by Conall Sahler ’20

For the last 49 years, Sherwood’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival has been an Olney Sandy-Spring staple. Recently however, Rock’n’Roll has come under some stress from teachers and administration alike. That roots from the argument that the show takes time away from students studies and in turn harms their overall progress in class. 

As this year’s show began the directors Johnathan Dunn, Mike Maddox and Alex Silverbook took center stage in addressing this issue. On the very first day of rehearsals the three took to telling each cast member about the importance of maintaining grades were integral to the show. The trio was stern in their warnings about  students’ grades coming before Rock ’n’ Roll, mentioning that a drop in grades could mean being cut from this year’s production. 

With a cast as large as Rock ’n’ Roll there is a real threat of schoolwide grades taking a dip during the early months of the year. A typical student will spend at least  two hours a day afterschool at Rock ‘n’ Roll rehearsals. These hours of course are subject to fluctuation as each role in the show is concerned. Dancers, for example, will spend time after school from 2:30 p.m.-4 p.m. teaching and rehearsing background choreography and at 5 p.m. will begin their dance rehearsals and end around 7 p.m. That’s somewhere close to five hours a day spent in rehearsals.

Senior, Austin Sarver is a lead soloist and dancer for Rock ’n’ Roll  #49, and he estimates that his time at rehearsals every week is “around 18 hours … between dance and vocal rehearsals.”  When there is down time in between rehearsals Sarver stresses the importance of juggling the show and his studies, “ If I focus and limit my distractions I usually have a few hours to do my homework and I can split the assignments up between the time I have each day.” 

Sarver said how he believes Rock ’n’ Roll has helped his time management as a person “Yes, I do believe Rock ’n’ Roll has affected my grades, but in a beneficial way actually. Rock ’n’ Roll has taught me important time management when it comes to my homework and other after school activities.” said Sarver. He did note that his grades are “ok” but that he doesn’t blame them on Rock ‘n’ Roll.