One Act troupe mining for State gold

WAUSA — Wausmond One Act play students have been putting the “fun” in “funeral” with their performances this season.

The combined Wausa-Osmond team will take its act on the road Thursday, Dec. 9, to perform during the Nebraska School Activities Association’s 2021 State Play Production Championships.

Wausmond is scheduled to take the stage at 9:15 a.m. at the Johnny Carson Theatre in Norfolk and perform its comedy called “And To Death We Shall Return … Sooner or Later.”

Wausa Public Schools will not have classes on Thursday, while Osmond Community Schools will be in session.

Co-directing couple Brad and Sheila Hoesing have had play production students qualify for the state competition for 16 consecutive years now.

“It’s an expectation that our kids have,” Brad Hoesing said. “Our kids would be really disappointed if they did not.

“It’s just one of those things where our kids really push themselves hard to make sure they continue to go and represent our communities well,” he said.

Wausmond received the chance to defend its state championship by winning the District C1-3 contest on Nov. 29 in Wausa.

Before combining four years ago with Osmond for one-act performances, Wausa created a dynasty by winning multiple state play production titles starting in 2006.

“Wausa’s got a pretty good track record for one-acts,” Wausa senior Cole Story said. “It’s something that a lot of people in the school and in the community look forward to.”

Wausmond will go up against five other schools in Class C1 at the state competition this year: Lutheran High Northeast from Norfolk, Archbishop Bergan from Fremont, Ord, Gordon-Rushville and David City Aquinas.

“You’ll have comedies down there,” Hoesing said. “You’ll have some that do serious plays. You’ll have some that have small casts, like Fremont Bergan will probably have about six kids. Wausmond has about 70. It’s just kind of all different shapes and sizes.”

Wausmond has students from all grade levels in high school participating in play production this year – about 60 in its cast and 10 on its stage crew.

“It’s something that a lot of our school participates in and it’s a great way to kind of stay connected with everyone in the high school,” Wausa senior Abrielle Nelson said.

“I mean, a lot of people go out for it,” she said. “It’s a really fun thing to be a part of. The coaches are great. I love working with them. It’s also fun to put together a show and perform it.”

The show the play production students have been performing this year is about three black-suited brothers who are morticians, and they hate their jobs.

“It’s a little bit of a dark comedy, but it’s funny,” Hoesing said.

Story plays the role of Stuart, one of the three mortician brothers that the show is centered around.

“We kind of all agree he’s the youngest and the most immature of the group,” Story said.

He has taken pleasure in performing this year’s play production.

“It’s really fun to do,” Story said. “You’ve got to be really big and physical, and you’ve got to make people laugh. It’s really fun to be really obnoxious and over the top.”

Nelson portrays a character named Morgana, the love interest of the middle mortician brother, Franklin.

“We have done serious plays, funny plays, sad plays,” Nelson said. “I think funny has got to be my favorite.

“It’s just fun to kind of interact with the other people on the stage and make people laugh,” she said. “I like the comedy aspect, I would say.”

Wausa senior Trey McQuay plays Corpse Trevor, one of the more vocal cadavers who is not afraid to speak up and give everyone a piece of his mind.

“I love comedy so much,” McQuay said. “I also think that the idea itself about morticians trying to find their true calling – I just love that as a concept.”

The story – from a script written by Sheila Hoesing – takes place inside a mortuary that features caskets, a crematorium and a morgue freezer with drawers. “The set’s pretty stationary, but it’s a complex

“The set’s pretty stationary, but it’s a complex set,” Brad Hoesing said. “There are a lot of different pieces to it. The kids have to be able to work that set and be able to utilize that space. The setting stays pretty much the same.” The play production students have to perform

The play production students have to perform in 30 minutes or less. Wausmond has been averaging about 29 minutes per show.

The goal for them is to get the state contest judges to die laughing – figuratively speaking – and receive high marks in the areas of acting, staging, set and light design.

McQuay has enjoyed putting himself out there on the stage as his various characters over the years and being able to wow an audience.

“They didn’t think they could cry that hard,” McQuay said. “They didn’t think they could laugh that hard. It’s always an experience.”

Hoesing and his wife have had their students fine-tuning their performances during their rehearsals between the district and state contests.

“We’re making sure that we tie up any loose ends we need to tie up as far as competition material goes,” Hoesing said.

Wausmond students who are not familiar with the Johnny Carson Theatre will have to adjust for a proscenium, the part of a stage in front of the curtain.

That is because their home stage in Wausa is located inside a gym and does not have a proscenium.

The seniors who have been taking part in oneact shows since they were freshmen – such as Story, Nelson and McQuay – will be used to performing on a different stage at the state contest.

“We’ve got a group of seniors that I’m really proud of,” Hoesing said. “They’ve worked really, really hard and I can’t wait to watch the fruits of their labor.”