On April 16 and 17, the Central Cambria
Drama Club performed John Cariani’s
romantic comedy “Almost, Maine”. The cast included 13 students from
CCHS, with some familiar faces from the musical program as well as some
first-timers on the Jacqueline Barber Deballi Stage!
“Almost, Maine” is a series of vignettes
that take place in the little northern town of Almost, Maine. In this town,
where it is not unusual to see the famous Aurora Borealis in the starry night
sky, each scene happens at around 9:00pm on a Friday night. The northern lights
emerge during each scene’s climax, where the characters either fall for each
other or distance themselves indefinitely.
The cast includes (in order of appearance) Joe Caroff, Ryleigh
Shoff, Davey Beyer, Jordan Johnson, Sam Caplea, Cassie Gabrielson, Emily Shero,
Mike Hale, Taylor Koenigsburg, Brynne Nagy, Emmy Stevens, Logan Tremel, and
Jessa Balough.
Junior Joe
Caroff and Freshman Ryleigh Shoff begin and end the play with a charmingly
awkward scene about new love where Ryleigh’s character “walks around the world”
to return to Joe, her new love. Sophomore Davey Beyer and junior Jordan Johnson
serendipitously meet and fall in love when Davey’s character, a repairman, was
the only person able to fix Jordan’s character’s broken heart. Junior Sam
Caplea and sophomore Cassie Gabrielson exchange an awkward scene as Sam’s
character realizes his old girlfriend, Cassie, is about to be married. Luckily
for Sam’s character, the Waitress (freshman Mady Simmers) just might be the
right girl for him! Junior Joe Caroff reappears as Steve in the next scene
where he meets sophomore Emily Shero. Both characters explore the pain that
comes from relationships in a hilarious prat-falling scene. At the end of Act
I, seniors Taylor Koenigsburg and Michael Hale starred in “Giving it Back”, a
scene that begins with heartache and ends with an engagement ring.
Act II
begins with junior Brynne Nagy and sophomore Davey Beyer as best friends who
find there might just be something more to their relationship than they thought
when both characters literally fall for each other all over the stage! Senior
Emmy Stevens returns to hometown Almost, Maine to answer a question from her
old boyfriend Sam Caplea. Sadly, Emmy’s character finds she is too late to say
“yes” to his marriage proposal, as she finds that Sam’s character has moved on
with wife Suzette (played by Cassie Gabrielson). The heartache continues as
husband and wife (played by Brynne Nagy and Michael Hale) attempt to rekindle
their stagnant love by revisiting Echo Pond, the place of their first date.
They are forced to face their own shortcomings in the relationship and
ultimately part ways. Finally, freshman and sophomore duo Logan Tremel and
Jessa Balough delivered lots of laughs with the final full scene of the night.
Jessa’s character- a self-proclaimed arm wrestling champ with no interest in
love-finds that her best friend and snowmobile partner (played by Logan Tremel)
is in love with her. As she struggles to deal with what this might mean, she
finds that she might just be in love with him too. The play ends with Joe and
Ryleigh finding each other as Ryleigh returns from her trip around the world,
solidifying the message that love can lead us to leave our comfort zone and
explore unexplored territory.
The cast and crew (Crew members include
Connor Farabaugh, Abby Morrell, Josh Hodgson, Maria Refner, Lauren Mackey, and
Katie Regan) worked hard to create a fabulous show.
