By: Riley Zipper
The coming of spring means different things to different people. It means flowers, warm weather and allergies to many, but to the thespians of NAHS it means one thing: The spring musical. This year’s musical is the classic “Singin’ in the Rain.” This love story set in the backdrop of the 1920s when silent films are being transitioned to sound is a favorite of many, and one of the most far-reaching musicals New Albany has ever performed. The dancing alone is enough to make most high school theatre directors shy away, but David Longest is anything but most high school theatre directors.
I walked into Mr. Longest’s room on an unseasonably warm afternoon during fifth period. He was teaching a technical theatre class. It was so busy in the class that he handed me his students’ assignment, not realizing that I wasn’t a part of his class, especially because I am in theatre myself. I laughed and assured him that I was not in his class. He peered over his glasses as I asked him if he’d answer a few questions about his retirement. “Sure, one minute.”
I followed him around in his natural habitat. He had been gone for a few days and was diligently working on set designs with his tech students. I could tell the stress was mounting. Finally we sat down on one of the set pieces for “Singin’ in the Rain” in the auditorium, and despite all the stress he was under, we talked like old friends.
Longest’s choice of “Singin’ in the Rain” will certainly let him go out with a bang. “’Singin’ in the Rain’ is one of the shows I haven’t done at least five times. The last time I did it was 20 years ago, once, and this year, we have such strong leads,” Longest said. “All of them are seniors. ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ is unique in that it requires all three dancing leads to be strong tap dancers, and this is the year we had that.”
New Albany theatre has collaborated with Floyd Central numerous times (most recently “A Christmas Carol”), and FC’s director Chris Bundy is retiring this year as well. “I’ve known Chris for a long time,” Longest said. “He was a set designer for a production of ‘Grease’ we did all the way back in 1990 and I’ve known him for even longer than that. One of the first big shows I worked on with Chris was a joint production of “Crazy for You”, not the one I mentioned earlier but another one. We did “42nd Street”, “Big” and many others, but it’s really eerie how similar we are, but how different our directing style is.”
By this time, Longest’s theatre tech students were joining in on the discussion and offering their input. I felt like I was on The View.
Longest offered some advice to anyone wishing to pursue a career in theatre. “My advice to anyone wanting to be in theatre for a profession is that it’s got to be the only thing on earth that can make you happy,” Longest said. “If you can be happy being a doctor or a lawyer or selling insurance, then go for it, but if theatre is the only thing that you can be truly happy doing, then do theatre. I would never tell a great painter to stop painting.”
“When you’re in the theatre business what you remember most is the kids. There’s never been a year that I haven’t had amazing students. I remember our most successful production was “Crazy for You.” We got a NY Times article and it helped us get selected to do “Beauty and the Beast” and “High School Musical”. We did it for a full calendar year. But looking back, the greatest memory is the enjoyment that the average drama kid has onstage. For every lead, there have been at least 20 chorus kids that have had a great time back stage. It’s not about making stars. You’re lucky if you get one star in your entire career, but that’s not what theatre directors dream about.”
