Singing, dancing, acting, and more singing. As the cast of the 2017 musical prepare for opening night, spirits are high for the upcoming shows and finally getting to showcase months of hard work.

This year the theater and choir department are putting on the show “Curtains” by Rupert Holmes for the musical. Curtains is a murder mystery comedy about the follows the fallout when the supremely untalented star of Robbin’ Hood of the Old West is murdered during her opening night curtain call. It is up to Lt. Frank Cioffi, a police detective who moonlights as a musical theater fan to save the show, solve the case, and maybe even find love before the show reopens, without getting killed himself. The cast is coming up on their last few weeks of rehearsal and preparation for opening night on Friday, January 27^th.

“I love musical season because it’s a time for all of the arts to come together and share their talents.” lead in the musical and senior Blake Samper said.

The week of November 14^th was the week of auditions. For anyone trying out, they had to be at auditions every day after school. Those auditioning would line up at the choir room among about 120 students and receive their call numbers for the week. Students that aren’t even involved in theater were free to try out.

“I’ve done choir since I was in 7^th grade, this year I decided I wanted to try out for musical to see if I could do it, and it surprised me how much I like it,” chorus member and sophomore Bella Jimenez said.

The first day of auditions, the students learned the dance number and practice their singing pieces for the auditions. Tuesday was a day strictly for rehearsing and perfecting the pieces. Wednesday and Thursday were the dance and vocal auditions. Then Friday were callbacks, when the directors pick out certain people they want to hear from again.

“Audition week was stressful and nerve racking because you never really know what the directors are looking for in cast members and you just have to really use every opportunity to put yourself out there and get noticed,” Jimenez said.

After auditions, rehearsals started November 28^th. Monday-Thursday rehearsals are after school from 3 p.m. to 5p.m. and Friday rehearsals are from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. They also rehearse on most Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and even on some school holidays. In rehearsal, the cast first have to learn their music and get their voice parts then they start dancing and blocking scenes. After all the pieces are finished, they put everything together and make a show.

“We practice for almost three straight months before the first show. Practice is one of the biggest parts of any sort of acting. Repetition is key, but we don’t like to repeat mistakes.” Samper said.

Other than the acting you see on stage, there are many more aspects and roles tied into making musical happen. Such as orchestra, tech, and publicity roles.

“My favorite part of musical is seeing it all come together with tech and orchestra. It makes you feel proud of the art you’ve created.” Director Matt Robinson said.

The process of putting on a musical, or any performance or show, is incredibly stressful and busy, but when the cast keeps positive attitudes toward each other and the show being prepared, the outcomes are endlessly wonderful.

“I love the people, everyone is extremely supportive and nice and we all are working hard for the ultimate goal of putting on an amazing show.” Jimenez said.