The De Smet Dionysian Players (DDP) will perform the musical Hands on a Hard Body at 7pm on Thursday Feb 27-Saturday March 1 in the Thomas F. Hunter, Jr Memorial Theatre.
“I was made aware of this musical about a decade ago,” Theatre Director Nick Moramarco said. “I really like the concept of the show, and the music is a lot different than other musicals. It’s not like the Broadway style; it’s got this kind of Country Fried Rock sort of sound.”
The play is about a group of contestants trying to win a truck by leaving their hand on it for the longest. There will be a full-size truck with the engine removed on stage as a prop.
“They think this truck is going to solve their problems, and winning this truck becomes like the symbol of fixing their lives,” Mr. Moramarco said. “Is getting a truck really going to solve all their problems? Probably not. So, it’s being careful where you focus all your energy and understanding that what you think you want that might solve all your problems.”
The focus is on two characters, Benny, being played by junior Ben Duffy, and JD, being played by junior Brayden Lacroix. There will be other characters played by sophomore Dan O’Reilly, sophomore Lucas Obert, sophomore Chase Pule, junior Blake Seyer, junior Santiago Castillo, sophomore Jimmy Holman, and senior Will Poelker. There will be six girls in the play, four of whom have performed at De Smet before.
“It’s really exciting to me because it’s my first full show and I got cast as one of the leads so I’m excited to see how I’ll do,” Lacroix said. “It’s also just a great cast and crew, they’re all very welcoming to everyone and everyone has been working as hard as they can.”
This is the first year that the school is going to be participating in the St. Louis High School Musical Theater Awards which are awards given for productions of musicals of all high schools in the region that participate.
Tickets are available online here and at the door: $12 for any adult, $10 for kids. Students, Faculty, and Staff are FREE – but you still need to reserve a ticket. WARNING: SOME ADULT LANGUAGE.
“You might never get a chance to see this show again, it’s not done frequently,” Mr. Moramarco said. “The kids are high quality performers, and they’re going to put on a great show.”