St. Michael’s “Rifted” a great success

By Dyllan Thurston

On Thursday, May 23, with a main cast of seven Jr-Sr High Students and a supporting cast consisting of much of the remainder of the school, Rifted was a great success that raised over $500 for the St. Michael’s Glee Club. The group spent many long months preparing for this and it is safe to say it paid off. Performing to an audience of over 100 people, the young cast put on a 90 minute show written entirely by Glee director, Monique Pollock. The performance had schoolwide involvement, parts given out to students ranging from grades 2-12.

Rifted was about an old western town, divided by class. The Snobs and the Cowboys, played by the grades 4-6 Special Forces Choir, set the scene with their relentless bickering. When cowboys, Calhoun (Sam Thurston), Decker (Onyx Thacker) and Harry (Weston Mastel), get sick of tyrant mayor Rex Bigelow (Aidan Van Tryp) and his snooty sidekick Wigglesworth (Colin Matz), they conduct a plan to get him voted out of office and someone else voted in. Their solution shows up in the form of Thomas William Weed (Austin Mastel). With his southern drawl and relaxed sense of fashion, he is no match for Rex Bigelow on his own. So they bring in Rex’s conceited daughter Daisy Bigelow (Dyllan Thurston).

Though their relationship is rocky at first, Daisy manages to kick out those ‘barnyard behaviors’ of Toms and shape him up in time for the Mayor’s Ball. Toms running for mayor comes as a surprise to Rex, Daisy and even Tom himself. After much discourse over the subject, involving an adorable field of Stinkweeds (Grade 1-2 students), between all the characters, the vote is resolved, Tom recruits Calhoun, Decker, Wigglesworth, and Daisy for his town council and Rex is left content with his new financial advisor, Harry.

This is the group’s second major play since returning from COVID with projects from Mrs. Pollock’s Special Forces Choir conducted in between. When asked of the play’s success, Pollock commented, “We are developing our programs, and we’d like to see our larger productions turn into annual events. This year has been a very successful start.”

All in all, the play went very well and is certainly something for these students to be proud of.