Guns, Girls, and Ballet Dancing

by Lucas Chan ’14

Production of the theater department’s latest spectacle started as early as it could. As soon as it was announced by veteran director Pamela Rickard that this year’s musical would be the classic West Side Story, many Stuart Hall and Convent students jumped at the opportunity to be a Jet or a Shark onstage in one of the most ambitious drama productions ever organized by the group. The large cast and devoted backstage hands would have to remain focused on their task at hand for many months, which finally paid off in the three larger-than-life performances on March 13-15.

From flips over fences to amazing voices singing unforgettable Broadway numbers, this year’s production encapsulated everything that one might expect from the talented group. Senior Tannor Bragg who had the lead role as Tony  believes “This years musical was so much more enjoyable because it was not just a one person production but an ensemble show where everyone’s talents were exposed, not to mention the tremendous backstage crew that worked with us.  For example Elijah (Tolentino) and Steaven (Baldoza) showed off their dancing and acrobatic skills where ever they could.” West Side Story’s classic plot is filled with nonstop action, energy, and laughs that kept many on the edge of their seats. Feet tapping numbers such as “Gee, Officer Krupke” sung by Harry Egan, Elijah Tolentino, Christian Garcia-Feuss, Thomas Egan, Duncan McDonell, and Ethan Tom drew a large applause from friends and families in the audience. Organizing such a large production was not always easy for everyone involved and often had many challenges such as balancing the busy schedules of the students with the practice time needed before the quickly arriving show dates. However, the cast enjoyed the challenge and bonded with each other throughout the making of the musical. On the tremendous effort put into the musical, senior Patrick Wong ‘14 stated “Everyone in the cast worked really hard on West Side Story, like really really hard.”

Overall, the musical was a huge success, which was no surprise considering the amount of work and organization put into bringing such an iconic classic musical into the Syufy Theater. The cast and crew knew they had a lot to live up to considering the huge success of last year’s production In the Heights so they were pleased by the huge turnout as Kailen Santos ‘14 stated “The musical had a great turnout because of the great acting and energetic musical numbers.”