NVHS Improv Night to benefit breast cancer research

by Stephanie Kosonen
EVERSON – Work equals play in some instances, such as in one local high schooler’s choice for her senior project.
A love for improv has sent Nooksack Valley High School student Tessa McLeod sailing easily through a graduation requirement that looms at the end of many high school careers: the senior project.
The project is close to her heart because she has decided to give all the proceeds to breast cancer research. Fortunately now in remission, McLeod’s mother was diagnosed with cancer about two and a half years ago.
She said after seeing someone experience that fight, she really wanted to have a fundraiser to help others in the same situation.
McLeod has been active in the NVHS drama department since her freshman year, and said the idea of directing a stage performance was the first thing that popped into her head when she needed a topic for her project.
Improv is a quick-thinking form of acting where there is no script, just a spontaneously suggested scene. It grew in popularity when the TV show “Whose Line is it, Anyway?” became well-known.
McLeod said that is her favorite TV show to watch.
Her mentor, drama teacher Scott Gelwicks, said the high school has been trying to put on a couple improv performances per year.
This one will be especially worth seeing, he said. “These kids are very good at it; I think they’re very talented.”
Participants will be current and past NVHS students, McLeod said. She hand-picked 10 of the funniest people she has seen doing this type of acting.
It will make her job easier on the night of the show. She said she’ll probably just make sure they’re relaxed and lead them through some easy warm-ups.
“They’re usually the masters — they’re all better than me so they’re pretty good at it,” she said.
McLeod has been busy advertising for the performance, and organizing donations so there will be refreshments before and after the show.
She said she has had to explain what improv is to quite a few people during the process, but that in general, people at the high school have had enough exposure to it to know what to expect.
“You have two or three participants on stage and they’ll be given a scene, usually given by the audience,” she said. Then the actors “ad-lib” and take the scene wherever their imaginations allow.
“So yeah, it definitely is always taking u-turns and everything,” McLeod said.
It’s a nerve-wracking feeling to prepare to take the stage without any set lines to say, she said. “I always get nervous before every time I go on, because I always think, ‘Oh, I’m not going to be funny,’” she said.
Gelwicks will host the event. He said he looks forward to what the kids come up with on the spot during their various scenes.
“It’s safe to say Tessa is one of the funniest females we’ve ever had go through Nooksack,” he said, adding, “one of the funniest kids we’ve ever had go through here.”
Mentoring McLeod through the project has been a breeze, he said. “Tessa’s very on top of it — she’s a good student,” he said. “It was just a matter of, ‘When do you want to do it and who’s going to do it with you,’ and I think she’s come up with a pretty good cast of characters, including some alumni,” Gelwicks said.