere in France, and a plot they devise to make an
escape. Andersen noted the show is not a slapstick-type comedy with
slamming doors, but something more subtle.

“It’s a very gentle comedy, and very human; you really understand these
guys when it’s over,” he said. “The humor comes out in that they’re just not
capable of doing it (escaping), but they’re totally oblivious to the situation.”
Andersen previously performed in another production of the show at the Coho
Theater in Portland, but noted that every actor brings different experiences to
each role and that a benefit of watching live theater is seeing the different
interpretations.

“It’s already markedly different (from the production he acted in), which is
one of the joys of theater,” Andersen said.

SAT presents “Heroes,” by Gerald Sibleyras and translated by Tom Stoppard,
from Friday, Nov. 10 through Sunday, Dec. 3, at 39181 Proctor Blvd. (behind
Ace Hardware). Show times are 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 3
p.m. on Sundays.

Tickets are $18 general admission, $15 for students and seniors and $13 for
children under 12 (reservations are recommended).

For more information, or to make reservations call 503-668-6834 or visit
sandyactorstheatre.org