News : Director Steve Arnold tells Vinton Today what he learned from \'13\'

Cast members of '13' gather around Steve Arnold after their last dress rehearsal.

As soon as the last note from their last dress rehearsal died down, the 13 members of the ACT 1 production of "13" sprinted to the back of the auditorium and gathered around a guy who was wearing a matching white and blue shirt.

They wanted to celebrate with Director Steve Arnold and hear his suggestions.

Vinton Today sat down with each member of the "13" cast and asked them a few questions:

• What does being in "13" mean to you?

• What did you learn from the experience?

• What is your favorite part?

We later asked the same questions to Arnold, as he sat in his library Wednesday night. The cast was in the living room of his Vinton home, finishing up a casual brush-up rehearsal.

Directing "13" was both the most difficult and most rewarding of the dozens of shows Arnold has acted in or directed in more than two decades of ACT 1 participation.

"I began this with high expectations, but they vastly exceeded my expectations," Arnold said of his cast. "This musical was much harder than I expected, but they rose to the occasion."

Arnold says the cast logged well over 300 hours of rehearsal time preparing for the shows.

"This was the best experience I ever had in 45 years of acting and 20-plus years of doing ACT 1 shows," he said. "Out of all the shows I have directed, this one has the best quality. We had a fantastic production company and we all worked together very well."

When it comes to "13," Arnold said he has two favorite parts: One as director and one as an audience member.

His favorite part to hear is the song, "We all have a little more homework," which contains a lesson for anyone at age 13 or any other age.

But as a director, Arnold's favorite part of the musical to create was the theater scene.

In this scene, the director and stage crew had to make it look like the cast was actually attending a scary movie in a cinema. They used old theater seats from the Old Creamery Theatre. They used special sound and lighting effects. And they did all this while several characters explained how they were feeling at the time.

The theater scene is a very funny scene, and a very dramatic one.

"It's humiliating for many of the characters, but at the same time it's very funny," said Arnold.

One of the successes of "13" — and one of the major challenges for a director — is that each scene contains element of humor and drama.

"There is a serious element and a comic element in each scene," he said.

The main lesson of "13," said Arnold, is this: I have to be myself. I might not get everything I want, but I will be OK.

"It's a powerful message," said Arnold. "Every adult who sees it will be able to relate to the characters, and remember people like that who we went to school with."