Great Gatsby - Moody High School

Aurora Maniscalco, a Moody High senior, made her directing debut with “The Great Gatsby.” 

“It’s a little overwhelming, but I’m very happy and excited that it came together,” said Maniscalco. I didn’t know anything about directing, and went in very much blindsided. It was fun, but very stressful.” 

Maniscalco said the high school chose “The Great Gatsby” because they were looking to do a classic show that aligned with their previous fall performances, such as “The Wizard of Oz” and “Beauty and the Beast.” 

“It was a very weird decision because we didn’t know what could happen, especially with COVID. We were very nervous and worried we would have a lot of new people interested. Surprisingly we had a lot of new faces. I was so happy and excited they actually enjoyed it,” said Maniscalco.

Maniscalco said the cast and technical crew came together and produced a great show. She said she’s thankful for them overcoming the challenge of only having a short amount of time to rehearse on the CEPA stage.

“The tech people… they were understanding with everything I was talking about. They were a great help when it was hard to understand what was going on,” said Maniscalco. “I’m just proud of everything that happened on the stage.”

Maniscalco said she’s very thankful for her history with CEPA, she has been working with the organization since seventh grade.

“I love CEPA and everything they’re teaching us. Every time we come here, we learn something new as a whole. I try to make sure everything goes good for all these people, the kids and the younger kids, because I care about everything theater wise,” said Maniscalco. 

Spotlight coordinator and CEPA assistant director, Shelby Duke, oversaw the show, and said she’s very proud of the show the students produced.

“They were really eager to do a fall performance, and we made it happen the best that we could. They’re an amazing group to work with. It’s a lot of talented people on and off stage,” said Duke.

Duke said that coming out of a pandemic, the Moody High School students were ready to give the best performance possible.

“I’m really proud of them, they went for it set and character wise. They really put their all into it and they’re a bunch of hardworking kids,” said Duke.

Pell City High School Spotlight will be performing Puffs on Nov. 18. In December Duke will be organizing a cast of approximately 40 people from the community club and kid’s club members to perform “Sherlock Holmes and the First Baker Street Irregular.”