GILROY
– Some Bay Area school districts are cutting student programs
right and left. Gilroy Unified also is struggling to make ends
meet.
GILROY – Some Bay Area school districts are cutting student programs right and left. Gilroy Unified also is struggling to make ends meet.
Even with the budget crunch felt in districts across the state, Gilroy middle schoolers have reason to sing and do the twist.
This weekend, local sixth, seventh and eighth graders will perform in the ’50s musical “Rock Around the Block,” the first time the district has offered such a program. Counting actors, technicians and other behind-the-scenes staff, 54 students from all three middle schools are ready to knock your bobby socks off.
“What’s interesting is, at these trying times for public education, the district was able to offer this program to all middle-schoolers,” said Jose “Pepe” Espinoza, the play’s director. “We have taken all three middle schools and are adding to the enrichment part of each individual school and pulling it all together.”
Under the direction of Espinoza, the well-known and long-time director of Rucker Elementary’s theater arts, along with Assistant Director Zoi Amaya Alvarez, the students have been dancing, singing and set-building since March.
“The children would work about every other day up to two, to three, to four hours a day,” Espinoza said. “They’re the technicians; they kind of do it all. The parents are the other support, as well as the individual schools and the district.”
The students will transport their viewers back to the time of Bill Haley and the Comets from the moment they enter the Gilroy High School theater: A collage of ’50s images, from juke boxes to sock-hops, fills the display cases in the foyer.
Espinoza said he is in “absolute awe” of the way students from Ascencion Solorsano, Brownell Academy and South Valley middle schools made the play their own.
“In middle school, they’re at a time in their (lives) where they need programs, they need to be engaged in positive things,” he said. “It’s just the reward that musical theater gives to young people: It’s self-esteem, it’s showmanship, it’s many, many things.”
For some of the students, performing “Rock Around the Block” this Friday and Saturday will be their first theater arts experience. Others are stage veterans, having performed with other local drama productions.
“It’s nice that they have a venue that is with their school and to also give the opportunity to children who may have never had the opportunity,” Espinoza said.
Putting the play together wasn’t all poodle skirts and chocolate malts, however. The district’s Gifted And Talented Education program contributed $8,000 for the director’s and assistant director’s services, while the Gilroy community chipped in another $7,000 to cover other expenses. The Gilroy Foundation and local businesses made generous donations, Espinoza said, while the students also raised funds.
Given the students’ enthusiastic response to their first middle school play, Espinoza hopes to offer the program again next year. After all, it’s a learning experience as well as a boppin’ good time.
“The California education standards of the performing arts and fine arts – we cover all of it, being that there’s visual arts, there’s music there’s literature, it’s all there in one package.”
Who: Middle school students
What: A rockin’ ’50s musical
When: 7 p.m. Friday, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday
Where: Gilroy High School theater
Tickets: $9 for adults, $5 for students, box office will open an hour before each show
