After a one-year hiatus due to COVID, the Hutchinson Middle School musical is back with this year’s show, “Dear Edwina Jr.,” which puts a twist on popular advice columns such as Dear Abby.
The show revolves around Edwina Spoonapple, a young girl who, with the help of neighborhood kids, runs an advice program out of her garage called “The Dear Edwina Show.” Edwina dispenses wisdom to the residents of Paw Paw, Michigan, who write in searching for guidance about everything from picky eaters to poor manners and more. But while Edwina is busy helping everyone else with their questions, she forgets to take her own advice when it comes to friends, family and aspirations.
The three-show run of “Dear Edwina Jr.” is 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 4-5, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 6, at Hutchinson High School Auditorium.
Fans and past participants of the middle school production may recall this show when it was performed in 2007. Lara Liepold, the middle school choir teacher and co-director with Mary Haugen, decided to bring it back again this year for what will be her 21st musical production. With 24 songs and a cast of 48, it’s a big production.
“We try to pick musicals with large casts, and this one had a lot of small parts that gave a lot of opportunities for kids to do small solos, lines, or just a huge, group participation thing,” Liepold said.
Big casts aren’t new, however. While auditions were a bit smaller than usual this year, Liepold said they often average about 100 kids who try out for the shows. One of the kids who auditioned this year was Sophia Withers, who plays the titular star, Edwina.
“She’s the director of the ‘Dear Edwina Show,’ which she made for everyone of Paw Paw to give advice, and she kind of gives it to everyone,” Withers said. “She thinks she’s the greatest, she’s the boss of everyone. She goes to the beat of her own drum.”
This will be Sophia’s fourth musical, and while she enjoys the music she admits it can be a challenge.
“I love the songs,” Withers said. “It’s a little difficult to get your lines and then the songs memorized, but it turns out in the end and it’s really fun.”
Another of the leading characters in the show is Scott Kunkle, played by Ethan Kunkel in this third musical appearance. Ethan described his character as an “oddball” completely infatuated with Edwina, which leads to some interesting interactions.
“He’s crazy about Edwina,” Kunkel said. “He has this super, massive, huge crush on Edwina and is constantly confessing (his love).”
Anessa Kleindl, who is appearing in her fifth musical, plays a not-so-helpful girl scout. Like her cast mates, she loves the music, and especially the show’s final song. But the part she has enjoyed most this year is meeting new people at rehearsals.
“Friends really help build the relationships, and we can help each other more than if we weren’t friends,” she said. “If I weren’t in the musical I wouldn’t know some of these people at all.”
While the actors and directors hope their audience enjoy the music and fun during the show, they also want people to come away with an important message.
“It’s not about what you do,” Kunkel explained, “it’s more about the people you work with and how you treat others, rather than how you think of yourself.”
