The Man Who Came to Dinner: the latest show from Owasso’s Troupe 4722
By Addison Welborn
The Owasso High School drama department’s 2024 winter production told the story of a 1930s rude radio personality. Yet, once the lights are turned on and the make-up is off, the magic of this theater production does not leave. Acting glory and fantastic world-building did not disappear in an empty and well-lit Performing Arts Center.
The magic of the theater is a relatively unknown one. Few people outside the theatrically inclined get the chance to see how half-painted sets, missed lines in rehearsal and subtle costume changes turn into a complete and near-perfect show. The Thursday opening night performance was a spectacle for all members of the audience, but for those who knew the weeks of work that went into it, it was even more special. “The Man Who Came to Dinner” was no ordinary high school production because Troupe 4722 is no ordinary high school theatre group.
Senior Emorie Nuckels played the love-stricken secretary of the antagonistic radio personality in the show. She faced many obstacles in her personal involvement with the production, from being thrown into the spotlight with her first leading role to suffering from a fractured rib throughout the beginning of rehearsals.
“I got really sick right at the beginning of rehearsals… and so I coughed so much that I bruised my rib.” Nuckels added “On the day we had a really important rehearsal and we had Urinetown auditions I fractured a rib [...] so I could barely walk [...] for a whole week.”
However, she never gave up—despite all of her challenges.
“Opportunities like this don’t come around very often, to get to [perform in a] really fun show like this and [be pushed] to your limits,” Nuckels said.
Her love for acting was also one of the things that kept her going throughout the show.
“I like the people that I meet and just getting to portray parts of life through acting,” she explained and added, “[The show is] hilarious.”
Sophomore Joe Salyer is a “techie” (a member of the behind the scenes crew) in Troupe 4722. His official role in “The Man Who Came to Dinner” was that of assistant stage manager. This gave him access to all of the background details that the audience will never know about. It is a responsibility that he loved, as his favorite part about the show was “the chaos backstage [...] it’s very fun.”
Three days before opening night directors, actors and crew were ironing out the final details of the show. This process brought to light many small details that previously would have been unnoticed. Sets, props, costumes and lighting were all scrutinized to the smallest detail in order to make the best version of “The Man Who Came to Dinner” possible.
During this rehearsal, there was a moment where the entire cast and crew sat in the audience as the director talked to them about the show. The lights were dimmed and the stage illuminated, it felt, just for a moment, as if this group of students were watching their own hard-work come to life. On opening night, the audience unknowingly reflected the students they had come to watch.
This audience had no idea of any fractured ribs or chaotic backstage environments, they didn’t know about messy sets or last minute costume-changes. Compared to the students in the audience on rehearsal night, they knew nothing, yet they still laughed and gasped and clapped until the very end. Yet, there is a different magnitude of appreciation and reverement that a more-educated audience member is able to have. Knowledge of the struggles that Troupe 4722 faced and how they persevered made the show seem more magical than before. The attention to small detail was glaringly obvious, and the amount of work put into the production was staggering. “The Man Who Came to Dinner” was an incredible puzzle made up of many unknown pieces of dedication, talent and strength. This show just as all of Troupe 4722’s productions are, an incredible product of the incredible people that put it on.
