‘Nice Work if You Can Get It’ opens for excited audience

On Wednesday, March 6, all of the Amherst Pelham Regional School district’s sixth graders came to ARHS to watch the first act of the final dress rehearsal of this year’s musical, Nice Work if You Can Get It. 

For many, many years, sixth graders have come to watch the musical, providing them with a space to see siblings and high schoolers they know, as well as getting a sneak peek into what the theater department offers.

“We wanted to give a show to kids who were young enough to really get lost in it,” said ARHS theater director John Bechtold. “It’s really important to remember how huge high schoolers look to elementary schoolers.” 

Not only does this exhibition benefit the sixth graders, but it provides the theater department with an opportunity to have an audience before a signature performance. “It’s really nice to start feeling a little bit of response when we’re on stage. Elementary school students provide that in the most earnest and joyful way,” said pit director and ARHS music teacher Todd Fruth.

These experiences can become core memories for young audience members.  “I remember seeing Anything Goes when I was in fifth or sixth grade and thinking it was so cool. I was like ‘man, I can’t wait to do that,” said Nice Work if You Can Get It lead actor and senior Jackson Aller-Cohen.

When asked about the show and potentially attending ARHS in the future, the sixth graders gave overwhelmingly positive answers.

One went as far as to say that they could “One hundred percent” see themselves taking the stage in the near future. “I’ve always wanted to try acting. I think it would be a lot of fun,” said the student. Another youth was inspired by the more technical aspects of the show and said, “I want to be one of those stage guys that moves stuff around.”

This dress rehearsal, along with the four scheduled performances in the following days, marked the culmination of months of work by the ARHS theater department.  “I thought it was fantastic, it was one of the best musicals we’ve had in years,” said senior Cyrus Bouton-Donovan.

Despite the success and accolades, putting this show came with its own unique set of challenges. “It took a while for us to come around to this one,” said Bechtold. Nice Work if You Can Get It was chosen after a lengthy vetting process of numerous potential candidates. Across all of the musical candidates, the goal remained the same, to create an all-ages-friendly comedy built on the foundation of a strong jazz songbook. 

The pit orchestra was essential to creating the suave prohibition-era world. The songbook they had decided on called for instrumentation which ARHS students alone couldn’t provide. “Up until the week before break, we didn’t have pianists,” said Fruth. “We were ready to actually not have a pit, but then the student members of the pit heard that and rallied and basically helped find two keyboard players who were great.”

After a short sickness scare heightening stress across the cast and crew, showtime arrived. By all accounts, it was a roaring success. Nice Work if You Can Get it put on their final performance March 9.