By Sara Poric ’26
The much-anticipated “High School Musical” will happen on Friday, March 7 and Saturday, March 8. Tickets are $10, so be sure to get them when you can for a fun night out. Leads include Joseph Izquierdo ‘25 playing Troy Bolton, Vanessa Nguyen ‘25 playing Gabriella Montez, Atiana Reyes ‘25 playing Sharpay Evans, Vincent Trinh ‘25 playing Ryan Evans and Saturn Cooper ‘25 playing Ms. Darbus. About 20 to 25 kids are a part of the cast, including the crew. Last year, DHS performed “Aladdin.”
English teacher Kristin Parry, along with science and math teacher Lauren King and music teacher Nick Ruel, helped direct and lead the musical. Parry believes they are doing well during practices so far, citing, “We are in a really good spot. All of our actors, for the most part, are off the book, meaning that they know all of their lines… The tricky choreography scenes are what we’re working on right now, and then Ms. King is working on set design and props with Mr. Abelli and Mrs. Sicona.”
Practices are usually during Drama and Theater class, which includes most of the cast, as well as Advisory with the entire cast. They will start after-school rehearsals in February, which will last two hours every Thursday. Parry describes the amount of time and effort it takes to produce and direct the musical, noting, “There’s so many different moving pieces, sets and blocking [location and movement of actors on stage]. Kids at Derby are involved in a lot of different things, so it’s hard to find time to work on it, which is why we’re glad we got the Theater class to have time to do it during the school day.”
When asked if she was nervous about the upcoming performance, Reyes said “No, because I know I’m going to kill it.” Reyes is excited about the musical and hopes others will be, too. She is the choreographer, and she finds it somewhat difficult to direct the cast, remarking, “Everyone has different skill levels when it comes to dance, so it’s just hard trying to figure out what works best for everyone and make it still look entertaining, but I know everyone will do well in the end.” Her favorite part of being in the musical is being one of the lead characters and watching everything that they’ve been working on all year come to life.
Other musicals Derby hopes to produce include “Mean Girls,” “Annie,” and “Little Shop of Horrors.” The directors and cast of “High School Musical” are incredibly talented and thrilled to be able to bring this production to life, so make sure to come and watch them work their magic on March 7 and 8.
The Raider Press 