UHS Drama Clubs First Play, "Check Please," by Jonathan Rand

Umatilla High School has a brand new Drama Club and they performed their first play! Students all year have been eagerly waiting to get a drama club up and running, with Mr. Hill as their club advisor. Students knew that Mr. Hill taught the speech and performance class and wanted his expertise to run the club. With this being his first year at UHS, he did not want to jump into anything right away. Once it hit springtime, Mr. Hill inquired about starting a club next year, and he was convinced to begin with a “soft start” this year. 

During the club's first meeting, it became apparent to Mr. Hill that the students were not interested in taking things slow. They wanted to perform and they wanted to perform soon. Mr. Hill gave in and together they decided on the comedic play, “Check Please,” by Jonathan Rand. They held auditions April 12-14 and the following week they started rehearsing every Mon-Thur to get ready for their two showings on May 18 and 19. 

This gave them only a month to prepare, but they worked hard and did an amazing job. Many of the cast and crew members were also involved in other extracurricular activities such as sports and additional clubs, which they had to workaround. Even with many different schedules to work with, the play was an absolute success. They had a great turnout of friends and families who came to watch the play. It was such a hit that the club even performed an impromptu showing for students who wanted to watch the play at UHS during their advisory class. Mr. Hill is very proud of what his students accomplished and is super excited for future productions. He says, “it was a colossal effort for all of them and I couldn’t be more impressed with their hard work, enthusiasm, and engagement.” 

Keep a lookout for more performances from the UHS Drama Club next year!