“The first show we did with Pioneer kids, a lot of people were very, very mad,” said Rosie Sullivan, a senior at Community. The show was A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and “without Pioneer people…we wouldn’t have had the number [of actors needed] to do that show,” Sullivan said. But although the Pioneer students made the show possible, their overwhelming presence as the majority of main and leading roles angered most of the Community players. Then, a year later, there was a similar reaction when both of the main parts in Pride and Prejudice went to Pioneer students. However, at that point, there were only fifteen or so Community students involved in CET.

By contrast, this year’s Little Shop of Horrors has a cast of nearly forty Community students, and there are relatively few students from other schools coming to CET. Most of those, like Rhodenheiser, have been at Community for one or two productions already, and he is the only Pioneer student in a leading role. “I’ve been told that we have the biggest cast, and amount of kids involved in tech, that we’ve had in a long time.” said first-year CET Director Quinn Strassel.  This sheer number means that non-Community actors are no longer vital to produce a show.

“Ultimately, my job is to serve the Community students, so I’m always going to try to give them priority,” Strassel said.

The general reaction within CET to a Pioneer student starring as Seymour has been mostly passive, in contrast to two years ago. Sullivan remembers that, back then, CET members were “like, ‘Oh my gosh. We’re gonna gang up on these people.’…Honestly, it’s kinda funny looking back at it. …When Eli got the part of Seymour, there was definitely nothing like that.”

Still, there has been some unhappiness in CHS about the idea of students from other schools taking parts in Community theater. But, as Strassel pointed out,  “there are Community students doing theater [at other schools]. If other schools are opening their doors, it would be harsh for me to close ours.”

In addition to the element of fairness, Rhodenheiser added that “it shouldn’t matter ‘is this person from this school or not.’ It should matter who’s gonna play the role the best, and bring the most to the show.”