OSMOND — The cast of the Osmond High School one-act played to a packed house on Tuesday, Nov. 26, as they presented their production of “The Great Gatsby.”
The public performance of the play was held in the lunch room of Osmond Community School on the last day of school before Thanksgiving break. Robin Wagner was the director with assistants Patricia Marks and Riley Wagner.
“The Great Gatsby,” a story set in Jazz Age New York, tells the story of Jay Gatsby, played by Jaxon Vinson (younger Gatsby) and Kaleb Gardner (older Gatsby), a self-made millionaire, and his pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, played by Meagan Wagner (younger Daisy) and Erin Wagner (older Daisy), a wealthy young woman whom he loved in his youth. The story is narrated by Nick Carraway (Jack Berg), a friend of Gatsby’s.
Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan (Hudson Napier), who finds out about her and Gatsby and confronts him. But Tom himself is having an affair with Myrtle Wilson (Brianna Kumm), who is married to George (Justin Rohloff). The story comes to a climax after, while driving Gatsby’s car, Daisy hits and kills Mrs. Wilson.
Throughout the play, there are several scenes featuring "flappers," young women known for dancing the Charleston, listening to jazz and frequenting speakeasies.
Anyone who has read the original book by F. Scott Fitzgerald, or seen either of the movies based on it, will agree that the Osmond students did a great job portraying the characters. One audience member who was asked gave it five stars.
At the 2024 Lewis and Clark Conference competition on Tuesday, Nov. 19, outstanding performance awards were presented to Keli Aschoff, Jack Berg, Kaleb Gardner, Brianna Kumm, Hudson Napier and Erin Wagner. Jack was also presented with Best Actor for his performance.
The cast and crew of “The Great Gatsby” will perform in the District Play Production competition on Wednesday, Dec. 4, at Leigh.
