Seniors Nina Goodheart and Jordan Underwood want to bring a new kind of musical theater to the school. Photos by Ethan Roubenoff.

Please refrain from talking, using cell phones, sleeping, crying or snoring during the show.

Please Refrain is the new musical theater cabaret club at the school founded by seniors Nina Goodheart and Jordan Underwood. The group will rehearse during the year, then perform in concerts on Jan. 9 and 11. They will perform a slew of numbers featuring people who love musical theater.

According to Goodheart and Underwood, they decided to start Please Refrain because they felt that there was not enough musical theater at the  school, and they wanted to introduce something new and different. Although they do not have extensive experience in cabaret style performances, they think it is an interesting, different approach to musical theater.

“We did consider starting some kind of smaller, student directed musical, but we decided that this was a more feasible starting project,” Goodheart said. “It’s also going to be fun and casual; we’re not going to penalize you if you’re busy with sports or other activities.”

This musical theater group is unique to the school because rather than just acting or singing, the group is doing both.

“This isn’t going to be a straight-up concert. Each song has a self-contained story and an art, and while you’re relating your own experiences there’s also something of a character there,” Goodheart said.

According to Goodheart, many students who do performing arts have special skills with their voices, or other talents such as gymnastics, which she is excited to make use of during the performances.

Musical theater can sometimes be difficult because performers need to find a balance between singing and acting, according to Goodheart. Both Goodheart and Underwood, they said, began their high school drama careers unaware of that balance.

“There’s always this gap between ‘I sing’ and ‘I act,’ and then there’s the moment where you realize that they connect,” Underwood said.

One of the main goals for the group is to get all of the performers over the barrier that divides acting and singing.

“Anybody can act their experiences to music, and it will be fun for us to teach that to people,” Goodheart said.

There are various methods Goodheart and Underwood plan to institute to teach these skills. According to Goodheart, one way of beginning to understand a piece of music is to read and write down any feelings about the lyrics. Another approach, according to Underwood, could be to have the singer sit in the middle of a circle and answer questions about the character asked by peers.

While the older, more experienced performers said they are looking forward to the teaching aspect, some of the younger students said they are looking forward to being taught.

Freshman Francesca Hseih said she wants to be a part of Please Refrain because she wants to participate in musical theater that does not take up too much time. Her goals are “to have fun and learn how to do new stuff and take risks,” she said.

Hsieh, who has done musicals in the past, is also planning on auditioning for the musical. She said she is eager to take a different approach to musical theater, so she believes this group is a very good fit for her.

Goodheart, Underwood and Hseih said they are going to use this group as an opportunity to teach, learn and grow as performers this coming year.

“You think about your own personal experiences and how they connect to the song, which is all it is,” Underwood said. “It’s really simple.”

Lily Böhkle can be contacted at [email protected].