With the holiday season quickly approaching, the spirit is in the air. This is no exception for Wakefield High School’s arts departments. WHS is planning to present a holiday showcase, called ‘Winter Wonderland’ across the theater, band, orchestra and dance departments. 

Often, the hard work that all the arts departments do can go unnoticed, but this is a wonderful opportunity for everyone to enjoy the vast variety of talent that stretches across this side of Wakefield. As hundreds of gifted students and motivated directors prepare their materials, this debut of the display is going to be one to remember. 

On the theatrical side of this showcase, a portion of the Theater IV Honors class has been creating scenes and songs that they’re now rehearsing daily. At the showcase, they will get to perform these scenes to a number of live audiences. 

Paul Orsett, Wakefield’s theater teacher, is excited about this opportunity for his students to show off the skills they have been developing all year. This is his 23rd year of teaching at Wakefield, and he is thrilled for the chance to work in tune with the other departments.

“I want my students to have more collaboration with the other arts departments,” Orsett said. “This is a good time for us to come together and put this all into one performance.”

Although Orsett has given them direction on their material and provided feedback, a large majority of this project is left to the students to create scenes, rehearse them in class and get them as ready as possible for the big day. 

Jad Bruce, a junior and active participant in Wakefield’s theatre company, is a part of the Winter Wonderland team. Through performing different scenes and songs, Bruce and the rest of his team are sure to put on a fun show for any who attend. 

“This is the first performance for some of my team, and this allows them to use their ideas and perform what they want to perform,” Bruce said. “This also makes our presence known to people who may not know about the amazing work that we do.”

Alongside the theatrical department, the band and orchestra plan to perform at this event as well. While they are often busy with competitions and recitals, they’re thrilled to be given a fun opportunity to play holiday music for the community. Under strong leadership by their director, Bobby McFarland, this group of students is ready to perform this fun music for an audience. While this team is really excited about an opportunity to play some holiday pieces, they have been tied up with other engagements, but will be commencing their rehearsals for this holiday concert soon.

The third piece to this wintery puzzle is the dance department. This team is full of talent, with many abilities and special skills that are just waiting to be pronounced. Holiday music contains a variety of musical styles which allows for a lot of versatility in the types of dances that can be done. The dancers love to turn and leap across the stage and take any chance they can get to perform. 

Shannon Proctor has been a dance instructor at Wakefield for many years. So, she has many ideas in her pocket and always pulls together a fantastic performance, no matter the occasion. As the show approaches, Proctor works diligently to choreograph stunning routines for her dancers, knowing how crucial an experience like this is. 

“Many lessons simply cannot be taught in the classroom for a performing arts class, students have to perform themselves in order to gain this type of experience,” Proctor said. “All students must strive to do their best for the ensemble to be successful during the performance.”

With strong leadership at the forefront, the dancers are delighted for another chance to take to the stage. But before that, they must rehearse their dances for hours, perfecting their every move to make the dances as clean and amazing as possible. Halley Murphy, a senior and co-dance team captain is soon to present her complex skills at this showcase, and can’t wait to show off all of her and her team’s hard work.  

“Performing is one of my favorite things about dance and I have never done a holiday-exclusive show before,” Murphy said. “I know it will turn out great even if our dances aren’t perfect, and Mrs. Proctor is working hard with the other departments to make it a great experience.”

WHS’s Winter Wonderland will run from December 1, 2022, through December 3, 2022. There are 7:00 PM performances on all three nights and a 2:00 PM matinee performance on December 3rd with a 5$ admission fee.  Tickets may be purchased on Wakefield Theatre’s website.

“This is something everyone can enjoy and experience regardless of whether or not they know much about the event,” said Bruce.