'Hello Dolly' coming to Cashmere High

The special winter musical being put on by the Cashmere High School Drama Department this year will be the classic known as 'Hello Dolly'.
"It's one of those classic Broadway musicals that takes place in 1890 in New York and so we have amazing costumes from the 1890s," Director Susan Gubsch said. "It's going to be a lot of fun."
Gubsch shared that the kids have already began working with the musical's choreographer, who is from Puyallup.
The performance dates will be Friday, January 26 and Saturday, January 27. The following week will see the musical being held Thursday, February 1, Friday, February 2 and Saturday, February 3.
'Hello Dolly' tells the story of widowed Dolly Levi who is a matchmaker. Finally deciding that she is done with being a widow, Dolly decides to set herself up with Horace Vandergelder, who is one of the men that she is already trying to be matchmaker for.
For Gubsch, it is important for the theater students to be able to have a variety of experiences performing. What makes 'Hello Dolly' unique is that there is currently a renewal of the beloved musical on Broadway with Bette Midler starring as Dolly.
"I think the costumes are a fun challenge," Gubsch said. "The kids are all making their own hats and there's just lot of opportunities."
Because this musical also has a lot of comedy, Gubsch said that this particular play matched well with some of the comedy-talented seniors within this year's drama students.
The ensemble is the best part of the play for Gubsch.
Hope Erdmann will be starring as Dolly Levi and Evan Gambill will be portraying Dolly's love interest, Horace Vandergelder.
"She (Dolly) makes things happen so that the dates don't go really well for him (Vandergelder)," Gubsch said. "In the process of that these women meet other people, so it's all about romance."
The secondary female lead will be Reilly Schoening playing Irene Molloy. The secondary male lead, Tim Clarke, will play as Cornelius Hackl.
Jackson Hartwich will portray Barnaby Tucker while Madison Sherman portrays Minnie Fay.
Gubsch shared that this play will also host a larger amount of cast members than other plays and musicals that have recently been put on at the school.
Within the cast, crew and the orchestra, there will be about 55 students involved in this production.
"I think the costumes are going to be fairly spectacular. We've really put some money and effort into them because it's 1890.  That is going to be something to see for sure," Gubsch said.
One of the biggest goals that the students set for themselves for this play is to work on being present in the scenes and to recite their lines as if it were their first time hearing/saying them.
"That was the goal that they set, and also to have lots of energy on stage," Gubsch said. "I think people will find that this (play) is a lot of fun, it has energy and great dancing. It'll be a great show for the whole family to come to."
Tickets for the performances become available on Thursday, December 14 through the Cashmere High School main office.
The cost for tickets will be $10 for adults and $7 for students and seniors.
"They make great Christmas gifts if people want to get them in advance," Gubsch said about the tickets. "They'll be available at the door as well but we encourage people to get them in advance just so they can get seated more quickly."