Entire high school involved in annual musical
WATSONVILLE
Seniors at Mount Madonna School are a busy lot. The 16 of them are spending this week preparing for their musical production of “Footloose,” which is scheduled to take place in the school gymnasium 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m Sunday. All proceeds from the performance will benefit Mount Madonna’s performing arts program.
Mount Madonna produces a musical every winter and each of the 50 high school students are involved in some aspect of the production, whether on stage or behind the scenes.
Trevor Forry, 17, is a junior at Mount Madonna and commutes from his home near Gavilan College in Gilroy every day. He is the production’s stage manager and said he learned a lot working on this musical.
“It’s been really interesting and a lot of fun,” he said. A student at Mount Madonna since he was in elementary school, Forry likened his fellow students to a family and has enjoyed working with the performers on their songs.
The school’s girls volleyball team just claimed the California Division V state title and senior volleyball player, Hannah Meade, quickly transitioned from her focus on the team to her leading female role as Ariel Moore in the musical.
“We’re bringing the ’80s back,” she said of the production’s costumes and lingo.
“The girls have moved from center court to center stage,” said the school’s Media and Public Relations officer, Leigh Ann Clifton, of the volleyball team.
Although all the high schoolers contribute toward the musical, the seniors were required to audition for the lead roles.
“We went through the audition process and had to sing songs in front of the whole school,” said Ava Mangus who plays Rusty in a supporting role. Although the experience was a bit intimidating, “we have such high respect for each other,” she said, which made it easier. “We consider ourselves one big family.”
Martin Sampad Kachuck, director of the performing arts program, has taught at Mount Madonna since 1983 and said that his performers this year are “pretty seasoned” and rely on each other for support.
“There’s small. Then there’s us,” he said. “Everyone’s involved. No one can hide because we’re so small. The kids really pick each other up. They’re doing this magnificently.”
