BY MICAH ORGAN (’19)

Come and listen to my story about a play called “The Beverly Hillbillies!”  Despite setbacks related to snow days, this lighthearted tale still came together because of the motivation and heart of the cast and crew.

This year’s winter play will run from February 8-9. “The Beverly HIllbillies” was created by Paul Henning and adapted from a TV show to a play by David Rodgers. GHS’s adaptation of the play is being directed by Sara Sharp and Stephanie Stanton.

“The play follows the Clampett family through the discovery of oil, their improbable invasion of the pretentious Beverly Hills society and the absurd adventures and ridiculous romances they encounter there,” said director Sara Sharp.

The student directors for “The Beverly Hillbillies” are Anna Mialky and CJ Travis. It is the job of student directors to help the directors and complete miscellaneous tasks throughout the production of the show. It is Mialky’s first time being student director, and it is Travis’s second time being student director.

“I was student director for ‘Annie’ last year, which was wonderful,” Travis said. “What I do as student director is delegate for actors, help Sharp give notes, be Sharp’s running man . . . I do a lot more than that, but that’s just the basic stuff.”

The stars of the play include Alexa Minton and Jim Batey playing Granny and Jed Clampett, respectively.

“I think the one thing that’s really special about this cast is [that] we have a mix of people who have been here for awhile and some newbies, but I think that everyone has really acted like a family,” Travis said. “There’s no drama, [and] there’s this sense of community that I don’t think we’ve seen in a show in awhile, and it’s really nice, it’s really refreshing. It’s good to be able to know that you can rely on [the cast]. That’s what I think the cast does really well, just being there for everyone and staying together as a family.”

Some theatrical productions have specific target audiences, and some are meant to appeal to a broader audience. Worrying about appealing to a target audience is not a big problem for the cast and crew of “The Beverly Hillbillies”.

“The target audience for the show is people who have seen “The Beverly Hillbillies” [TV show], but those not familiar with the show will still enjoy it,” Travis said.

“If you like comedy, I think it’s really good for anyone,” Travis added. “I think the people who will appreciate it the most will be the people who have seen it, but you don’t have seen it to appreciate it. It’s a funny show.”

During the three recent snow days, both school and after school activities were cancelled. This threw an unexpected curveball at the cast and crew of “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

“[The snow days] affected [production] a lot,” Travis said. “We had a lot of setbacks with the set. We couldn’t build it as much. The acting didn’t suffer too much, but the set did. We played catch-up, and we actually got to a really good place right now, which is cool, but for a moment there I didn’t know if we were going to get caught up, but we definitely did.”

“The Beverly Hillbillies” is a unique comedy that is meant to appeal to a vast audience, and the interactions with the cast both on and off stage make it special.

“From the first scene, you can immediately see that everyone on stage and everyone backstage cares so much about the show. It’s funny, it’s uplifting, and it’s just a feel good show,” Travis said. “That’s why everyone should see it.”