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Issue Five • the official school newspaper of Speedway Senior High School • March 10, 2017 Willy Wonka - Spring Musical 2017 Come with me and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination

Willy Wonka is the story of formed behind the scenes Charlie Bucket (Clayton Allen), a of this production and poor boy who lives with his parents are a large part of what and four grandparents. Everything makes this show a suc- changes when Willy Wonka (Kevin cess. Kimberly Martin, Simonson), the world’s leading who student taught chocolatier and candy maker, holds under Amy Mohl (our a contest and invites five children resident music expert), to visit his factory and receive a life- took the place as the as- time supply of chocolate. It’s a story sistant director. “If you of positive thinking and resolve, a come prepared you’re all well-watched musical for all, chil- set, for whatever in life. If dren and adult alike. you come over prepared, This year, retired art teacher, you’re even more set.” TR Kennard replaces the beloved The glorious Barb Jacob Pactor as our theatre depart- Whitis has, once again, ment’s director. Performing this signed on to choreograph task couldn’t have been easy, and a what promises to be a classic like Willy Wonka is, in itself, fantastic show. Nate a challenge. However, Mr. Kennard Hall returns as techni- was well equipped to handle this, as cal manager and elected he has 30 years of theatre experi- junior Kaitlyn Sears (me) ence. His passion teaching shines as stage manager. Senior THINK POSITIVE. Willy Wonka, Charlie, and many of the children and adult characters from through in this rendition of the Claire Shutters was Willy Wonka gather for a quick photo in advance of tonight’s opening performance. Photo by Roald Dahl’s masterpiece. chosen to be this year’s Kait Sears. A great team seems to have student director and junior Kaylea Wright is once again every night, that I watched.” loses its meaning in the viewer’s prop master. So should the student body and com- eyes.” As far as the cast goes, we are munity come see the show? Wood- This production comes after the joined by many old faces. Senior lock responded with a resounding recent death of Gene Wilder, who is Kayelynn Woodlock rejoins the YES. known for his unforgettable role as theatre department as Mrs. Gloop “For one reason, to support their Willy Wonka himself. The late Gene to complete her high school theatre fellow classmates,” Woodlock notes. Wilder is definitely in our thoughts career spanning eight consecutive “I mean we know we don’t have the and this musical, I believe, would productions. As her final show, greatest sports teams - we’re a small make him proud. As I talked to my this was a good fit, as she connects school - but people still go to our other cast members, almost every- Wonka to her childhood. sporting events and I think that mentioned him. Josie Goldson “Growing up I think it was one of (the drama department) is one thing (junior), who is joining us for her my favorite movies,” reflects Wood- that really needs support too. sixth production, responded “Gene K A I T S E A R S lock. “I could not go to sleep with- “And two, people don’t realize it Wilder is my favorite!” before telling Plugged In Reporter out a movie playing and I remember but we work our butts off. We really distinctly THAT being the movie, do! And I feel like sometimes that See WILLY WONKA on page 3 The untimely loss of musical genius Inspiration and beyond: and his lasting legacy “”… Among the many losses of beloved celebrities in 2016, At the , Michael’s friends and former members of Wham! An- George Michael’s untimely death on Christmas day was one that left many drew Ridgeley, and dancers/backup singers Pepsi and Shirlie all gathered on fans and colleagues feeling a huge loss entering 2017. stage to pay tribute to their dear friend. “”...Among the in memoriam tributes at this year’s “His is a legacy of unquestionable bril- Grammys awards was ’s ballad rendition of George Michael’s “Fast- liance which will resonate years to come,” love”. Aside from Ridgeley stated proudly. As one of the most the actual perfor- unique and inspiring cultural forces of the mance by Adele, decades since the eighties, fans everywhere her statement after have faith this statement will prove true time deciding to restart and time again. the performance “The boys from Wham! will help you reach after a small vocal that goal.”... From Michael’s musical begin- flub spoke volumes nings in Wham! with his high school best about how fans and friend (Ridgeley) to his revolutionary solo inspired profes- career, George Michael was always ahead of sional colleagues his time in many aspects. In March of 1985, A B B Y feel about Michael. Wham! traveled for a ten day visit to China. T H O M A S “I’m sorry, I can’t The visit included two concerts and these Plugged In Reporter FRIENDS FOR LIFE. The late George Michael’s col- mess this up for leagues and friends from Wham! reunited at the Brit Awards to pay tribute. him.” See REFLECTING on page two 2 Opinion/News Helping tuition come to fruition Paying for college just got a little easier

Preparing to go to college can be a daunt- This exposure to such a wide array of scholarships is invaluable to ing task even before having to pay for it, but someone looking to ease the pressure of paying to a university tuition. There actually being able to afford tuition poses an is an extreme variety, ranging from projects, to essays, to simple submis- immense challenge even after being accepted. sions. For instance, last Halloween, Fastweb provided access to a $1,000 One way to alleviate some of the stress of scholarship for carving paying for university tuition is through the a pumpkin, taking a acquisition of scholarships, but many find picture and submit- this to be daunting as well, as many scholar- ting it. Merely inviting ships provided at the school are highly com- a friend to the site petitive and selective. This is where websites provides the applicant such as Fastweb.com are exceedingly useful. with a chance to win Fastweb is a website which provides person- a $500 scholarship. alized, realistic, and profitable scholarships to Going to the “Meet A L E X students of all ages, as it is never too early to Our Winners” page of the website shows a list of such winners to inspire J E N S E N start planning for college. applicants and show how easy obtaining scholarships can be, and although Plugged In Reporter To create a Fastweb account, students such scholarships may seem menial initially, since Fastweb makes it so easy provide their GPA, planned college major, to apply for so many of these small scholarships they quickly add up and can interests, activities participated in, and other relevant information to receive significantly lessen the burden of paying a tuition. In fact Forbes recently a personalized dashboard of scholarships which fits their interests. Fastweb published an article praising it as “One of the top resources for finding help provides a database of thousands of scholarships from all fields and types of paying for college,” and the Today Show stated that “Money 911’s experts organizations. By simply scrolling through the main page students can easily agree, a great website to check for scholarships is Fastweb.” view the amount, and the required submission to see if they are interested. Reflecting back on a music tragedy Loss of musicians like George Michael hard to fathom Continued from page one marked the first concerts to be performed by a Western pop group in the tremely generous supporter of many charity groups that worked to fight and country. The boys from Wham! were received with great enthusiasm from inform about HIV/AIDS, to provide money for children in need around the the youthful crowds, and a great deal of the trip was filmed and packaged world, and to assist with treatment for cancer patients. These acts of kind- into a small documentary called “Foreign Skies: Wham! In China”. ness were done without much, or any publicity, but have not gone unnoticed “Cause I gotta have faith…” As far as Michael’s solo career, he was known by those who were helped by his selfless desire to help others. for pushing boundaries with risque subject matter in his songs. He inspired “So I’m never gonna dance again, the way I danced with you…” Artists many other professional musicians including Greg Hind of the Little River such as George Michael arguably do not come around as often as it seems Band. they should, but in the end that’s what makes people special. His achieve- “As a professional musician I covered many of his songs including Faith ments and inspiration will continue to live on to be known by countless [...] and I once stayed up all night long to learn to play and sing Kissing a people around the world and he is undoubtedly greatly missed. Fool,” Hind recalled. Both of these songs were off of the blockbuster album “Faith” released in 1987. Upon the album’s release, it remained high in the charts with the title track peaking at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album earned its keep as it was packed with hits as well as quality album tracks. Today, artists such as Michael Buble cover songs such as “Kissing a Fool”, and in the episode “Here Comes Treble” of “The Office”, an employee named Andy Bernard dresses up as Michael and sings a bit of “Faith”. These are just a few examples of how Michael and his music are still relevant today. “Sometimes the clothes do not make the man…” Throughout the majority of Michael’s young life into Wham! And into his earlier solo career, he struggled with his inner self, discovering, and finally about his sexuality. Several celebrities, including Melissa JUST BREATHE. Tenth grader Courtney Merrill Plugged In Staff Etheridge, have cited Michael as being takes a big breath while A SIGNATURE LOOK. This an inspiration and, “opening up a lot of sprinting during the 100 Veterans: Joanna Berry, Abby Thomas. Rookies: Alan Helrigel, Alex Jensen, Chad Sparks, Kait Sears photo captures George Michael’s doors for LGBT people to feel confident meter butterfly in action for Adviser: Derek K. Doehrmann signature looks, one with the about themselves.” the Sharkplugs. Photo by Printer: JS Printing Alliayah Johnson. The official school newspaper of Speedway High School. cross earring that would become In addition to his inspirational influ- This is intended to be a public forum. well known in the ‘Faith” era. ence on people, Michael was also an ex- News/Sports 3

Many exemplary sports perfor- round. As a senior, Powell defeated free relay team of Hutchek, Smith, mances capped off a strong fin- Carmel’s Jack Williams in just 43 and sophomores Sam Davis and ish to the winter sports season at seconds to advance to the second Jackson Harris posted a respectable Speedway. The sports seasons for round. The top seed would next fifth place finish to help the team Sports boys swimming, wrestling, and most face another talented senior, Frank- finish strong. recently boys basketball resulted in lin County’s Tyler Selm. Powell’s The boys basketball team rewarding experiences. dreams for a ticket to Banker’s Life hosted the 2A version of Hoosier For the wrestlers, three Speedway Fieldhouse again fell short. Hysteria last week. While the boys athletes participated in the Perry In Boys Swimming, the struggled this season, last week’s Meridian Regional. At the end of boys finished their season with a efforts were noteworthy. On Tues- Corner the day, senior Jaden Powell was very solid sixth place finish in the day, the boys defeated Shortridge Winter sports rewarded for a season of hard work Brownsburg Sectional. Junior Geoff as expected, setting up a tilt with with a first place podium finish in Smith posted some of his best times highly respected Broad Ripple. The the Heavyweight division. His ef- of the year, reaching the finals of the Plugs upset the 16-5 Rockets, 65-62, season comes forts earned him a return trip to the 200 free where he finished seventh, setting up a sectional championship New Castle Semistate. Two victories and fifth in the 100 free. showdown with Heritage Christian. to a close at New Castle would earn him a Freshman Jared Hutchek earned Alas, the Sparkplug dreams for a ticket to the State finals. a sixth place finisher in the 100 sectional trophy were dashed by the As a junior, Powell won a first breast, the only freshman to place in Eagles, 50-38. round match but lost in the second the finals of the event. And the 400 Willy Wonka opens tonight Popular spring musical will brighten your day

Continued from page one passionate about theatre. “I like how more Kylee Man. “It kind of brings junior Geoffrey Smith agreed. “I me that the show will be, in her it’s a creative outlet,” rambled soph- everybody together,” Man reflects. think people should come and see it, opinion, “Bomb AF”. omore Jacob Einstein backstage. “Like everybody who are in different even if they don’t like Willy Wonka Kevin Simonson (junior) is por- “It’s a great stress relief for me, after, cliques, different sports and stuff like because it’s a good way to support traying the famed character. “I’m you know, all the activities I do. It’s that. It brings everybody together your classmates doing what they trying to channel him into the way nice to come here and hang out with and they can be themselves.” love and it’s a great way to have, I act and speak and do my thing on a bunch of friends and do something The big question that the cast like, some fun.” stage,” Simonson said. To him, this that we all love.. And you can be as was asked is, “Should people come The musical will premiere to- role not only means a lot, but comes much of an idiot as possible and it’s see the musical?” The answer was night. Both the Friday and Satur- with a pressure to deliver. “A lot okay because everyone else is idiots! unanimous! “People should definite- day show will start promptly at 7 of people that I know, personally, But the good kind of idiot.” ly come and see it,” freshman Will p.m, here in Jordan Auditorium. are saying ‘Oh we’re coming just to But if you don’t want to take the Bickel noted. “I feel like some of The ticket price is $10, with a dis- watch you. So you better be good’.” word of the guy who forgot Gene the spins we put on it will be fun to count to $5 for students and senior The cast this year is, on the whole, Wilder’s name, take it from sopho- see.” On the other side of the stage, citizens. See you there! Ready to file your taxes? Want to see if you are getting a refund? WE CAN HELP!

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3317.484.1128 Hours of Operation 1430 Main Street M-W-F: 8-5 Tu-Th: 8-7 Saturday: 11-3 Closed Sunday 4 Entertainment Live, local, lovely Sister duo with ethereal, folksy sound

voices, another enticing component of Lily and Madeleine’s music is the fact that they quite liter- ally play a part in it as well: on recordings and in concert, the sisters consistently switch with each other on keyboards and the electric guitar, while their two close friends accompany on drums and a cello. Being a small and relatively unknown duo, the cost of seeing the sister act live is under $20 a ticket. This, coupled with their simple yet elegant music, combines to create a worthy evening of highly enjoyable music. As for what their songs entail, Lily and Madeleine usually go for haunting ballads of J O A N N A heartbreak, happiness, and metaphorical stories B E R R Y of personal experiences most high school girls Plugged In Reporter might have, drawing inspiration from their per- sonal lives for songwriting. While not as explicit in Big or small band, the excitement before a their life events as, say, (nor as scan- concert is always the same: a fluttering feeling dalous), the sisters’ songwriting is vague enough that is present throughout the day leading up to to be applicable to most listeners and in turn more SISTER ACT - Sisters Lily and Madeleine write and sing their your lively evening. On the last Saturday in Febru- relatable - listen to tunes like “Chicago”, an ode to own music to local crowds. Courtesy asthmatickitty.com. ary, my sister Amelia and I went downtown to the the Windy City, “Westfield”, a song they dedicate Easily humbled and sensitive, the sisters were Old National Centre to see a local sister duo we’d to their old high school friend group, and “Hotel as gracious and gratified towards my sister and seen nearly a year before in the same place. Pool”, a song they say was written on tour a few me as I imagined them to be when we stopped to Lily and Madeleine performed Saturday in the years back. say hi to them after their concert, thanking us for cozy, 500-person-max Deluxe Room. Both now “Along with reflecting on the personal bonds giving them congratulations for their work and in their early twenties, sisters Lily and Madeleine that Madeleine and I both have, I also really for a second show as beautiful and satisfying as have been a performing couplet for years, with wanted to focus more on the bigger picture and the first. three full-length studio albums on their records. write about the experience of being a white Having met leads of bigger bands, like Nick This summer, they will open for John Mellen- woman in America and a college-age kid in the Petricca of Walk the Moon, a Cincinnati-based camp’s tour. 21st century,” said Lily about their third album, band, I’ve been able to observe and experience Writing and their own original songs Keep It Together, in an interview with Sacks and the beauty of local bands, and highly recommend since high school, the girls have a unique sound Co. These thoughtful songs, among many others, you listen to Lily and Madeleine’s work to achieve that’s difficult to find elsewhere: categorized as invoke a somewhat melancholy sense of nostalgia, an exceptional example of the gorgeous music folk pop, their songs often mostly consist of either with a magnetic ability to draw the listener into a Indy natives can create. acoustic or electric guitar, or both, along with pi- daydream that makes them imagine the colorful ano, drums, and some artificial sounds and string pictures that the sisters’ lyrics paint. compositions added in the production phase. The instrumental aspect of the duo may sound like any other simple group, but it’s the sisters’ hauntingly beautiful harmonies that draw put them above others. Often times, younger sister Lily sings the melody or the lower part, with older counterpart Madeleine singing the harmony or higher part, and there are only a few instances in some songs in which they add on more of their own vocals. This stripped down sound allows for a more intimate listening experience, with just the es- sentials used and little post-production altera- tions.This sibling vocal blend is what defines their originality: flawless, seamless, and relaxed. The leap of faith one must take with seeing a favorite band live is a gamble: will their sound be true to the original recordings or will audiences be subject to listening to what seems like an entirely different band? Luckily, with Lily and Madeleine this is not the case. Their clean vocals on record- ings are almost exactly replicated live, making them an ideal choice for a night of listening to local, up-and-coming artists. Secondly, because their recorded songs call for a handful of instruments, the live replication is SIBLINGS IN HARMONY - Pictured during the cover shoot for their seonc album, Fumes, Lily and Madeleine show no signs impeccably accurate as well. Along with beautiful of sibling rivalry, be it onstage or in their daily lives. Photo credit to asthmatickitty.com.