Nicole Pennington, Jessica Taylor, and the theater students of Kenwood High School are organizing performances of the musical Guys and Dolls on December 9th, 10th, and 11th. After a year and a half of online learning, students are eager to play a part in a show again.

Guys and Dolls is a play based on two combined 1920 short stories “The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown ” and “Blood Pressure” both written by Damon Runyon. Set in 1920s New York City, the story follows four characters, Sky Masterson, Sarah Brown, Nathan Detroit, and Miss Adelaide. They pull each other through tiringly hilarious situations that make the audience quickly grow fond of them.

Several Kenwood actors and actresses are taking the stage for the first time while others are happy to perform on a stage a final time for their senior year. Senior Bryn Lang, who played Maria from West Side Story, will return to the stage as Adelaide. Senior Annelise Hagen , who was Alice from Alice in Wonderland, will be returning to the stage as  Sarah Brown. Clarence Johnson and Brandon Cooper, both juniors, are taking the stage for the first time as the male leads Sky Masterson (Clarence) and Nathan Detroit (Brandon).

Great productions can’t exist without passionate leaders behind the scenes though. Choir teacher Nicole Pennington and Theater/English teacher Jessica Taylor, along with Ms. Miller and Ms. Innes behind the scenes with the tech crew and costumes,  are  important to Kenwood productions, and they have their own love for musical theater.  A passion has to begin somewhere, though. Nicole Pennington’s love of musical theater sprouted from her strong love for all things music. “The music generally is the part that draws me in.” She also enjoys the stage, the set design, and the acting when she isn’t producing musicals for the school.

Jessica Taylor, on the other hand, has had a love for theater since she was a young girl. Her first play/musical was Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and although she was shy and ran off stage, her love for the art didn’t die. She came back to star in the play “The Music Man” for the school she attended at the time, Parkville Middle School. “I just wanted to be involved, and I got it. It was the best experience. I did it all throughout high school and even in college.” When she began attending the University of Baltimore, she realized she didn’t really want to be an actress, but a writer of plays instead. Even though she branched off into an indirect aspect of musical theater, it’s always been a part of her life. She hopes, “I would like to see the Drama program grow and possibly turn my classroom into a blackbox theatre for student productions!”

Ms. Miller, Kenwood’s tech director, has been part of the KHS drama productions for ten years now. As the tech director she takes care of the flats, supplies, props, sound,  and lights. She’s excited to see students back on the stage next week. “We have missed it so much and we are so happy that BCPS is allowing us to return to the stage and the mindset is shifting; people are seeing the value in the performing arts and treating us as if we were a “sport”.  It’s amazing!” she shares. Along with Ms. Miller, Ms Bella Innes and Ms. Tydings, work behind the scenes with costume designing.