Unable to perform spring musical on stage, Pioneer Theatre Guild gathers online to sing 'One Day More'

PHS senior Dana Steiner spent hours editing the song that includes an ensemble of 35

By Jo Mathis/AAPS District News Editor

They couldn’t perform their spring musical on stage this year, so the Pioneer Theatre Guild decided to treat cyberspace with this online version of “One Day More.”

PHS senior Dana Steiner edited the video and dedicated it to the PTG 2020 seniors.

“When I heard our show would be canceled, I wanted to create something special so we could all have a memory and something to share about how amazing this show would have been,” said Dana. “This would have been my last musical with my younger brother and my PTG family.”

Dana said that in April, she contacted one of PTG’s sponsors, Jayme Kelmigian, with her idea for the project. They reached out to the show’s music director to play the accompaniment.

To help everyone record their parts, she sent out an instruction video and sample recordings of every ensemble vocal track. Every cast member who wanted to participate recorded themselves singing their part a cappella while listening to the accompaniment in headphones.

Dana then received each of the 35 videos individually at the beginning of May and spent weeks editing them all together.

“First, I had to decide how I wanted to present the videos in order to convey the storyline within the song,” she recalls. “More technically, I had to manually align the audio, visually crop and place the videos to make them the correct size, and arrange each one individually on the screen using professional editing software.

Editor Dana Steiner is circled in red

“We only had one rehearsal for this song before we got sent home, but everyone did a great job performing their parts thanks to the amazing music training we have received from Pioneer Theatre Guild and AAPS choirs and music programs!”  

Producer Jayme Kelmigian said Dana was a joy to work with on the project.

“She had a vision and was excited about the idea. We spent hours planning the project, sending comprehensible instructions, and collecting and tracking video and photo submissions,” Kelmigian said. “PTG wouldn’t have been able to produce such a high-quality video without the technological talents of Dana. I was happy to assist in any way possible in order to see her beautiful vision come to life. We have such incredibly talented and driven students in AAPS. I am so proud to work in this district!”

The video release on Facebook was accompanied by this message:

We were heartbroken to cancel our spring production of LES MISERABLES. Thanks to the incredible work done by our cast and Dana Steiner (video editing), PTG is proud to share the cast’s rendition of “One Day More.” We love our Cast, Crew, Directors (Wilson Plonk & Jake Smith), & Production Team and cannot wait to produce a show together when the time is right! This video is dedicated to the PTG 2020 Seniors.

Dana Steiner spent hours editing the Les Mis video.

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