Goodbye Geppetto
After two months of time-consuming rehearsals, the curtain finally closed on Northwood’s production of Disney’s “Gepetto and Son” last week.
The end of this show was more emotional than most, as this was drama teacher Blake Gould’s last musical at Northwood because he is retiring this year.
“We are all just so thankful to him for all he’s done for us and all he’s taught us. Those of us who aren’t [graduating] know that all the shows and drama classes next year will never be the same without him,” said stage manager Natasha Karamally.
On closing night the cast, crew and orchestra took their usual tradition of getting all the directors gifts to the next level for Mr. Gould by getting him an extra-large gift basket and, after the cast took their bows, joining him on stage in an emotional group hug.
“We were all on stage for 15 or 20 minutes crying and hugging each other. I think the audience must’ve been making fun of us by the end,” said Karamally.
The play premiered with a preview night on Feb. 23, and was performed Feb. 24 – 27, including two matinee showings for Canyon View and Brywood Elementary students on Friday, Feb. 26. The kids enjoyed the show.
“At the end [of the show] this little boy came up to me and said, ‘Can I meet the blue fairy? I’m in love with her,’” said Karamally. “It was the cutest thing.”
After so much time, effort and fun, the end of the play was bittersweet for everyone involved in the production.
“While it was a great run, we were all sad to see it end and to realize that we would never see or hear ‘Toys’ or ‘Satisfaction Guaranteed’ again,” said Karamally.
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