The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Monroe’s Beardsley House had a run in with the infamous Headless Horsemen this past weekend. The Department of Drama at Masuk worked endless hours on their newest production The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, frightening many people with their show. Set in Sleepy Hollow New York featuring Ichabod Crane, played by Masuk Junior Tristan Reeder, the plot focuses on a love triangle between three characters and highlights on paranormal activities. 

The show took about two months to complete and had a cast of around twenty people, not including the crew. Both contributed lots of effort into building a performance the students and families at Masuk could enjoy. 

Traditionally, the drama shows are located in the auditorium at Masuk, but due to COVID-19 safety precautions, the production was moved to the Beardsley House located on Great Ring Rd. in Monroe. Although it was not at the normal location, the sound, props, and other features ran smoothly.

“The best part of the production for me was learning about the time period through doing research and using what we learned to better our performance,” said Vibhuti Jani, a sophmore actor in the play. Every member of the cast plays an important role, working closely with one another and adding researched elements to the story. “It feels like a chain reaction when one person is off the mark the entire cast is thrown off,” Jani stated. 

When asked about the most challenging aspect of the play, the actors explained that it was performing in the cold. Winter is around the corner so the cast mainly rehearsed indoors. When they brought the production outside there were certain variables that made it difficult to perform.  

“The change of scenery was pretty interesting, going outside. We rehearsed the show in Masuk but the outside stage was slightly smaller so everything  had to be adjusted. The whole outside ambiance with the extra lights and wind was different and really in the cold was pretty tough.” Explains Jude Bailey, Masuk senior. 

The director, Tom Simonetti had a very good relationship with the actors as well. 

“Mr. S and I are on good terms, I like his directing style and I think he is a great director.” Bailey emphasized.

The show certainly left audience members at the edge of their seats, and Masuk surely is looking forward to the next show in the springtime!