“A little girl came up to me, high-fived my hand and said ‘Gobble Gobble’.” That was Kenny Woody’s experience after he performed as the Turkey in the production of ‘Honk!’ The show is about a soon-to-be mother duck (Sophia Shultz) and her dead-beat duck husband (Jake Erne). Once the ducklings hatch, there’s an obvious misfit amongst them: Ugly, played gloriously by Daniel Kane. Ugly goes through an epic adventure that includes befriending a Cat (Hal Sonne), meeting a troupe of geese (Rachel Skurner and Nate Deetz), and finally finding his way back home to his Mama. ‘Honk!’ hit the Munk stage once before and was a hit then, also. The show was not just a reproduction, however, it became an entirely new show. Hal Sonne says, “When Mr. Munk gave us the movie of when he did it in 2003, he told us to take as much from it as possible. I liked how the actors didn’t just copy the gestures and mannerisms, but rather improved the characters, which all together added to the ambiance.”

The cast was made up of over forty people who contributed to the performance. Hal says, “My favorite part about the production was getting so see all these talented actors contribute to the theater.” Getting ready for a show of such high quality took a lot of effort from everyone. “We had lots of very long practices, especially during tech week,” says Lynsee Devers (Maureen). “It was a lot of work. More than anyone would think when they just watch it,” says Daniel Kane. The cast put in long hours, sometimes practicing all evening, to perfect the songs, dances, costumes, scenes, and sets. Practices, Kenny says “was like being in a drama all itself.”

Mr. Munk is a phenomenal teacher, director, mentor, and talent appreciator that has been with the East Noble family for 49 years. “His knowledge is crazy,” says Daniel, “he knows so much about what he’s doing, and while some of his methods may be a bit unconventional, it gets the job done.” “He is incredibly insightful on most, if not all, things theatre,” says Kenny. Mr. Munk has won numerous awards in dramatics and directing. The stage in the Cole auditorium has been deemed the Munk stage as of last year, to further honor him as the absolute best director that’s ever come through East Noble. As Lydia Tremaine puts it, “EN theatre would be nothing without his direction and sincerity and passion for our productions.”