In early March, just a couple of weeks before the curtain was set to rise on the Penn-Trafford Drama Guild’s production of “Footloose,” musical sponsor Jen Haberberger wasn’t thinking about the coronavirus.

She certainly wasn’t thinking about using pool noodles to properly social-distance students at rehearsals.

“We would’ve started technical rehearsals the following week,” Haberberger said about the statewide school shutdown in mid-March. “But we never gave up. We thought these kids deserve an opportunity to perform this show this year.”

Drama guild students will stream 12 songs from the show on Aug. 1, through performances recorded in advance at Penn-Trafford High School.

“With social distancing and choreography and everything, we just can’t have the flow (to do the full show),” Haberberger said. “We can’t have the set-pieces moved in the middle of the show without cleaning them off.”

And, before they could commit to the streaming show, organizers had to find out who would come back to do it.

“We sent out lots of questionnaires to find out who was interested, who was too busy because of getting ready for college, who would come back,” Haberberger said.

Ultimately, ten cast members did not return, but the rest got to work.

“We made a Google folder with videos of every dance and every song, so they always had the opportunity in the comfort of their bedrooms to practice,” Haberberger said.

Over the past two weeks, groups have come to the high school auditorium to record their parts, using the same rules and protocols as student athletes doing summer training.

“They’re filling out a form, getting their temperature checked,” Haberberger said. “We have sanitizer and wipes and sprays, we clean, we take breaks and we separate them all over the building to keep them apart when it’s not their time on the stage.”

And while Haberberger isn’t sure she wants to go through this process again, it did offer some unique opportunities.

“We’ve learned so many new things during this process that we would never have attempted before because of time constraints,” she said. “Now, we can stop, do a cut from a different angle, and what we’re going to put out is something we’d never have been able to do.”

And, because performers are wearing masks, they had to re-record their vocals to be dubbed in post-production.

“Would I want to do it this way again? I don’t know,” Haberberger said. “A live audience is something they really crave. But it was a real learning experience for all of us. And we’re eternally grateful for how many people stepped up to volunteer and help make this happen, knowing we couldn’t pay them because we lost so much revenue in March.”

The “Footloose Showcase” will be streamed through the Showtix4U.com streaming service at 8 p.m. Aug. 1 with Anna Johnston in the lead role of Ariel, and Aug. 2 with Julia Vislosky in the Ariel role.

For more, including streaming information, see PTHSDramaGuild.com or visit Showtix4U.com and search “Penn-Trafford Drama Guild.”

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