High school theater season concludes with tears

March 13, 2023 at 7:58 p.m.

Caden DeFries as Orin, front, and the Doo-Wop Singers perform during the first act of Squalicum High School's final performance March 11 at the school's Forum theater. **(Trenton Almgren-Davis/Cascadia Daily News)**

Senior Senna Robson appears to Teyve in a dream during Lynden High School's rendition of "Fiddler on the Roof." **(Trenton Almgren-Davis/Cascadia Daily News)**

Squalicum High School Drama Club Director Jason Parker prepares the largest form of Audrey II during intermission. **(Trenton Almgren-Davis/Cascadia Daily News)**

Squalicum High School Drama Club actors and crew members dance to "Rasputin" in the green room about an hour before the show. **(Trenton Almgren-Davis/Cascadia Daily News)**

Costumer Kim Silva and director Tina Miller watch as Lynden High School students warm up in the green room before the show. **(Trenton Almgren-Davis/Cascadia Daily News)**

Scapino, played by Siena Stiles, dies surrounded by the cast at the end of Bellingham High School's show. **(Trenton Almgren-Davis/Cascadia Daily News)**

Bellingham High School Theatre gave their all in the final night of "Scapino" with hilarious audience engagement and slapstick comedy. **(Trenton Almgren-Davis/Cascadia Daily News)**

AJ Occhipinti spikes Kelly Kernan's hair while they wear a blindfold to maintain their confidence in the green room about an hour before Bellingham High School's show. **(Trenton Almgren-Davis/Cascadia Daily News)**

Director Tina Miller, costumer Kim Silva and choreographer Ashlie Blaske cry as they receive charm bracelets with symbols of each of the plays they helped the Lynden High School senior class produce. "I don't have children of my own," Miller said. "This is my mama moment where I get to be proud." **(Trenton Almgren-Davis/Cascadia Daily News)**

Squalicum High School senior Riley Rambo sings as the voice of Audrey II during a mic check before the show. Rambo had a small opening to watch for cues on stage. **(Trenton Almgren-Davis/Cascadia Daily News)**

Actors of the Bellingham High School drama program warm up during traditions in the hallway backstage about 20 minutes before the show. **(Trenton Almgren-Davis/Cascadia Daily News)**

Senior Amanda Card (Golde) hugs freshman Brady Stewart (Innkeeper) before Card's fourth and final show at Lynden High School. **(Trenton Almgren-Davis/Cascadia Daily News)**

Performing arts programs across Whatcom County culminated months of rehearsal, set design and direction to produce vibrant comedies, fabulous musicals and timeless classics.
Bellingham High School executed a hilarious rendition of "Scapino" during its final show on Saturday, March 11. The production utilized the entire theater, as its slapstick comedy broke the fourth wall with improvised conversations with the guests, dances in the seats and eccentric egresses from the side exits.
Squalicum High School Drama produced its sixth night of "Little Shop of Horrors" musical with over 50 cast members, 17 crew members and a pit orchestra Friday, March 10, in the high school’s Forum theater. The musical relied on practical effects to bring to life the carnivorous plant known as Audrey II. The plant started as a seemingly innocent fly trap in a pot to a giant man-eating monster, which had to be carried in by three people during the intermission.
Fifty-two cast members of the Lynden High School Performing Arts gave their all in the final performance of "Fiddler on the Roof" Sunday afternoon at the Judson Auditorium in Lynden. The intricate set pieces brought the audience to the small town of Anatevka, Russia, where a Jewish community lived under Czarist rule. The story revolved around a father and mother, Tyve and Golde, as their community’s long-held marital traditions are questioned by a traveling student, a poor tailor and their five daughters.

A photo caption in the previous version of this gallery misidentified the actress who played the grandmother in Lynden High School's production of "Fiddler on the Roof."