Editors Note: Hays Daily News Editor Hailey Chapman sat down to speak with Hays High Director Bill Gasper Monday afternoon, where he shared insights on casting and the final days before production. Gasper provided insight on the history of The Radium Girls in a press release prior to the interview, which can be read in the first six paragraphs.
Amidst the production of Hays High School’s spring play, Director Bill Gasper already had his sights set on an ambitious undertaking in the year to come. Inspired by the historical impact of the story, Gasper sought to tell the story of the Radium Girls. The courage of young, oppressed women, fighting for justice in a world where the odds were stacked against them spoke to Gasper. With a strong group of senior leads, he felt as though his students would be able to tell this story with Grace, an entertaining play but also an important piece of American history.
“The Radium Girls were a group of young women who painted watch dials with paint containing radium during the early 20th century,” Director Bill Gasper said. “Their work led to radiation poisoning, numerous health issues and death. Their subsequent court case was among the first in which a company was held responsible for the health and safety of its employees.”
Gasper said the origins of the story date back to 1903 when Marie Curie, her husband Pierre, and Henri Becquerel were awarded the Nobel Prize for their work on radioactivity. Shortly thereafter, radium was considered a miracle cure and Madame Curie was an international celebrity.
US Radium developed a luminous radium paint that was applied by dial painters to watch faces among other products. The key ingredient was approximately one million times more active than uranium. Initially, the painter’s fine brush was rinsed in a glass of water, but the water was soon taken away and the painters were instructed to “point” their brushes in their mouths. Although the young women began to fall ill, company executives urged doctors to attribute causes other than radiation poisoning.
“Upon seeing the play, I was immediately impressed by the courage and determination shown by the young women who took legal action against their employer,” Gasper said. “Although such action was probably frowned upon during that time, they pushed forward, and as a result of their actions, many workplace safety regulations were established.
“The overall messages of greed, worker exploitation, corruption, and the resulting grief also captured my attention. I found it particularly upsetting how the company tried to delay court proceedings in hopes that the plaintiffs would die before a settlement was reached.”
Gasper said the structure of the play is well-conceived with a series of short scenes that take place at various locations. A pair of newspaper reporters appear throughout the show and provide brief news reports as a means to narrate the sequence of events.
“Things are going really well, this last week, week and a half, it’s really come together and I think it is going to be an outstanding show,” Director Bill Gasper said.
When casting for the show, he shared that a large consideration comes with experience. Between seniors Jordan Aschenbrenner, Addy Brull and Oscar Flores, Radium Girls will be led by a trio with years of experience in both plays and musicals at Hays High, alongside productions with the Hays Community Theatre.
“I look at my seniors first to see where they are at and see the experience level. It’s primarily a feel thing, knowing those kids and what they are going to bring, their talent level. There are certain characteristics that you look for, but you kind of have a feeling of who can play the parts before you get there and then you make sure it works out during the audition process,” Gasper said.
Seniors Jordan Aschenbrenner and Oscar Flores will lead the Hays High cast through their production of Radium Girls in the lead roles of Grace Fryer and the antagonist Arthur Roeder.
Gasper can date back to his production of The Curious Savage in 2020, where both Aschenbrenner and Flores gave their debut performance at 12th Street Auditorium. Alongside the two leads, senior Katelyn Willemsen will portray Charlotte [Charles] “CB” Lee, another cast member who has been with Gasper since her freshman year. Joining the Hays theater department her sophomore year was senior Addy Brull [Katherine Schaub], since then taking on featured roles in both plays and musicals for Hays High school.
“They played significant roles in all of those productions and immediately I recognized their talent. To have them come out as freshmen, I was kind of shocked with how good they were,” Gasper said. “Their development has been steady, they’ve had a full gambit of things. The nice thing about that is you hand them a book, give them the blocking, and they do such a good job of interpreting their roles. A lot of times I don’t have to do much of anything, they make me look smart.
Directing is important, but generally with accomplished actors, I just like letting them go and seeing what they can do with a role. I want to see what their interpretation is and a lot of times it’s something that’s a heck-of-a lot better than what I probably would have thought of.”
Alongside seasoned vets, Gasper has several actors taking to the stage as rookies. He shared that this fall, through a shortage of male actors, he has seen many of his young female students step into male roles and interpret them in a new fashion.
“I didn’t have a lot of men, so I changed character names and I did that with a lot of characters. I didn’t tell them to shorten their hair, put a mustache on, we’re not trying to disguise them. These are accomplished actresses,” Gasper said. “I’m so proud of them, they have stepped into these roles and made them so believable.”
Where some may have seen a challenge, Gasper and his cast saw an opportunity. Of the 25 students who appear on stage, 21 are female. With just four male cast members, Gasper shared that the show likely would have needed 10 minimum, but amidst a challenge, his students stepped up and solved the problem.
28 Hays High students helped put the show together, 25 students aiding in roles both on and off stage.
Radium Girls Cast:
Senior Jordan Aschenbrenner as Grace Fryer
Senior Oscar Flores as Arthur Roeder
Senior Addy Brull as Katherine Schaub
Junior Rose Windholz as Mrs. Alma MacNeil/Diane Roeder
Sophomore Alexis Ryan as Irene/Shop Girl
Junior Bryler Russell as Dr. Von Sochocky
Senior Katelyn Willemsen as Charlotte “CB” Lee
Junior Allison Goertzen as Sob Sister (Nancy Jane Harlan)
Freshman Elisabeth Bergman as Reporter (Jacqueline Youngblood)
Junior Jesse Staab as Tom Kreider
Senior Clare Tholstrup as Anna Fryer/Dr. Knef
Sophomore Riley Flax as Virginia Markley
Freshman Ella Fenwick as Ramona Berry
Junior Kennedy Walburn as Madame Curie/Board Member 2 & 3
Sophomore Juliet Gross as Society Woman/Board Member 1/Crowd Scenes
Senior Alyiah Conner as Frances Flinn, Ph.D./Elderly Widow/Crowd Scenes
Senior Alivia Sellens as Katherine Wiley
Freshman Caleb Nicholas as William Bailey/Male Shopper/Lovesick Cowboy/Crowd Scenes
Freshman Shiloh Gaschler as Dr. Cecelia Drinker/Venecine Salesperson
Sophomore Kayden Eaton as Clerk/Crowd Scenes
Freshman Leah Thomas as Mrs. Michaels/Store Owner/Crowd Scenes
Freshman Rowan Neeley as Dr. Harriet Martland/Customer/Photographer/Crowd Scenes
Sophomore Adriana Carillo Maldonado as Harriet/Crowd Scenes
General admission tickets are $8 and can be purchased at the door or at https://www.ticketsource.us/hays-high-school.
