Much of the normal North Kingstown High School routine has been adjusted to fit the new COVID-19 lifestyle. One of these evolutions involves the North Kingstown High School Drama Department. This year, North Kingstown High School will be putting on the production of Jekyll & Hyde in late April. 

Things will be very different this year due to the virus, one being how to view the performance. There will not be a live show for people to attend in person, but the show will be filmed. Viewers will pay for the link to the video performance, just as they would purchase tickets in previous years. The students will be performing on stage, just not in front of an audience viewing. 

Auditions were held online the Friday before February vacation. The number of students that auditioned for the musicals at NKHS would typically vary around a hundred people. This year only forty students auditioned. 

Norma Caiazza is the director of Jekyll & Hyde, who came to North Kingstown High School in 1999 and has been leading the school’s musical since the year 2000.

One thing is for sure: rehearsals will be different. The school needs to keep people safe, but the actors still need to prepare. The logistics of the musical rehearsals were discussed a few weeks ago at a school committee meeting. It was determined that some cast members will rehearse in person, while others will online. According to Caiazza, students will be rehearsing everyday to prepare for the video production.  This does seem to work as a pretty effective plan when trying to prepare the cast, while also abiding by the new COVID-19 restrictions. 

Although faced with the difficult task of putting on a challenging and sophisticated production in a strange set of times, Caiazza and the entire production team are very excited and grateful to be putting on a musical this year.