This month, the West Seattle High drama department is putting on their rendition of "Carousel."

The school has been running plays and musicals for five straight years as part of a growing drama program.

"Carousel" is a dramatic story of love between a carousel barker and a mill worker in late 19th-century New England.

There is only one problem: Neither of them can admit they are in love.

The larger parts in the musical are played by veterans including Nick Wichman, Kelly Thoma, Zack Desmond, Chantal McCargo, Gemma Clarke and Chris Morson.

There are a total of 28 students in the cast, 25 in the band and 25 working behind the scenes.

The show is an old-fashioned musical written by Rogers and Hammerstein, the same duo that created Oklahoma. The music is in the tradition of "The Sound of Music" and "The King and I."

The actors, band members and crewmembers have different expectations for this production, but they have one thing in common.

They all want the show "to be completely entertaining and worth the price of admission," choreographer and biology teacher Laura Sugden said.

The auditions for the musical took place in February and studied each candidate's strengths and weaknesses.

Many individuals claimed the auditions were hard and that there was a lot of worry and nervousness. Others, like Kelly Thoma, said otherwise.

"I'm used to the (school) auditions," she said. "When I audition at shows outside of school, I get nerve wracked, because I'm outside my comfort zone."

Andrew Finley, the director of the musical, put everyone to work immediately and knew exactly where everyone fit into the play.

"Everybody gets their parts by a combination of who's there and what my vision is," he said.

The three instructors - Finley, Sugden and Rutherford - teach the singing, dancing, and acting.

"The three of us are a team, obviously because we've been together for five years," Sugden said. "We all work together to make it a great show."

Time is a key element to any production, and time management is crucial to a great show.

Finley has made a strict, new attendance policy that has influenced all actors to come to the practices on time. Otherwise, they faced "stringent" consequences.

"They would say I was maniacal," he said, "but I say I'm very strict."

At least 75 hours is the minimum amount of time actors need to put in to make the show fantastic.

"Actors work just as hard as athletes," Chantal McCargo said.

The play gives the audience an insight into life in 1880s New England, especially social class.

"I really want people to appreciate classical musicals and I hope that they'll listen and be extremely moved by the message." Thoma said.

All cast members agreed that the theater is like a family and everyone is extremely close and tight. As soon as they get involved, they want to stay involved.

"Once you join the theater committee, you're a part of it," Thoma said, "it's your family and it's the time when everyone bonds."

Finley thinks all ages in the audience will enjoy the experience.

"They'll love it," Sugden said. "We have some extremely talented actors. The music is beautiful, the songs are lovely and the actors sing the songs very well."

Unlike in a standard play, in a musical, the band is as important as the ensemble.

Each musician in the band makes a commitment of over one hundred hours for the musical.

This year, Coach Rutherford not only is directing the band, but is also teaching the actors to sing their parts.

"We'll be more committed, tighter and connected," she said.

Rutherford used new technology to help the cast learn their songs. She digitally recorded every line with piano onto the computer. Students were able to take this home and practice there.

"This year has been entirely different than years before," Coach said. "The time to learn songs has been cut in half."

The music is straight from Broadway, and even though this is an amateur production, the level of difficulty isn't "watered down."

Finley himself had to call a production house in New York to rent the music for the play and buy the rights to put on the musical.

"There are more songs about life in this year's musical," flute player Nichole Mustello said. "It has more parts and is definitely more orchestrated. It's giving the people a show to come and see."

The 25 students playing piano, flute, violin, trumpet, saxophone, clarinet and even drums, will turn the normal school band into a Broadway orchestra.

In order to cover all the musical parts, the keyboard is used to augment the pieces.

Live music obviously plays a huge role in the show, but how exactly does it enhance the musical?

"It contributes to the sculpting of the audience's emotions," piano player Warren Pope said.

This year the band will be placed in a more orchestral position on stage. Coach herself will be the baton-wielding conductor with the band surrounding her.

Performances begin May 10 and run Thursday through Saturday through the next weekend in West Seattle High School's theater. General admission tickets for the 7:30 p.m. show can be purchased at Square1 Books in Jefferson Square 935-5764, or call (206) 252-8834 for reservations/additional info. Tickets are $5 in advance, $10 at the door and half off for senior citizens.

Katerina Vassiliou is a reporter for the Chinook, the West Seattle High School student newspaper and she can be reached via wsherald@robinsonnews.com