The production “Catch Me If You Can” started a series of performances on November 14th. But for those on Nixa High School production team, the work began far before then.

Lakyn Wools, the director of the production, chooses her musicals based on what she wants to portray to the audience and what she wants the audience to get from it. After she came to a decision of this year’s fall musical being “Catch Me If You Can,” the lengthy audition process began.

“This year we actually had our first workshop before auditions. It was kinda cool, the students had a chance to workshop the music before auditions with the music director and learn the dance ahead of time from our choreographers,” Wools said.

After the cast had been specifically chosen, rehearsals started. Starting with just simply reading the script and then further adding on choreography, costumes, technology and music. 

“The hardest part of getting prepared is definitely getting all the pieces put together. It’s easy to work things in their own parts but trying to make a fluid piece is a very difficult thing,” Jake Deterding, a senior in the production said.

Finalizing the production can turn into craziness. Despite how hard it is, it can make the vision really start to come to life and the cast can see all their hard work beginning to pay off.

“It’s so exciting to add in the technical elements but that’s when it really gets messy… It’s like messy chaos but I love it,” Wools said.

When everything started coming together and the date to perform got closer and closer, someone who’s a lead in the musical like Deterding needs to ensure he’s prepared for the big night.

“It’s kind of a hard thing to prepare. Just going out and working on it every night. Just engraving everything into your brain, having it memorized as well as possible is really the only way to make sure you’re prepared,” Deterding said.