The student news site of Stillwater Area High School

The Pony Express
The student news site of Stillwater Area High School

The Pony Express
The student news site of Stillwater Area High School

The Pony Express
Mary Burchill

Mary Burchill, Fashion Blog Editor

Mary Burchill is a 16-year-old junior at Stillwater Area High School. She is a Fashion Blogger for the Pony Express. She likes to preform in shows around the Twin Cities and wants to pursue Musical Theater as a career. She loves her dog Nellie who is named after her favorite American Girl Doll. Mary is very skilled at Disney trivia. In her free time she likes to pin on Pinterest, draw, watch musicals, watch YouTube videos and participate in buzzfeed quizzes. Mary's two favorite places are Disneyworld and New York City.

All content by Mary Burchill
Janel's blog Nellie Bellie features a variety of unique and aesthetically pleasing photos for her viewers to enjoy, however, there are other pictures featured to show off who Janel is; a down-to-earth, fun loving mom with a passion. While Janel does enjoy the popularity her posts can receive, some of her favorite creations are the less noted, "My favorite is the farmers market, cooking for real, no pressures. I love to make things with real food, I like to make cabbage pie or tomato cobbler or something with farmer’s market stuff that’s my favorite, and it’s not the most popular," says Janel.

Janel Hutton makes a career out of blogging

Mary Burchill, Fashion Blog Editor
April 12, 2016
Anything Goes is the first musical in a long time at Stillwater to feature a complete student pit orchestra. The new pit orchestra is hoped to be a new trend as the fine arts department continues to work together to create performances for the community to enjoy, Sawyer says, "One of the best things about the Stillwater fine arts department is that we do so much collaboration. Ms. Mitchell, Mr. Sadow and I have been working very closely together to produce this show. Mr. Lindsay has been incredibly helpful with recruiting band members for the pit orchestra. I love working with the other teachers to help students create such a wonderful production."

Director says ‘Anything Goes’ when it comes to live music

Mary Burchill, Fashion Blog Editor
February 22, 2016
Angela Mitchell is the music director for Anything Goes, Sawyer and Mitchell must work together so the cast and musicians can play together and all hit the perfect note. The Anything Goes cast all rehearse the finale together with the orchestra for the first time, Swartz says, "Having a pit orchestra is really fun and adds a lot of warmth to the show, because we have more students involved in the production. It's really nice because it gives the singer the ability to play with tempo and to really solidify each section of the song. A challenge is the fact that you have to be perfectly together with the orchestra and it's difficult sometimes to communicate between the singers and the orchestra."

Zach Sawyer, the Stillwater Orchestra teacher will be the conductor for the pit Orchestra of Anything Goes. Zach is familiar with the musical, and has had his own past experiences as a musician for this classic, Sawyer says, "I've played in a pit orchestra for the show as a bassist, but this will be my first time conducting Anything Goes."

Anything Goes is a musical filled with musical numbers of a more 30's, jazzy style. Lydia Stannard plays Reno Sweeney, a nightclub singer with show-stopping numbers and tapping feet. Besides working with a pit orchestra, some of the cast will have to tap alongside Stannard. Swartz says. "I auditioned for Anything Goes because it's such a classic Broadway show with a bunch of tap dancing! Tapping is my speciality so I was really excited to get to chance to tap in a show."

Anything Goes has a pit orchestra of approximately 25 students from the Stillwater band and orchestra. Being in the pit orchestra is completely outside of their in-school band and orchestra duties. Johnson says, "Rehearsals are a lot of fun, playing music in such a small group lets you hear everyone. Everyone gets along and we all just make the music fun."

Anything Goes actors and pit orchestra came together for their first rehearsal to combine the orchestra and vocals. Sophomore Lydia Stannard sings 'Blow Gabriel Blow' with the orchestra for the first time to find suitable tempos for the show. Saywer says, "A unique part of this performance will be the fact that the orchestra is behind the singers on stage. This means that there will not be a way for the actors on stage to see me, and I won't be able to see them. Making sure the orchestra and singers are together will be an interesting challenge."

More select students are chosen for the Con Amici Orchestra, which also performed at the Winter Concert. The students can range from sophomore to seniors, "In the Con Amici orchestra, my favorite song is "It's a Wonderful Life". It gets everyone into the holiday spirit and is a blast to play!" Vogel says.

Winter concert brings holiday cheer

Mary Burchill, Fashion Blog Editor
January 12, 2016
Senior Ava Wichser rehearses her “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” with Joseph Roesler as one of the Sugar Plum Cavaliers. “I love to dance because there is always room to improve and push yourself more and more,” Wichser says.

St. Croix Ballet prepares 15th annual Nutcracker performance

Mary Burchill, Fashion Blog Editor
December 5, 2015
Senior Ava Wichser is surrounded by an ensemble of male dancers (Jeremy Baxter, Joseph Roesler, Sam Kratz and James Kratz) as they rehearse the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. This is a crucial dance in the show that involves precision and technique, especially for Wichser, who must perform this well-known dance on pointe. “You need to be balanced in every aspect of your body. Flexibility and strength are key to making pointe work look easy,” says Wichser.

The older company of the Nutcracker rehearse the Spanish number. (left to right) Rebecca Franke, Joseph Roesler, Nina Thueson, Jeremy Baxter, Grace Gualtieri and Sam Kratz. “Spanish is one of my favorite dances because it’s zesty and has a sassy flare to it. It is also pretty fast which gives it a challenge. We get to wear big red skirts that flare around too which is always fun,” junior Grace Gualtieri says.

The older company of the Nutcracker rehearse the turns for their Spanish number. (left to right) Rebecca Franke, Joseph Roesler, Nina Thueson, Jeremy Baxter, Grace Gualtieri and Sam Kratz. “Nutcracker is special to me because I have performed in it every year for ten years and even before that I would come and watch. When I dance I don’t feel anything negative, just the joy from moving to the music,” Gualtieri says.

Executing the perfect arabesque on pointe is a skill junior Mckenzie Brady has mastered, along with many others, to deserve the honored role of the Sugar Plum Fairy, “Since I was a little girl it has always been a dream of mine to perform this role. I feel so honored and gracious to be able to do so in this year’s Nutcracker,” says Brady.

Pointe shoes are used in the Nutcracker to provide a sense of floating for the female dancers. Junior Grace Gualtieri displays what it looks like when a dancer is on releve on pointe shoes, “These shoes are beautiful, but can also be very painful at times and can create a lot of injuries. Adding pointe shoes to a dance or choreography makes the piece more difficult and adds a challenge to it,” junior Mckenzie Brady says.

Seniors of the Pony Express proudly stand together with their awards from the MHSPA convention. "The feeling for your work being honored is marvelous and it makes me thankful to work with Mrs. Steil and the rest of the Pony Express staff!" Jordan Fulin stated.

Pony Express ranks International First Place, Quill and Scroll

Mary Burchill, Fashion Blog Editor
November 5, 2015
Angle

Depth of field

Rule of thirds

Establishing shot

Reviewing her final draft for her highly anticipated romance novel, junior Caroline Allessi checks for any final changes before the book hits stores, "I always read over my drafts at least twenty times to ensure that this story is as good as it can be, I always find something to change, it's never going to be perfect but this is as close to it as I can get," Allessi remarks.

Wide shot

Close Up/tight shot

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