What’s colorful, funny, loud, creative, spectacular and comes to Prairie Ridge the last weekend in February and the first weekend in March? Nice Work If You Can Get It, the musical the drama department is putting on this year.

Nice Work If You Can Get It is set in the 1920’s and about a rich playboy, Jimmy Winter, who meets a female gangster Billie Bendix on the weekend of his wedding. Billie and her gang try to hide their alcohol in one of Jimmy’s many houses. They soon discover that the the wedding is being held at the mansion and pose as servants to try to avoid being caught.

Mr. Jensen explains why he chose this musical by saying “I chose this show because of the iconic and timeless music,” written by George & Ira Gershwin. “These songs have resonated with every generation for nearly 100 years and it is fun to share something with my students today that was enjoyed by their great,great-grandparents when the songs were first penned.”

Brianna Walneck and Rachel Cantin are both a part of costume crew, and Kasey Theil and Elliott Wesa are playing the two main characters, Billie Bendix and Jimmy Winter. They were each asked three questions and their responses are listed below.

What are you most excited about for Nice Work If You Can Get It?

Brianna: The thing that I am most excited for about this show, is definitely the fact that it is my first and last musical that I am head of costumes. So to be able to say that the costumes that are on stage, I created is pretty awesome. I’m super excited for some of the more difficult costumes that are in this show that we have to create. Especially the bathtub scene!

Kasey: I am most excited to see all of the dancing in this show! Although I only dance a few times, I have seen a few dance rehearsal videos, and the numbers look awesome already.

Rachel: I’m most excited for the costumes. The costumes in this show range from everyday clothes to really elaborate and detailed outfits. The costume crew and an amazing group of parents who volunteer their time to help us make these costumes. I’m also super excited to witness Sugar Shots this year!

Elliot: Something I’m most excited about is being able to get such an opportunity to work with such talented friends and directors to create an amazing product. Rehearsals have already started and I can’t help but leave with a smile on my face.

What is the biggest challenge you think you will face with this year’s show?

Brianna:The biggest challenge that I think I will face, will more than likely my time management. After winter break, I will be at school every night for many many hours. I usually am here till 9 at night. (The longest time I have stayed at school has been till 11:30, so that is over 16 hours spent here) and trying to balance musical, homework, and the other activities I am in gets really challenging.

Rachel: I think the biggest challenge I will face this year is time. Being part of the crew for theatre is a large investment of your time. Crew is almost like a job. Costume crew started meeting twice a week in November, and as we get closer to the performances in February and March we will be meeting more and more often, even on Saturdays. It can be challenging to get all your schoolwork done when you didn’t get home until real late at night, but if you don’t keep up your grades, you can’t be a part of the show.

During a school day off in February, all the members of the show, cast and crew, will come in for a big work day. All day we will work, not only on our specific tech crew, but on all of jobs that need finishing for the show. The cast and crew call it “Hell Day”, but the name is sometimes deceiving. Hell Day is a lot of fun! A crap-load of work, but a lot of fun.

Elliot: I think the biggest challenge this year will being able to juggle school, sleep, musical, and family life and still continue being sane.

What do you think will be the biggest difference between Shrek and Nice Work If You Can Get It?

Brianna: The biggest difference between Nice Work If You Can Get It and Shrek for me is the amount of costumes I have to make. For NWIFCGI there is over 50 actors, and almost all of them have at least 3 costumes. For Shrek there was not at all that many costumes.

Kasey: For me, my character is very different than my character in Shrek. In Shrek, I played a spunky, bipolar princess, but the character of Billie is much different.

Rachel: I believe the biggest difference between Nice Work If You Can Get It and Shrek will be the amount of cast members. Last year in Shrek, we had around 90 actors, and this year we have a little over 60. However, despite the significant difference in actors and actresses, we will still have an enormous amount of costumes to make since the majority of the cast will wear multiple outfits. The whole style and feel of the show will be so much different from Shrek. Nice Work is set in the late 1920’s and includes everything from flapper girls to bootleggers. There are no fairytale characters or Ogres in this show.

Elliot: The difference between Nice Work and Shrek are pretty big. This show is not a Disney show so there’s much more dance involved. There’s better romance. Illegal speakeasies, gangsters. What could go wrong? Absolutely nothing.

Nice Work If You Can Get It has shows on February 26 and 27 and March 4 and 5.  Tickets are on sale here and can also be purchased at the door for any shows not already sold out.