Gershwin tunes a hit in Sterling High School’s ‘Nice Work ... If You Can Get It’

STERLING — It’s the 1920s all over again with “Nice Work ... If You Can Get It,” which is the Sterling High School play that opens this weekend at Centennial Auditorium.

Performances are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $10.

Emma Stroup portrays Billie and Cole Stumpenhorst is Jimmy, roles originated by Kellie O’Hara and Matthew Broderick when it made its Broadway debut in 2012.

The musical is a screwball musical comedy about Prohibition-era hi-jinks, with a hefty dose of George and Ira Gershwin’s greatest hits.

Other principal cast members are Anna Hutchinson as Duchess, Owen Gaffey as Senator, Kiara Olinger as Eileen, Henry Oberg as Cookie, Ben Boze as Duke, Ashton Strange as Chief, Brinley Francis as Jeannie and Kaidence Stroup as Millicent.

The chorus includes Leila Anderson, Avery Moran, Maggie Wittenauer, Morelia Vargas, Peyton McCafferty, Alondra Calderon, Kayleigh Bentz, Addison Andrews, and Kaidence Stroup.

Playing members of the Vice Squad are Kyle Hutchinson, Kyle Knutsen, Jacob Maruffo, Gavin Fischer, Francisco Pease, Jameson Casey, Mitchell Prevo, Augie Knutsen and Rileggh Wren.

Members of the ensemble are Michelle Henderson, Phinley Wright, Ellie Aiken, Aubrey Podolski, Anna Kuhns, Cristina Moore, Lillian Bahena, Lkupita Flores and Madisyn Shepherd.

In conjunction with the production, Woodlawn Arts Academy is holding its Bootlegger’s Bash, a fundraiser for its arts program. It starts at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, includes pictures with the cast and VIP seating for the play. Tickets are $50 and participants are encouraged to dress in 1920s attire.

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Emma Stroup, playing Billie Bendix, rehearses a song Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023 for Sterling High School’s “Nice Work…If You Can Get It.” (Alex T. Paschal - apaschal@shawmedia.com/credit)