Relentless Matchmaking, Conquering Hardships on Stage

Actors gathered in the Horton on March 17, 23 and 24 to finish setting up or to invite guests into the auditorium for the show Emma!.

The cast’s family members and friends arrived to see the work put into the production rehearsals, which started in December 2017.

The play, based on a version of Jane Austen’s “Emma,” takes place in a boarding school where Emma tries to romantically pair her teachers so they marry one another, and she then declares herself a matchmaker.

Overtime, she attempts to set up her friends and help them out when they are in need or have a major issue.

By the end, Emma discovers something about love that she did not expect.

Sophomore Arielle Rose-Finn, who played Emma, overcame difficulties while performing the role.

I had difficulty singing loud enough, but our choreographer and our vocal director helped me immensely,” Rose-Finn said. “The style of singing was also not what I’m used to so that was difficult as well.”

Sophomore Paolo Dimacali played the other main character, Finn, Emma’s best friend.

As it was Dimacali’s first year performing on stage, he learned more about himself as an actor and his skills in performing.

I would tell [people who have stage fright] that all the fear and stage fright is in their head, and they should just put that energy into their performance,” Dimacali said. “The rehearsals definitely helped a lot too. After many, many rehearsals, I sort of got used to the stage so I just pretended that the actual performance was just another rehearsal and ignored the audience. Basically, just have fun with it.”