Earlier this fall, on September 19th, 2025, Plymouth South High School’s theatre guild staged their very own production of Ride The Cyclone, a comedic musical about six teenagers who die in a roller coaster accident and are presented with an opportunity to send one member of the group back to life.
The story itself is intriguing, full of lighthearted and comedic lines and songs, as well as disguised commentary on the meaning of life. However, what makes South High’s version of the show so interesting is the way that it came to be. The production was entirely student run, from the directors, to the actors, and even set designers. Excluding help from physics teacher Mr.Yaeger in constructing the set, the students of the theatre guild chose to go it alone.
This story all started at the end of last when senior students Stella Gizzi and Giada Pennino approached Mr. Luciana with the idea of putting on an extra show to raise money for the guilds upcoming trip to Nashville in April of the following school year. The following summer was full of chaos-like decisions to switch from a live pit of musicians to pre-recorded backing tracks, and backyard rehearsals in the summer heat. When asked about whether or not the project was more stressful than anticipated, assistant director Pennino said, “Yes, definitely” and that the most difficult work arounds were “scheduling conflicts” , “communication” , “we didn’t always have access to the school, so we ended up having to rehearse in Stella’s backyard or my basement”.
Even though there were numerous challenges associated with the production process, Gizzi and Pennino both agreed it was important to keep theatre present in the community, in their own words, “Theatre brings people together and gives everyone a way to express themselves” and “With Ride the Cyclone, I think it showed our community how much potential there is to challenge ourselves and step out of our comfort zones”.
Just like the story itself, the theatre guilds journey to producing their version of Ride The Cyclone was littered with setbacks and obstacles to overcome. In the midst of all this chaos, one man was tasked with being the calm eye of the storm and remaining unmoved by outside forces. Throughout the whole ordeal. Brody Eberhardt, playing The Amazing Karnak (a fortune telling machine designed to predict the deaths of its customers), was tasked with sitting still (save for the occasional robotic movement) for the entire duration of the 90 minute show. Eberhardt was described as “detrimentally unbothered” by his directors as he was a calm presence throughout the journey, but perhaps he was too relaxed, occasionally missing rehearsal and forgetting to take off work for show week. While he is no stranger to the occasional no call no show, Eberhardt affirms “Theatre is so integral to our community, as it lets kids pretend to be someone else for a while” and that it “is something every kid could use in their life.”
Throughout history the medium of theatre has helped society discuss topics that at first seem to foreign or taboo. Plymouth South put on one such show in recent years; The Laramie Project is a theatrical retelling of fallout caused by the hate crime that killed the gay University of Wyoming student, Matthew Shepherd. The show awakened the eyes of many to the problem of prejudice far beyond the borders of Wyoming and the United States. South Highschool wishes to have a similar thought provoking impact with Ride The Cyclone and its discussion of morality, and even the meaning of a life well lived.