Learning to Rock with Jasper ACT’s Schoolhouse Rock Live!

Mother Necessity photo - From left: Shawn Valuch, Emma Grow and Jonnel Miranda perform "Mother Necessity." — Mother Necessity photo – From left: Shawn Valuch, Emma Grow and Jonnel Miranda perform “Mother Necessity.”

[quote]As your body grows bigger, your mind grows flowers.
It’s great to learn ’cause knowledge is power.
It’s Schoolhouse Rocky, that chip off the block
Of your favorite schoolhouse, Schoolhouse Rock![/quote]

Looking for a show that’ll both wow you with its song and dance and leave you smarter than before?

Then look no further than the Jasper Actors Community Theatre (ACT) production of Schoolhouse Rock Live! All the cool kids will be getting their adverbs here this Friday, the show’s opening night.

With a colorful set, lively band, and energetic cast, Schoolhouse Rock proves that learning can be fun. The show is a fast-paced flight of knowledge covering everything from gravity and grammar to women’s suffrage, including how to count backward by three.

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With 21 different entrances and exits, the cast and crew go almost instantly from song to song, rushing to set the stage, sing, dance, and then do it all again.

“This seems like one of the fastest productions we’ve put together,” said Shawn Valuch, an actor in the production who has been involved with ACT since 2006. “You get three weeks out and you go, ‘This is never going to work.’ And then, all of a sudden, the week before, it all starts coming together. And it happens with every single production we do.”

Penelope Roy (foreground) and Ethan Fritch carry letter blocks onto the stage during the performance of the Schoolhouse Rock classic "Nouns." — Penelope Roy (foreground) and Ethan Fritch carry letter blocks onto the stage during the performance of the Schoolhouse Rock classic “Nouns.”

Their rehearsals took off less than two months ago and haven’t slowed down since. With a production like this, teamwork is essential.

“Everybody has to sing, and everybody has to dance, and everybody has a speaking part,” said Valuch. “So you really rely on each other a great deal. You can’t do it by yourself. It’s really a team thing.”

The atmosphere of their rehearsals is one of overwhelming support. Cast members both old and young help each other remember lines, and more experienced performers encourage the shy ones to sing out their parts the best they can.

Heath Kluemper, a member of the orchestra for the production, played around prior to the dress rehearsal.

Many members of Schoolhouse Rock’s cast are children. But Valuch, 54, didn’t start acting until much later in life. As a father of three, the performing arts first caught his interest in 2006 after watching his sons get involved. Since then he has participated in nine performances, all through ACT.

“It really has been an eye-opening experience for me,”Valuch said about gaining confidence alongside his younger co-stars. “Almost all of these children know how to read music, and I don’t know how to read it at all,” he said. Valuch instead relies on his ear when it comes to singing. “They’re really amazing, every one of them,”

Brayden Reimann, 10, peaked around a set piece while he waited for rehearsal to begin. Brayden plays Joe in the production.

But being an older member of the cast of School House Rock! does come with perks. Valuch was 13 years old with the first School House Rock! specials started appearing on TV.

“I’m probably the only one who knew every single song when we stepped out on the stage,” he said.

Jack Greener and Piper Keusch waited for dress rehearsal to begin Tuesday evening at the Jasper Arts Center.

For children seeing the show for the first time, it’s a smorgasbord of fun facts. But older generations can also come hum along to their favorite songs about verbs and nouns.

Schoolhouse Rock Live! offers something for everyone, no matter their age.

Schoolhouse Rock Live! will have performances July 17, 18, 24, and 25 at 7:30 p.m. and July 19 and 26 at two p.m. Tickets are $10.

Jasmine Ruckriegal practiced her opening sequence during the dress rehearsal Tuesday.

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ACT CAST of SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK SUMMER 2015

Adult Cast

Tom Jonnel Miranda
George Shawn Valuch
Shulie Morgan Decker
Dori Piper Keusch
Joe Jack Greener
Dina Emma Grow

Youth Cast

George Ethan Fritch
Shulie Penelope Roy
Dori Anna Hulsman
Joe Brayden Reimann
Dina Chantel Greene

Chorus

Hannah Bailey
Courtney Blalock
Kendall Buechler
Trevor Buechler
Abby Eckert
Claire Eckert
Maude Drew
Linda Sell
Gabby Goodwin
Hallie Skorge
Marley Hildenbrand
Grace Jarboe-Bartley
Reilly Lechner
Chloe Lueken
Faustina Lueken
Cassie Merrimon
Elijah Miller
Travis Onyett
LeAndra Pund
David Birge
Kelsea Skorge
Sarah Wagler
Emily Haas