Banana candies, a flight layover and a group of theatre kids trying to pass the time: “Call Me Obsessed” took shape. What started as a fun airport challenge to see how many Broadway classics senior Charlie Parris and her friends could sing eventually transformed into Northwood’s first-ever student-written and directed play featured on the school’s main stage.
From April 16 to 19, the show featured two full casts—one made up of Advanced Drama students and the other an engaging understudy cast. The play follows Broadway-obsessed Penny Lincoln (senior Olivia Outwater, freshman Aaliyah Escalera) and rebellious student Hazel (junior Kathleen Shumate, freshman Ananya Prakash) in their quest to stage their high school’s first play in years. To do so, they need to convince Principal Bill Stevens (senior Theor Kamfar, freshman Fiona Nguyen), their classmate April (junior Kyra Silver, senior Laney Vogel) and the rest of the student body.
“My motto for the show has just been do what you have fun with,” Parris said. “Everyone gets to make their own creative choices, just messing around, but it’s in the best way because it all works toward the show.”
Inspired by the 160 musicals named during that layover, Parris wove references to 40 Broadway classics into her script, written with the help of assistant writer senior Nikki Mila de la Roca.
Parris mentioned that managing a full scale production came with its hiccups. From coordinating a mountain of sound cues from various Broadway musicals to juggling rehearsals with both casts and overseeing 14 student-led technical departments, bringing this show to life was no small feat. Even a week before opening night, Parris was still making last-minute changes to costumes repurposed from past musicals.
Still, Parris had steady support from someone who’s been by her side for the past four years: theatre arts director Danyelle Bossardet. Bossardet acts as a producer, keeps track of deadlines, puts money into the production and ensures marketing gets out.
“Charlie’s basically working two plays at the same time because of the two casts,” Bossardet said. “She’s also choreographing all of the numbers, and she has a million written songs in the show. I get worried that it might be too much, but then Charlie turns it around. She’s got such an incredible group of friends and incredible support system at home.”
This is Northwood’s first fully cast understudy production since 2023. The Advanced Drama cast performed on three nights while the understudy performed on two. According to Parris, underclassmen responded well to this opportunity for more stage experience.
“With the understudy cast, we organized an informal rehearsal on a day where our rehearsal had to be canceled,” Parris said. “We all met up at a park, brought food and just had a little picnic together. But they also actually wanted to work on the show, so we had a lot of fun working at the park, rehearsing choreo numbers and dancing.”
For Parris, those moments reflect a full circle moment. The actor-turned-director now connects with the next generation of performers who remind her of her own theater kid beginnings.
“It was really cool to be able to work with someone who I’ve seen as a cast member now in a position where she’s in charge and making decisions,” said Nguyen, understudy for Principal Stevens. “Because she’s an actor at Northwood, she knows what that process is like, and she can apply that to her directing so it makes it easier for the cast.”
Bossardet hopes that, like Parris, more students are willing to share their story through what she believes is the ultimate test of project-based learning.
“I know everybody’s got a story,” Bossardet said. “This is that space where we’re able to encourage people who may not have the opportunity to audition for a play or a musical to be able to share their voice. I would love to see more student written work.”
