News release  West Ranch High School’s theater department invites you to take a breather from modern stresses and election contention, with a trip to Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire. With four performances Nov. 14-16, the school will present “Our Town,” the classic Thornton Wilder play about small-town life.  The three-act play, narrated to the audience by all-knowing stage managers Cora Howard and Mackenzie Hillhouse, focuses on the Gibbs and Webb families between 1901 and 1913. Set against a backdrop of mundane everyday life, young George Gibbs and Emily Webb grow up and fall in love. But the poignant third act crystallizes the play’s theme of appreciation for loved ones and the small moments that make up a life well lived.  “When it got to the end, it all made sense and clicked together,” Micah Viudez, a sophomore who plays Emily Webb, said in a news release from the theater department. “It literally touched my heart. Watching the characters be able to interact the way they did and admire each other, even if there’s not a lot going on, was really eye-opening for me. … It made me think about the interactions I have with my family and my friends.”   The play’s focus on unity and gratitude seemed especially fitting in a contentious election season, West Ranch theater director Jarod Spradling said in the release.  “Oh man, this is a good play for where we are right now,” he said. “I think it’s a message we need, a message of, don’t take your family for granted, don’t take your neighbors for granted, don’t take your loved ones for granted and don’t let things divide you.”   That may be why the show has stood the test of time, the release said. First performed in 1938, a fifth rendition of the play is currently running on Broadway, with Jim Parsons starring as the stage manager and Katie Holmes as Mrs. Webb. The play was featured in the television show “The Wonder Years,” with Winnie Cooper playing Emily Webb; and the book and 2017 film Wonder.  “The first two acts are like real, regular life stuff and you think, ‘Why am I watching this?’ It’s boring,” Rowan D’Angelo, a West Ranch senior who plays Mrs. Webb, said in the release. “At the end you realize, that’s the point … life is pretty mundane: If you can find joy and comfort in the small things, your life will be so much better and more happy.”   D’Angelo believes the play “really hits hard the second time you watch it,” when the audience-goer knows the import of the small things that are easy to dismiss on an initial viewing.  Thornton designed the play to be performed on a minimalist set that might look unfinished, with characters miming their actions rather than using lots of props, Spradling said.   Thanks to funds available from Proposition 28, approved by voters in 2022, the department has been able to purchase lighting equipment and hire a costumer, among other improvements.  “What I love about Grover’s Corners is the unity of all the people in it,” Spradling said. “They call it the theater community for a reason, and I think that if the municipal community can take a page from the theater community – and that message being, live in the moment, be present for your loved ones, and be united – then that’s the reason to do a play like this.”  Performances will be at 7 p.m. Nov. 14, 15 and 16, and 2 p.m. Nov. 16, at the school’s auditorium, 26255 W. Valencia Blvd., in Stevenson Ranch. Tickets are available at the door and online (onthestage.tickets/west-ranch-theatre). Online/advance tickets are $15 for general admission, and $12 for seniors/veterans; at the door prices are $17 general admission, $14 seniors/veterans, and $10 for West Ranch students with an ASB card.  Emily Webb (Micah Viudez) talks with her mother, Mrs. Webb (Rowan D’Angelo), in “Our Town,” playing at West Ranch High School Nov. 14-16. Courtesy photo. Alijah Jelks plays George Gibbs, and Micah Viudez portrays Emily Webb, in “Our Town,” playing at West Ranch High School Nov. 14-16. Courtesy photo. The post West Ranch theater to perform ‘Our Town’  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.