{"id":35392,"date":"2023-03-07T19:14:02","date_gmt":"2023-03-08T02:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-cortez-theater-brings-classic-musical-to-life\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:24:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:24:39","slug":"montezuma-cortez-theater-brings-classic-musical-to-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-cortez-theater-brings-classic-musical-to-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Montezuma-Cortez theater brings classic musical to life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Montezuma-Cortez
Montezuma-Cortez High School prepares to perform the musical \u201cSeven Brides for Seven Brothers,\u201d with a pit orchestra conducted by Marla Sitton to provide the musical score. The production is set to run from March 10-18 at Ralph Vavak Auditorium at M-CHS. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all in the family for the highly anticipated Montezuma-Cortez High School production of the play \u201cSeven Brides for Seven Brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The production holds plenty of nostalgia for theater teacher Nicholaus Sandner, since he performed it during his acting days. Now, as the director for the show, which includes plenty of family involvement, Sandner developed a vision of seeing his own children perform the classic musical.<\/p>\n

M-CHS junior Lily Sandner, who plays the female lead role of Milly, relishes the opportunity to see that ambition spark to life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an upbeat musical,\u201d said Sandner, the director\u2019s daughter, \u201cand since it\u2019s a comedy, it is really enjoyable for a lot of different types of audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Montezuma-Cortez
Montezuma-Cortez High School students get set to perform their spring musical, \u201cSeven Brides for Seven Brothers,\u201d which runs March 10-18 at Ralph Vavak Auditorium at M-CHS. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Montezuma-Cortez
Montezuma-Cortez High School junior Lily Sandner (Milly) and classmate Chandler Snyder (Adam) play the lead characters in the production of \u201cSeven Brides for Seven Brothers.\u201d The production is set to run from March 10-18 at Ralph Vavak Auditorium at M-CHS. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cSeven Brides for Seven Brothers\u201d originated as a 1954 film, telling the tale of seven brothers living in the woods of the Oregon territory in the 1850s. Adam (played by M-CHS junior Chandler Snyder) heads to town in search of supplies, where he falls in love with Milly.<\/p>\n

Milly is surprised to learn of Adam\u2019s six brothers, not to mention the challenges she faces of teaching them good manners, courting etiquette, how to dance and the ways of love and romance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a dream role for me,\u201d said Sandner. \u201cI\u2019ve worked hard to get her character developed, which has come from watching a lot of other examples \u2013 and I hope that she comes across as refined in the productions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Full of high-energy dance ensembles and toe-tapping songs, \u201cSeven Brides for Seven Brothers\u201d showcases plenty of community involvement, including a pit orchestra conducted by Marla Sitton.<\/p>\n

With all the musical numbers, bringing an exuberant energy is vital, which, according to Snyder, comes down to one thing: \u201cConfidence, which comes from knowing the show. I remember the original Adam (played by Howard Keel) and thinking to myself, \u2018That\u2019s who I want to be.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

So now Snyder gets to fill the boots of an iconic American character, \u201cI can\u2019t wait to throw my own spin on this character, and make him real,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of our own stamps on the play, including in the choreography,\u201d added Sandner, as the M-CHS production seeks to make its own unique version of the classic, \u201cand we\u2019ve tapped into resources in the community to help us develop our dancing and fighting scenes so that they can be as authentic as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a bevy of aspiring thespians in the production, Snyder sees the incorporation of middle and elementary students into the cast as an opportunity to continue the strong interest in the M-CHS theater program.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something that I\u2019m passionate about,\u201d said Snyder, \u201cto be able to inspire the next generation of performers \u2013 they\u2019ve been a lot of fun to work with, and you can see their commitment to their craft.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working with a larger cast, with more that 50 students ranging from high school to elementary \u2013 not to mention over a dozen additional stage, sound, props, and house crew members \u2013 the production\u2019s development held plenty of challenges. Between working on the various transitions and onstage chemistry, the M-CHS theater aims to have all the pieces ironed out for the unveiling on opening night.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been times where it\u2019s been difficult to keep everyone focused,\u201d added Snyder, \u201cbut we\u2019re all working together toward a common goal \u2013 and it\u2019s been fun to see it all come together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The production opens a six-show run at Ralph Vavak Auditorium on Friday, March 10 at 7 p.m. before showcasing a 2 p.m. matinee and 7 p.m. performance the next day. The following week, M-CHS will provide three more shows, with another Friday night performance on March 17 at 7 p.m., followed by their final two performances on March 18 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are available on mchsdrama.org for $10 for adults and $6 for students and seniors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Seven Brides for Seven Brothers\u2019 to open Friday, March 10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,28,36,445],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-35392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school","tag-newsletter-lead"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35392"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82963,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35392\/revisions\/82963"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35392"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=35392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}