March 21-23: Maskers present ‘Guys and Dolls’ at Central High School

The Maskers – Central High School Drama program

Central High School’s drama program, the Maskers, will be putting on their first musical of 2025: “Guys and Dolls,” on March 21 and 22 at 7 p.m. and March 23 at 2 p.m. For more information you can visit their Instagram @central.maskers.

“Guys and Dolls” is a musical comedy featuring a man named Nathan Detroit, a gambler who wants to host a game of craps somewhere. He needs $1,000 to pay a garage owner so he can use the space for this game. To get the money, he bets Sky Masterson that he won’t be able to get Sarah Brown to go on a date with him. Sky is able to convince Sarah to go out with him because he says he will get people to join her religious mission. While all of this is going on, Adelaide, Nathan’s fiancée, wants him to finally marry her.

As you can probably tell, this show is going to be very entertaining. I had the wonderful opportunity of attending one of Masker’s rehearsals and was able to interview seven people who work extremely hard to put on such amazing shows.

Meredith Carver, Maskers Director

The first person I interviewed was the director herself, Meredith Carver. Her family has been in Manchester for three generations, with her grandfather being a Central graduate in 1939. Meredith attended Hillside Middle School and was also a Central graduate. She has been on stage since she was 3 and started out as a dancer performing ballet. She went on to perform at the Palace Theater when she was in 5th grade and in many school shows. She eventually became a director when she started working with Dan Pelletier, a former director of the Masker’s.

Meredith explained how Pelletier was her mentor and she never expected to go into directing until he helped her and gave her a head start at the job. Her favorite part of working with the Maskers is the kids. She loves how they have so much creativity and provides them with a lot of creative freedom. She also loves how over time they improve and break out of their shells. She hopes to create the same type of community she was a part of when she was in school.

Some advice for anyone wanting to join Maskers is that the members are all one big welcoming family and they all see the club as a second home. If you are even vaguely interested in trying theater, go for it! Some words of wisdom she provided were that “rewarding things in life take a lot of work, so you should put in the effort to achieve your goals.“

Lily Szulc, Maskers President

I also interviewed Lily Szulc, Maskers’ President, and she is performing as Sarah Brown in “Guys and Dolls.” She said that when she was little, she saw many performances and thought it would be fun to participate in one. She experienced stage fright but as she kept on performing, she was able to get over that fear and it became easier. She realized how fun it is to pretend to be a different character on stage and collaborate with different people.

She started doing theater in elementary school and middle school and continued in high school partly because she was surrounded by her friends and past drama community. She said people should come see a Maskers performance because they always “choose fun shows that are relevant, things people are familiar with, and are fun and entertaining.”

“Guys and Dolls,” an older show from the ’50s, is still relevant and not too old. For example, her character, Sarah Brown, can be very relatable. She is afraid of change and has to navigate around a world where she has to let go of her expectations of herself. She also explained how the show is going to have great tech. They have new equipment, props, and costumes, and will provide an extremely entertaining and fun performance.

Camden Marr, VP of Maskers

I was able to interview another actor and Vice President of Maskers, Camden Marr. He joined Maskers because in his freshman year he had a hard time fitting into different clubs. He tried the wrestling team but realized he wanted to try theater. He emailed his guidance counselor to inquire about the drama club. He met the director who him about auditions for the upcoming show and he got a role, loved it, and has been having fun ever since.

He sees Maskers as a second home. He said that his two inspirations for acting are Ryan Gosling and Nolan North, who are both voice actors. He likes how naturalistic their acting is and how, with just a few words, they are able to tell stories that bring people on emotional experiences.

He talked about how people should definitely come see a Maskers show because they have a charm that you can’t find anywhere else. Their shows are all a labor of love and that people are always in the mood for a good time which they will always experience at a Maskers performance. One thing that makes them special is they are always trying to top each of their shows and improve.

Tech at Maskers

I also had the opportunity to interview members of Maskers’ tech, Taylor Morin, the Treasurer, and Nate Bannister, the Secretary.

Taylor explained how in 7th grade she joined tech for her middle school’s theater program because she wanted to be a part of shows, work on sets, and help other people be in the spotlight. When she started high school, she decided to keep going with set design and then decided to work on the sound. She said that when you come to see the show, you should expect it to be more old fashioned with women being represented as men’s companions and caretakers and of course lots of gambling!

She said, “people should come to see the show!”  Students have been working extremely hard and with all the tech out there today, it’s nice to just shut off your phone and just enjoy some nice dancing and acting and be able to watch a show and relax.

Her favorite part of working behind the scenes is being able to go up to someone and say “I did that,” as in, she painted that prop, she made that cue, and she finds it is a nice experience to be able to see actors go through their journeys backstage. She also said that Maskers is like a second home where everyone has a different background, works hard, and is there for a good time.

Nate said that he joined Maskers’ tech because he acted in his middle school theater program, but didn’t have as much time to act in high school. He performed in one Maskers’ show freshman year but when he got the option to run lights for the set, he decided to do just that! He became so invested and interested in working with the lights that he taught himself how to program them and has been working on tech ever since. His favorite parts are the inside jokes he has with fellow “techies” and being able to have creative freedom over designing visuals for the shows.

There is so much going on behind the scenes and leading up to shows weeks in advance with all the work that has to be done for sets, music, lights, programming, actors rehearsing, and more, that people should come see the show so they are able to see all of the actors’ talents and tech’s work pay off and a story come alive.

The Producers, Rachel and Matt

The final people I interviewed were Rachel Nathan and Matt Edlind, the producers!

Rachel is the music director and Matt, her husband, is the dramaturg. They know Meredith through the Cue Zero company, which was founded by Dan Pelletier, the former director of Maskers. Meredith has a lot of work to do when it comes to shows, so they help her with perfecting each scene and making sure everything runs smoothly, especially for a big musical like “Guys and Dolls.” Rachel has been doing theater since 6th grade. Matt has been involved since first grade with acting and participating in community theater all throughout high school and college. He earned his undergraduate degree in theater. They met while they were undergraduates in New York and, in 2021, they moved to New Hampshire.

Rachel is a speech and language pathologist who realized she wanted to have a hobby instead of working all the time. So, when they moved to New Hampshire, they sought out people like Meredith and others with similar interests and started getting more opportunities to work with theater.

They both absolutely love working with the kids at Central. They said they are extremely good at taking notes and truly strive to make performances better by taking in all of the different information they are given to tweak and make it better. They all want to improve and always have fun while doing so. They don’t just read their scripts; they become their scripts and make the characters their own with passion.

People should join theater because it’s a great way to make friends. You get to put together a project, see it made from start to finish, and perform it multiple times and make each performance better than the last. With theater you’re able to leave your troubles at the door, just pretend to be a fun character, and get lost in the creative and positive experience.

Relatable to High School Students

This statement is even more relatable to high school students because you’re being pushed into different boxes by yourself and outside sources to be who you are going to be. You have to make serious decisions about the future. Theater is a way to forget about the seriousness and instead have a fun and silly time with a great and welcoming community.

Rachel said that when she was younger, she went to a performance of the show “Wicked” and one of the scenes was just so fantastical and magical and you could feel the audience gasp. She always looks for those moments in the audience in performances she helps to curate and loves seeing the audience become so involved with each performance. Maskers productions always make the audience feel that way and have that experience.

“As I watched the rehearsal process, it was so fun seeing everyone laugh together and get really serious when it was time to go over their roles and then go back to laughing and being more relaxed.“

As I watched the rehearsal process, it was so fun seeing everyone laugh together and get really serious when it was time to go over their roles and then go back to laughing and being more relaxed. I could see how dedicated each student was to their role and how they became their character on stage. It was also interesting to see the producers and director make the students light up by encouraging them and showing them different ways to embody their character.

Maskers’ shows are all made with a lot of love, time, effort, and extremely hard work and it truly pays off.

Words of Wisdom

Lastly, some words of wisdom for people who are interested in joining a theater program –and also, some life advice:

• Make the choice, let yourself go toward the thing you want to do and if it ends up being the wrong choice, then turn around. Nothing will happen unless you take the first step and make a choice
• Anyone can be an actor and sing and dance. This is a developed skill like learning a sport or playing an instrument. It’s something you build and find joy in.
• The theater community is a great community, so don’t be afraid or intimidated to join. It’s like a second family.
• Learn to be vulnerable with yourself because, “when the magic happens,” you create something special.
• While theater is fun, it requires commitment because people are counting on you at all of the different stages like rehearsals and tech week, so make sure to show up and do your best.
• Express yourself and make it your own
• If there is something you’re interested in, look it up and learn it yourself or ask someone for help because in theater there is no manual and you learn from those around you.
• There are many different roles you can have in a drama club, not just an actor. There are sound people, light people, set design, and programming to name just a few.

Talia Harmon is a student at Central High School.

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