A young man who looks similar to the King of Rock and Roll confidently strolls through Small Town, USA. He’s clad in leather, guitar in hand. Things are about to get “All Shook Up.”
That’s the name of the jukebox musical soon to kick off in Nikiski. The show follows the townsfolk's Shakespearean lovers quarrel, with a 1950s twist. And, it has lots of Elvis songs – including deep cuts and b-sides.
“A lot of the kids remember their grandparents playing Elvis or talking about Elvis," said Carla Jenness, director of the show and teacher at Nikiski Middle/High. "But some of them were like, ‘Who? What?’"
Jenness says the show has placed 60 student cast and crew members into the shoes of 1950s American youth.
“You get to practice how it must feel to be somebody else," she said. "And so, to me, that's one of the greatest educational benefits of it, is it teaches kids to think about somebody other than themselves.”
Jenness says she chose this show for the school’s spring musical because one of her graduating seniors is the “reincarnation of Elvis.” She says he has the suave, poise and personality to play Chad, the Elvis lookalike.
That lead actor, Kyler Allen, says it comes naturally.
“You kind of come up with, like, the formula of Elvis," Allen said. "It's like, a little bit of a knee wiggles, then you throw in, like a little hand circle, and then sometimes you throw your ankle towards the other. And then it's just like, you know, I don't really know how to describe it.”
Allen is graduating in just a few weeks. And while it's easy for students to mentally check out this time of year, he says the show has kept him and his cast members energized.
Nikiski junior Oshie Broussard, who plays one of Chad’s love interests, agrees.
“People, it's like, they see a theater production that is performed by high schoolers, and they're like, ‘Oh, it's a high school production.’ So it's like, ‘I should expect a bunch of kids just, like, lollygagging on the stage,’" Broussard said. "But they come to the show, and then they realize that we've put hours, days, months of work into this. And yeah, it's a big process for everybody.”
Jenness says the skills students have learned throughout rehearsals are important. But the district is facing a $17 million budget deficit, and some teachers fear that programs, like theater, could be on the chopping block.
She says shows like this spotlight the significance of school art programs.
“For a lot of kids, this is one of the reasons that they even come to school," Jenness said. "We have kids who come just to be in this program, and so it allows them to think in a different way than in the classroom, and it allows them to practice those inter-relational social-like skills. Those soft skills that employers say that we're lacking so much.”
Jenness says some students have blossomed socially since rehearsals for “All Shook Up” began in January. The show will run the first and second Friday and Saturday in May.
