By ALEX OWENS |\u00a0La Mesa Courier<\/p>\n
When it came time to pick out a senior project, the choice was easy for Will Harris. It was everything else that was difficult.<\/p>\n
Harris, a senior at Helix High, has spent four years in the school\u2019s drama department so directing a play seemed like a natural choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt right to direct,\u201d Harris said while at a San Francisco speech tournament. \u201cA good ending to my time at the Helix Drama Department.\u201d<\/p>\n
But what to do? What to do?<\/p>\n
Considering his musical theater background, it\u2019s natural that Harris thought about doing a musical, but that didn\u2019t work out. He also considered doing \u201cThe Odd Couple,\u201d since he had gone to a state speech tournament last year performing a scene from the Neil Simon comedy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat didn\u2019t work because the department had done that recently,\u201d Harris said. \u201cBut I was looking at the plays at Barnes & Noble, and the choice seemed so obvious.\u201d<\/p>\n
That obvious choice was George Bernard Shaw\u2019s \u201cPygmalion,\u201d the 1913 comedy that introduced the world to Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle.<\/p>\n
Turns out, Harris had played Higgins in a Peter Pan Junior Theatre production back in 2017, and he was familiar with the basic premise, though the original play lacks famous songs like \u201cThe Rain in Spain\u201d and \u201cI Could Have Danced All Night.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe musical has more romance than the play,\u201d Harris said. \u201cGeorge Bernard Shaw never intended for Higgins and Doolittle to end up together. His Higgins has less charm and is more like an overgrown infant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Considering Harris has never directed a play, much less one hailed as one of the landmarks of 20th-century theater, his friends and teachers had all sorts of advice.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy friend Shane Robles, who directed a play for his senior project last year, told me, \u2018Don\u2019t do it!\u2019 but then he said that if you are going to do it, it\u2019s not going to be easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drama teacher Paul Reams says he did stress to Harris that the time commitment needed to direct a play went far beyond the typical senior project.<\/p>\n
\u201cA typical project takes about 20 hours of work while a play needs 250 to get it right,\u201d Reams said. \u201cThat\u2019s 10-12 times beyond other students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reams is impressed with how Harris is handling the pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got an artistic sensibility and makes quality choices,\u201d Reams said.<\/p>\n
Harris admits he got a kick when he told Peter Pan Junior Theatre director Dr. Mark Arapostathis he was returning to Higgins for his senior project.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t ask for advice that much. I just said, \u2018Guess what I\u2019ve decided to tackle,\u2019\u201d Harris laughed.<\/p>\n
Dr. Arapostathis is proud his student got so much out of \u201cMy Fair Lady\u201d that he wanted to dig deeper with \u201cPygmalion.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m proud of him because that means he researched it,\u201d Arapostathis said. \u201cSo many kids doing musicals don\u2019t take the time to research the origins.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris is also helping Arapostathis with PPJT\u2019s newest play \u201cPeter Pan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Harris hasn\u2019t asked for advice on doing \u201cPygmalion,\u201d Dr. A said throughout Harris\u2019 time in PPJT, he would often ask questions about how a scene was staged.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was listening and paying attention, so I do hear when he speaks to the kids in our group it\u2019s obvious he\u2019s learned quite a lot on the job,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Harris jokes that he\u2019s learned one valuable lesson as a result of doing \u201cPygmalion\u201d: He doesn\u2019t want to be a director.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I think I like acting more,\u201d Harris laughed. \u201cBut it\u2019s been an amazing experience working with everyone to make the show mine.\u201d<\/p>\n