On November 17-19, CAST presented the musical “Children of Eden” in the Ertzman Theater. The large group of players worked hard to put on the show, and had a great time doing so through bonding and friendships new and old.

During rehearsal, juniors Gai Kaufman and Julie Moustafa, sophomore Jordan Newmark and senior Joey Quinn review the script with stage manager Katie McCallister while running through Act 1. “When we didn’t know the words to the song,‘ Words of Doom,‘ it was interesting,” said Moustafa.

During rehearsals, senior Joey Quinn and juniors Julie Moustafa and Gai Kaufman joke around by posing in front of the other players. “My friendships [with cast members] are amazing. I made so many great friends from all different classes. It’s really important to make friends in the cast because you have to hang out with these people after school every day for two months; this also makes making friends really easy,” said Kaufman.

While practicing a fight scene from the play, seniors Grace Kane and Joey Quinn, junior Connor Martin and sophomore Nick Cameron try to hold back, but can’t help laughing. The environment was “very hug-y [because] everyone is good pals,” said Cameron. The cast members quickly developed close friendships.

Junior Gai Kaufman and senior Joey Quinn carry senior Annie Sragner to “Father,” who is played by senior Seth Kahanov in an imitation of this scene in the play. At this point in the play, Sragner’s character is very old and this symbolizes her moving onto heaven when she dies.

While in costume before the play’s presentation on opening night, seniors Joey Quinn and Seth Kahanov laugh as they fool around, doing “trust falls.” This practice became a CAST joke over the course of rehearsals. “We have to trust one another on stage to have our backs if we mess up a line or miss a cue or forget blocking, so if you can trust them saving your life off stage you can trust them saving your butt if you mess up,” said Quinn. He and Kahanov have been in many school productions together over the years and are good friends as a result.