September 14, 2024 • 37 mins
Curious about how a high school theater department thrives in today's competitive extracurricular landscape? Join us on "Steps to the Stage" as we shine a spotlight on the Claremont High School theater department. We'll kick off our journey with an intimate conversation with Director Mohamed Mangrio, who shares his inspiring path to leading this energetic program. Alongside him, Avin Bessono, co-president of Troop 2129, opens up about the joys and challenges of leading the Thespians. Plus, hear from Zoe Averagell and Moxie Moore, the dynamic duo behind the theater's social media presence, as they reveal their passion for promoting the arts online and give us a sneak peek into their exciting "Wicked" fundraiser movie night.
Ever wondered how a high school theater chooses its performances? Discover the intricacies behind Claremont High's show selection process, from smaller one-act plays to grander productions like Willy Wonka Jr. and Mean Girls High School Edition. Learn how artistic vision is balanced with ticket sales, and the significant role the student-run technical department plays in bringing these shows to life. This episode also looks into the ticketing process and the invaluable student input that shapes each season's lineup.
But the magic doesn't stop there. We explore the critical roles of stage managers and tech crew members, shedding light on their backstage challenges and triumphs. Hear firsthand accounts of leadership struggles, maintaining professionalism, and the unexpected joys of working behind the scenes. This episode also celebrates the immense support from the Claremont community and alumni, highlighted by an upcoming benefit concert organized by alumnus Michael Alden to support students attending the International Thespian Festival. Tune in for a heartfelt look at the passion and dedication that fuel this thriving theater program.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Perfect and for the students.
Are you guys excited too?
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm super excited.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
Yeah, I think it's a really cool idea.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Yeah, I'm hoping to be one of the playwrights this
year.
I really want to do it.
I just think it's really cool.
Speaker 4 (00:09):
I want to be a part of it in some way.
It sounds really interesting.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
I want to show up and take a bunch of pictures and
post them on the Instagram.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Wow, I could tell yeah, you guys are all excited
for it the curtain's up.
This is Steps to the Stage.
Welcome back to Steps to theStage drama department.
My name is Georgia Haddad, I'myour host and today I'm with
Claremont High School's theaterdepartment.
So if you guys would like tointroduce yourself, start with
the director.
Hi.
Speaker 5 (00:34):
I'm Mohamed Mangrio.
I've been the director here formy fourth year now.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Perfect and your students.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Hello, my name is Avin Bessono.
I'm currently the co-presidentof Troop 2129 here at Clement
High School.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Hi, I'm Zoe Averagell and I am one of the co-social
media managers of Troop 2129.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
My name is Moxie Moore and I am the other
co-social media manager of Troop2129.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Perfect.
Well, it's nice to meet all ofyou guys and thank you guys for
coming out here and joining us.
Speaker 5 (01:09):
So a question for the director, a little background.
So how long have you beendirecting in this school and how
is it?
It's great.
This is my fourth year.
Here, we are in our 62nd seasonfor Claremont High School and
I'm the third director to everrun the program.
So Don F Frickte, whose name ison the building, he was a
founding director and workedhere for a little over 30 years.
And then his student, kristaCarsonel High, took over and was
(01:31):
here for 28 years, and shehappened to be my teacher at a
different school.
And when I became a teacher shefound out she was retiring.
I threw my hat in because thisis basically a dream job for the
type of theater that I want todo and that I do.
Um and so here I am.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Perfect.
Thank you so much, and aquestion for the co-president.
Um, so tell me how's your timeand how does it feel being
co-president of the Thespian?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Honestly, it's, it's all like a blast.
Uh, I joined here the troopwhen I was like, during my
freshman year.
Like always, I like, even in myfirst meeting I was like I
gotta be president, like I waslike I have to be, um, you know,
I love, I love running themeetings.
That's the main main thing wedo is we run the meetings, um,
and we coordinate communityservice events events me and my
(02:16):
other co-president, um, yeah,it's so fun.
I love, you know, making allthe sign-up sheets and
everything.
My favorite part is probablyreaching out to all the
different organizations in thecommunity.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Right, perfect, and for your social media people.
So tell me what is the bestpart about doing social media
for the theater?
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Me.
Okay, what I like about it is Ilove being able to, because
I've always had social mediaideas for the theater.
Like since I joined, since Iwas inducted my freshman year
and started following the CHS2129 Instagram account, I've
loved posting the shows on myown stories, making little
creative ways to advertise, andI just love being able to to be
(03:04):
like the online voice of thetroop.
It's really fulfilling to dothat for a troop that I love so
much Zoe, anything to add.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Yeah, I also.
I just love social mediamanaging in general.
I think it's a really fun joband especially with, like, the
troop.
There's just so many differentareas that we can boost online
and um spotlight.
And again, like, I also had alot of ideas for different
(03:31):
videos, different spotlights,different posts, and it's really
cool to be able to do that nowthat's good.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
So it looks like you guys are enjoying it.
So far.
That's good to hear.
So um question for all of youguys.
So I see you guys are doing amovie night a wicked fundraiser.
Um, tell us more about thefundraiser and what is it?
What is it funding?
Speaker 2 (03:52):
uh, yeah.
Well, so, um, one of theteachers here at claremont high
school, his name is, uh, davidsawhill, he actually, uh, he, uh
, he's talked to um in a lemleytheater down the street right
from our school, um, and he kindof asked like hey, like he
pitched a little idea to them.
He was like hey, would you bewilling to, you know, host, like
like a private showing ofwicked, if we, you know, pay you
(04:13):
enough money?
And they were like, yeah, sure,um, so, yeah, he did that.
And then he ended up getting abunch of sponsorships.
So all these sponsorshipsyou're actually paying for, so
we're not even paying anything,right, and then we also get all
the proceeds.
So forty dollars, uh, for aticket that's neat I know it's
good, it's cool and yeah, itincludes like a drink of popcorn
, and our goal right now iswe're trying to sell out the
(04:34):
house completely and if we do,we'll get like upwards of like
ten thousand dollars that'sperfect.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
So do you guys have any idea of how much you guys
sold so far?
Is it going great?
Speaker 5 (04:44):
um, it's just, it's just starting out.
I think we're um a little likearound 30 tickets have sold.
So there's, you know about, Ithink it seats a total of like
two, a little over 200.
Um, so, yeah, we are like, likewe said, or 40 a ticket.
All the proceeds come back tochs theater, um, because all of
the all of the costs havealready been covered perfect,
(05:04):
perfect.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
I'm assuming all the theater kids already bought
their tickets to see wicked.
I'm, I'm excited.
Well, that's good, yeah, that'sgreat.
And um, so about your 2024 to2025 season?
Uh, let's start off with thefirst show you guys are doing.
And um, again question for allof you guys run us through it uh
.
Speaker 5 (05:21):
So the first one is, uh, the 24-hour plays, and this
is the first time for us to dothat.
Uh, we were at theinternational thessamine
festival last june in indianaand one of our students
participated in this at thefestival and what it is is it's
a um on a for us.
We're doing on a saturday night, we're going to start and
everybody comes, get, comestogether.
(05:41):
There's six directors, sixplaywrights, six stage stage
managers and 24 actors and theymeet each other and the actors
get to kind of talk aboutsomething that they've always
wanted to do on stage, thatthey've never been able to, and
kind of dream roles, that kindof thing.
They bring a costume elementand a prop and then the
playwrights take all thatinformation.
So the actors, everybody, goeshome and the playwrights stay
(06:02):
and they write from like 10 pmuntil 6 am, so they have that
much time to write an entireplay, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Yeah, trying to incorporate allthose ideas.
And then everybody comes backtogether in the morning, from 8
am till 8 pm.
So that would be our 24 hours,and they rehearse the whole
thing.
The audience shows up at 8o'clock and they perform.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Perfect and for the students.
Are you guys excited too?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
I'm super excited.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Yeah, I think it's a really cool idea.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Yeah, I'm hoping to be one of the playwrights this
year.
I really want to do it.
I just think it's really cool.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
I want to be a part of it in some way.
It sounds really interesting.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
I want to show up and take a bunch of pictures and
post them on the Well, perfect.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
And this one here.
It says you guys are doing ashow.
I don't know if it's a show, socorrect me if I'm wrong.
High school league.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah, so that's our comedy sports.
We're with comedy sports likethe organization.
Oh awesome.
Yeah, it's cool.
It's an improv team here atClaremont High School.
They meet like every week, Everyweek yeah, yeah, and so those
dates are all of our shows andlike, how it works is so?
They'll like pick out, like forevery show.
(07:11):
They'll be like, oh, we'regoing to play these four games,
right, and they'll go up.
It's like a little improv game,yeah.
So then, yeah, they'll go outin front of the audience just
play the improv games.
It's super fun.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Perfect.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
I've been in it for the past three years.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Yeah, they're really fun to watch and be in the
audience.
It's super interactive.
They take suggestions from allthe audience members.
Yeah, and it's such a funexperience to go to a comedy
sports game, so if you haven'tbeen to one, I recommend it.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
So all of you guys have attended one.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
Yeah, I've attended.
I'm on the comedy sports team,so has Ava.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Yep oh, perfect, alright.
So you guys are all good atimprov.
You guys love doing it, it'sfun hopefully sure, sure and
what about for your theaterdirector?
Are you good at improv as well?
You love doing it.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
I'm good at teaching it perfect we'll get him on the
teacher match sometime.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Mangrove needs to be in a teacher match oh, if you
guys do, please release it onyour social media oh yeah, and
um november 8, the um f-o-o-tauction, or foot auction is how
I'm reading it, so tell me moreabout that that's uh, f-o-o-t
stands for friends of ourtheater, um, so basically what
that is is students um, collectlike different, different,
(08:23):
different things to sell inbaskets and auction them off,
and the whole night.
We have like previews of theupcoming season, so musical
theater will do like a song fromfrom the last musical and a
song from the winter musical,and then advanced theater will
perform a scene from the playand in between each of those
little previews, auctioneerswill sell these baskets and it's
(08:45):
a huge fundraiser for thetheater.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Perfect, and for the director as well, if you could
tell me more about this as well.
Speaker 5 (08:52):
Yeah, it's like Moxie said it's a huge fundraiser.
It pretty much kind of givesour financial footing for the
whole season.
Upwards of $10,000 to $15,000.
Is generally raised in twonights.
This year we're condensing itto one night.
Is generally raised in twonights.
This year we're condensing itto one night.
And then it also gives anopportunity for everybody to see
the upcoming shows as wepreview the season as well.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
That's great.
So can anyone auction, or it'sjust the students or anyone
outside the school or within theschool?
Speaker 5 (09:19):
It's open to the public.
We have a lot of just communitymembers that may not even have
students in the school yet, thatjust come because they want to
support our program.
Otherwise, yeah, the audienceanybody who comes to see the
show is also able to bid.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
That's great.
I love how welcoming that is.
And for December 12th throughthe 14th, an extra show you guys
are running.
It's the Amazing Lemonade Girl.
Now is that a musical or isthat a play?
Speaker 5 (09:50):
It's a play and it's a true story about a girl named
Alex who died of cancer when shewas eight years old, and when
she was around four, sherealized that the doctors needed
more help to raise money forcancer research, and so she
started a lemonade stand.
The doctors needed more help toraise money for cancer research
, and so she started a lemonadestand, and then, between the
ages of four and eight, thatwhole concept just grew, and by
(10:11):
the time she was eight years oldat the year she died, there
were lemonade stands all overthe country and it's now a
foundation Alex's Lemonade Standthat still exists and they've
continued to raise, I believe,millions of dollars for cancer
research.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
That's amazing, and the cool thing is that we're
actually partnering with them,the organization for that show.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Oh, that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Yeah, and we're going to have one of their booths
there.
A lemonade stand.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Let's us base on Next to Normal.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
Next to Normal is.
It's a musical, it has a verysmall cast and it's basically
about this family with a motherwho has bipolar depression and
struggles with her mental health, and her whole family kind of
goes through trials andtribulations because of their
mother and she goes throughtherapy, she goes through
(11:00):
different treatments.
It's a very, very moving andimpactful musical with amazing
music, amazing soundtrack,amazing score and, yeah, it's
just all around just a wonderfulmusical.
Speaker 5 (11:11):
And one of the major themes is about grief and
grieving the loss of a familymember, and so we can see this
family and how different peopledeal with that grief and that
not everybody is the same andnot everybody recovers the same
way and deals with those kindsof things the same way.
So it's done very well, so youcan kind of see the various
(11:33):
coping mechanisms that peoplehave.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Yeah, that's personally my favorite part of
the show.
I was reading the script, likelast week, and just seeing how
all the different family membersand all the different members
in the show how they deal withthis grief and this trauma, the
things that are afflicting them.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
It really shows it centralizes around the mother
and her mental health, but itshows the mental health issues
with the whole family and howthey all kind of react to things
differently and it just showsevery character is complex,
every character is a fullydeveloped person and it's really
interesting to see.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
So I'm hearing it's really emotional and really
strong and very touching.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
That's great.
And how do you get tickets forthese shows too?
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Well, we post them on the Instagram for every show.
Go follow, yeah, go follow ourInstagram.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Claremont2129 on Instagram.
Yes, and then we also have ourClaremont High School website,
where you can access all of thetickets for the season.
Claremont High School Theater.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Perfect.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Claremont.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
High School Theater.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Dot com, dot com.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
CHS?
Well, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (12:31):
That's not exactly it .
That's not it.
Don't.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Claremont High.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
School Theater dot com, that's not it.
Speaker 5 (12:39):
It should be on our page.
Yeah, it should.
A link on the homepage of theschool site.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Yes, Perfect, all right, so on to the next one.
On March 6th through the 8th,you guys are doing one acts and
are you guys excited for it?
Speaker 4 (12:51):
I'm super excited, yeah, so excited.
Speaker 5 (12:53):
So the beginning theater production class is
going to be doing a one actdirected by me, so it's no
longer just student directed,it's like a festival of one acts
, and then in the past it'susually only been about three,
because that's how much time yougenerally have for an evening
of performances.
But because there's so manywonderful students that I think
are ready to direct, I'm openingthat up a little bit, and so
(13:14):
we're going to keep them smaller.
They're going to be no morethan 30-minute shows, but we're
going to do, hopefully, six ofthem.
And so then for our weekendswe'll do like on Thursday night
we'll do shows one, two andthree, and then Friday we'll do
four, five and six, and then onSaturday we're doing all day,
all six shows, and so, yeah, soit's a little bit different than
it has been in the past, butI've just been going to other
(13:36):
Setting up a little.
Yeah and just like I went to, Isaw someone actually at a
different company in LA like notso long ago and I've just been
kind of inspired by how they rantheir night.
So I've kind of takeninspiration from other directors
and other programs and we'rebringing it here.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
And on April 3rd to the 5th you guys are doing Willy
Wonka Jr.
Oh my gosh, Now that soundscool.
I personally did not know.
There was a junior.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
There is a junior.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
We've been.
Oh yes, we were in it.
I want to design Me too.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
I'm assuming everyone went wild when this got
revealed yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Are you guys excited for thatone so excited?
Speaker 5 (14:14):
I'm working that for sure.
Oh, okay, I was like that's alittle big, the ball is rolling
Awesome.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
That one is limited to the advanced theater class.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Advanced theater class.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
All of them in that class have the opportunity to
audition.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
And last but not least, May 30th to June 1st, you
guys are doing.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Mean.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Girls High School Edition, musical Theater.
So I'm assuming you guys coulddo it.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
You could do it as well as well.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (14:37):
That's perfect Moxie's in both.
She's in Musical Theater also.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Yeah, the resume is stacking up, oh, yeah, and you
could also get the tickets onthe websites you said.
Speaker 5 (14:47):
Absolutely, and that show is the one we do at Bridges
Auditorium at Pomona College.
Perfect, yes.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
When you pick a show or when you, you know, get a
license for the show.
What drives you to pick whatdecision, like, let's say, if
you want to do Mean Girls or ifyou want to do Percy Jackson.
Is it the students thatconvince you to be like, hey,
you should pick this one or thatone, or is it just like you're
like, no, I'm picking this one?
Speaker 5 (15:13):
It's a little bit of both.
I do ask for some input fromstudents, kind of depending on
the class, but I mean it's awhole season right.
So I love to do shows that whenpeople leave a show that
they're continuing conversation.
That's like one of my favoritetype of theater.
Yeah yeah, and a show like Nextto Normal should be able to do
(15:37):
that.
It's about mental health andit's about grief and loss, but
that's also not a lot of peopleknow Next to Normal.
So then I have to think as aproducer and I have to sell
tickets because otherwise Ican't pay for this eight show
season, right?
So that's where things likeHarry Potter and Mean Girls come
in.
You know, and you know that'svery popular.
People are really excited aboutthem.
I'm also very excited aboutthem, but I also need to sell
(15:59):
tickets.
So, if you, there's another showthat I saw, a new musical when
we were at International calledBetween the Lines, that I just
like I fell in love with, I'mjust like I really, really want
to direct this show and I wantto direct it in our final slot
and I want to do that at BridgesAuditorium.
But nobody knows what that titleis.
So the amount of work andresources that would have to go
(16:19):
to marketing just to make surepeople went there would be
different than doing somethingthat is known so people went
there would be different thandoing something that is known.
So that definitely factors inwhen you're looking at a whole
season.
But, like I said the main thing.
Like I pick up a script and ifI can visualize it and I can see
it on our stage and it'stelling a story like it's
tugging at me, then that goes inthe pile of like this is what I
want to direct.
So I have these lists of like.
(16:43):
These are things I want to doat some point, but then every
year you got to put the wholeseason together.
That has that is varied.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Do you guys also do tech as well, right?
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Yeah, yeah, I do a lot of tech, um, I think,
honestly, tech.
The fact that our um technicaldepartment is so strong and also
mostly run by students is likeone of my favorite aspects of
the theater.
It's like working a show andseeing every single element come
together and knowing that itwas like your friend who
designed that prop, or like your, like your friend who did that
(17:14):
costume or whatever, or someoneor your friend typing in all the
stuff at the light board.
It's just so fulfilling, and soI think it also it it makes
what we do a lot more impressive, knowing that all of it, all of
it was done a good amount of itat least, was done by students.
Yeah, yeah, and I love I'veworked lighting, hair and makeup
, wardrobe scenic definitely, oh, audio, and I just I don't know
(17:39):
.
It's such a fun frontier toexplore.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
That's good, and I bet it feels good when you're
just like seeing it all cometogether on stage.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
You're like, yeah, I did that.
See that spotlight, that's meyeah.
Speaker 5 (17:51):
And when it comes to, as a director, the way the
program runs, once the showopens, I literally don't do
anything.
Like I show up and I open thedoors, the stage management team
, everything going, you know,everyone has their departments,
the actors know what they'redoing, we've, we're ready, and
the only thing that if I'm, ifI'm, doing anything to support
the show, it's because I'mstepping into someone who may
(18:12):
not be there or, you know, liketo fix a mistake, whatever.
But yeah, um, I I'm on commsonly for emergencies so that if,
like, they need an adultsomewhere, then I will go.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Um, but otherwise everything is done by students
it's really fun because becausethere's so many leadership
positions that you get to be inand just so much experience,
because, even if you're notcompletely sure what you're
interested in, you have theoption to try out so many
different things.
And also I know we talked aboutit earlier of how you can be in
(18:42):
sports and theater and allthose people support you and you
support them.
But also just working backstagetheater and all those people
support you and you support them.
But also, um, just workingbackstage people will come and
support you because they want tosee what you put together.
Um, like tech does so muchbehind the scenes, that isn't
necessarily um, um.
Speaker 5 (19:00):
I feel like it's yeah , it's not shown, yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
So hopefully we can do better of representing the
technical side.
Yeah, but again, like it's just, it's really cool that you can.
You can do so many differentthings in theater.
You don't have to just be aperformer, you can work
backstage and have fun with itand just all that together.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Yeah, it's another thing that kind of warps the
idea of like a theater kidTypical.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Yeah, like more than that.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Honestly, even even before I even started acting, I
was like being a theater kid,Come on.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
I started doing it.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
And.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
I was like well, I kind of feel cool.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
You know I mean, yeah , that's great.
I mean show other than theactors as well.
So, um, again from the director, you were telling me how you
obviously you do you step in andstuff, but it's basically just
whole student ran, the wholeshow and technical aspect and
I'm assuming they're veryreliable and that sounds really
really good.
So when you guys are on techand like, let's say, you guys
(19:59):
are doing costumes and stuff,what do you say it's the most
like challenging part aboutteching or doing some sort of I
don't know how to explain itsome sort of input in the show.
What's the most challengingpart?
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Yeah, Okay.
So last year I was a stagemanager, production stage
manager for a few shows, and forme the definite hardest part
was just communicating witheveryone there's so many people
and they're all students, right.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
So many people.
They're all students.
You know people exaggeratethings.
Things get lost in translations, like oftentimes, like I'll say
something, my words will getlike warps and I'll be like what
?
Like I never said that.
So yeah, that was definitelyone of the challenges clear
communication between everyone.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Yeah.
Yeah, I agree with you too.
Yeah, I'm like all right.
Lights.
He said curtain, no, I saidlight.
Yeah, that was good.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Keeping track of people, because people will just
walk out sometimes and it'slike where?
Speaker 4 (21:03):
are you going?
Speaker 1 (21:04):
We have a job to do.
We need a stage manager.
Why is he at McDonald's?
Speaker 4 (21:10):
Were you right after that yeah, quite honestly, real
answer dealing with people justin general.
Like I said before, there's allthis love that comes with
working in theater, but there'salso all this frustration and
things get again lost intranslation, love that comes
with working in theater.
But there's also all this umfrustration and like um, things
get again lost in translationand like people, people will do
(21:31):
things.
That um, I mean it's hard as astage manager, because I I've
been an assistant stage managerit's hard um going from like a
regular crew member beingclueless to somebody in power
and like oh, oh shoot, I have tolike actually put my foot down
and like discipline, like be, bemean to people if I need to you
know, yeah, and it's, it's,it's a, it's a, it's a good
(21:54):
experience, but it's alsosometimes a struggle.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Yeah, that, that too Cause.
Yeah, like these.
So, hard for me to be rude ormean Like, hey, you can't do
that.
It's almost like.
The part of me is like no mango ahead, but I'm like I can't.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
I can't.
I gotta be professional.
How do I tell my best friendshe can't leave during the show
to go get canes?
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Yeah exactly.
And they're all trying to bribeyou Like oh no, I'll get you
some too, and you, I can't dothis?
Speaker 4 (22:20):
I can't do this right now.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Yeah.
And just like getting people totake you seriously, like yeah
we're the same grade Like yeah,I know you, but like I also am
in charge of how many pointsyou're getting from this show,
yeah, you're like, if you don'tlisten to me, this show is.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Yeah, I'm deducting points.
That's a big threat is like oh,I'm going to deduct points.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Oh work, you can get a max amount of points and
whoever your super is.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
That's being points, right?
Yeah, that's being points.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Whoever your super is gets to decide how, if you get
a minimum, normal whatever, andthen a maximum, yeah, and so
that's a good use.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
Yeah, sorry, sometimes when I'm like in like
someone's like boss and I'mtrying to like put my foot down
and like tell them like whatthey did is not okay, it kind of
feels like I'm being likelisten up punk, like listen to
your buster, like it feels likeI'm just like not like it feels
hard.
It's hard to like get that likekind of power, I guess, without
kind of feeling a little sillyyeah, I mean sometimes walking
(23:20):
like, hey, you gotta be there.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
Oh, I'm so sorry I said that, but yeah, I know how
that feels you gotta make sureyou're not gonna go on a power
trip, because like we had awhole.
We just did a leadership thingover the weekend and like it was
it was, most of it was centered.
Oh sorry, okay oh okay, so giveme a look um.
A big portion of it was how tobe in a position of leadership
(23:46):
without like oversteppingoverstepping your, your place,
yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
I understand it sometimes where someone's like I
have this power, they don'tknow they're overusing it,
because they're like they knowthey're doing something right,
yeah, but it's like come on,you're like, hey man, you're my
friend.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Like, yeah, when?
Yeah, like, can we be civil?
Where's the?
How's your?
Speaker 1 (24:02):
day, Not go, get in costume you know.
Well, that's great.
So you guys started all fromtech, I'm assuming, or something
before acting, or one of youguys started acting first.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
I actually, I think, all of us we all started
performing.
Yeah, we all started performing.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
I didn't think I was ever going to work a tech crew.
I only thought I was going todo it for the points and then I
started doing it and I was likewait.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
So you guys, obviously you guys love
performing and doing all thegood stuff?
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
But tech is obviously different.
It's like when you're doing afilm or you're filming something
, you're like that's cool seeingthe picture, but I want to see
the camera.
I want to see how it's made.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
There's been times where I've worked shows that I
really would have loved to be inum percy jackson was one of
them but I think honestly, likegetting to have that experience
of working backstage and workingalongside, like you're still a
part of it.
You still get to be part of it.
So, even though you're not inthe cast, like you still are
part of this big picture andit's just.
It was so much fun.
That was by far the most funI've had working a show.
I I usually work hair andmakeup that's that's my crew of
(25:09):
choice um, but that that wasjust a really positive
experience.
And those, those experiencesreally are what bring you back
to working show after show aftershow, even though we have like
such a long season with, yeah,packed with shows, like whenever
we go to, whenever we'retalking to other troops, or like
we were at um, like thespianfestivals and stuff, and we were
(25:32):
like, oh yeah, we have like anine because we we usually did
nine shows right, like the pastcouple years.
Am I blanking?
uh, yeah yeah, we've had nineshow seasons this year.
We cut back a little bit, thankgod but we have eight shows now
.
Um, but like people, like thereactions that people will give
you when you're like oh yeah, we, we have a nine show season,
(25:52):
yeah like they're like that'sone of my favorite things.
Yeah, most people have like afall play and a spring musical
and we're like yeah, we haveshows every month and and also
because we we do our runs areusually just like one weekend
and we build up to thatthroughout our tech week.
But just sorry, my train ofthought is not working right now
(26:15):
, but the amount ofopportunities that we have make
it really easy to get inductedfaster than other theater
departments, departments, Ithink, because of just the sheer
amount of shows that we put on.
so there's so many opportunitiesto meet that point requirement
by the end of your freshman year, which is why we have such a
(26:36):
large number of inductedthespians.
So I don't, I just, I justthink it's really cool how many
shows we're able to put on inone year I think it's impressive
too.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
I mean it's so nice how you your guys's school is
very involved, especially in thethespian society yeah and I.
I personally I love thatbecause, like I've seen all the
festivals and all the stuff on,you know, instagram reels or
youtube, and I'm like this is socool.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
So knowing that you guys got to experience those
type of things and it, you know,exploring it, that's that's
really great claremont's kind ofalways been really supported by
, or Claremont, like the arttheater department, has been
like supported by the communityfor a really long time.
Like, um, I've been doing, uh,throwback Thursdays on the
Instagram where we spotlight oldproductions that they put on
(27:21):
here and, um, I think it was ooh, it was Sound of Music.
They needed wedding dresses andstuff for the nuns and they had
donations from differentcommunity members and they
literally had the help of nunsto put the show on and it was a
(27:43):
whole thing Really cool, becauseI mean we don't do that now,
had the help of nuns to put theshow on and it was like a whole
thing really cool, because Imean we don't do that now
because it's just it's limitedto the, the student body here,
but just like seeing howinvolved like claremont has
always been in our theaterdepartment is like really
interesting to me and like wejust have like such a rich
history and even now, like ourconnections are still super
(28:05):
strong with alumni and communitymembers that have either been
in our theater department, ouralumni of that theater
department, or just have alwaysadmired it.
We'll touch on it later butwith the Benefit concert, just
the support is really nice.
Speaker 4 (28:20):
Yeah, I mean.
Chs Theater has a near and dearplace in people's hearts who
have been part of it.
For the benefit concert we'regetting alumni from as far back
as the class of 1968 coming backand performing, which just
shows how much of a specialplace this really is and what a
kind of magical community thatthere's always been here.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
I think we definitely have a lot of supporters.
There are a lot of people thatjust kind of don't get into it,
which is fine, but I think forour department at least, like we
do have, we're really lucky tohave a lot of um supportive like
students and faculty members,community members who show up
and show out for almost all ofour shows it also depends there
(29:03):
is, um, you know, a good deal ofcrossover between athletics and
the arts here, and that'simportant to the school
community and the admin howthings are set up so that
students can participate invarious things.
Speaker 5 (29:16):
That's one of the unique things about our program
is that for most of these shows,like the musicals, it's a class
.
You have to be in the musicaltheater class.
We're rehearsing during theschool day, not after school, so
you can be in a musical and bean athlete, and those two things
don't conflict.
And so, like what's happened inthe past, a previous student,
andrew Eisenberg, who's a trackrunner, so like he, you know,
(29:39):
whenever he was on stage, all ofthe cross country people were
in the audience for him.
So they're definitelysupporting each other, and when
we have that crossover, you seea lot more of the student body
as well.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
I think, also because this department is so large,
there's so many studentsinvolved in it that people
harbor support from theirfriends and I feel like we're
very lucky to be so widelysupported across the campus in
the way that we are, because Iknow that that's pretty unique
to our school.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
Yeah, I think social media also plays a major hand in
the popularity and the rise ofpopularity of a lot of musicals
right now, because there's a lotof trending audios that are
from musicals and just havingthese platforms definitely helps
broaden the fan base.
And that sounds like a lot ofit's not as like weird to be a
(30:28):
theater kid now and that's likea stupid thing to say, but like
it really.
It's like there's just so manyfans of theater and like the
arts in general, like it's justnot something that you would get
picked on for now yeah, yeah,yeah, uh, kind of adding on to,
like, what moxie had said.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Like, since our department is so large, like
during our meetings, you'll findliterally every type of person.
You'll go in there you'll findthe president of French Club,
you'll find a speech and debatecaptain, someone who swims, and
that's one of my favorite thingsis, you have all these people
united in one place because oftheater, and that's what I like
the most about it.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
There's also.
There's also.
There's something for everyonein theater like you don't have
to be a performer to still be apart of theater, and something
that I've really wanted to getout is that you don't actually
have to be in one of the theaterclasses to still participate.
We have so many odd likeopportunities for people to sign
up and work shows if they're atall interested.
We have like QR codes that youcan sign up and like just join
(31:27):
crews and, like I just the the.
The fact that we have so manyopportunities for people for
people to get involved is reallyspecial, um cause you can
explore all those differentareas without having to add a
schedule.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Tell, tell me more about.
I hear you guys are having abenefit concert.
Yeah.
I would love to hear about thebenefit concert and just run me
through, let's touch base withit and just tell me about it.
Question for all of you guys.
Any answers?
Speaker 3 (31:56):
Yeah, so Michael Alden is the alumni that is
putting all of this together andbasically it's a showcase of
the past years how many?
From 1960s to now.
It's just a showcase of.
Speaker 5 (32:18):
So I believe Michael is class of 74, is that?
Speaker 3 (32:19):
right.
Yes, he is class of 74.
Speaker 5 (32:21):
So the 50-year reunion for the class of 74 is
on Saturday, the 14th, and sohis idea was okay, if all these
people are coming, let's do thisOn Sunday, let's do another
concert, because the people arecoming in for the reunion.
And this all kind of startedwhen because we go to the
International Thespian Festivalevery year and it's not cheap,
it's in Indiana, we fly there.
(32:42):
Between the registration andthe room and board and
everything, it's about $1,700 aperson, and so not everybody can
afford that.
And so we this year, michael'sgroup of people were able to
raise $8,000 for us to usetowards scholarships for
students that are going to ITF.
So that's where the benefitcomes in.
(33:04):
The money that they're raisingis to create an endowment that
will forever give us money tosend kids to international
festivals.
That's great.
You can tell more about that.
So that's the background ontell more, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
So that's that's the background on, like the what the
benefit is for um, butbasically it we're inviting
alumni from 1960s to current umto perform songs that they
performed at chs.
So they have numerous differentmusicals that we've put on at
(33:36):
CHS and they're bringing backthe performers that did those
and as well as that.
Like sorry, on top of thatmusical theater, the class is
also going to be performing onSunday, and so it's just really
cool because we're getting allof these different generations
that have all passed throughthis theater in one, in one show
(33:59):
that's really cool yeah it'sgonna be super, super awesome
yeah, that sounds reallyexciting.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
So, so, um, so, how does it feel like getting all
these alumni coming back andjust performing for this concert
?
Are you guys excited?
I'm very excited.
Speaker 4 (34:12):
It's gonna be very, very cool, both for the students
to see what they could possiblybecome like, see people who
were once in their positions,who have gone and lived
successful, amazing theaterlives, and also for parents or
people who have lived here for awhile, who maybe have seen
these shows when they were firston, and it's going to be super,
(34:34):
super amazing.
We have people who have been onBroadway in movies, who have
been Michael Alden himself is aBroadway producer.
He's the one producing thisevent.
Yeah, these people are wildly,wildly impressive and it's just,
it's astonishing to like beable to see these people perform
here.
I'm super excited.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
Yeah, I'm personally just hearing.
I'm shocked like that is,that's really cool and that
sounds really efficient and Ihope it goes really good.
I I mean, when is it again?
Speaker 4 (35:02):
september 15th it's this sunday at 2 pm, garrison
theater.
You should come see it I wouldlove to go see it.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
So, um, that's great.
So you guys, um, you are doingthis benefit for the kids who
can't afford to go to indiana.
You said for the, um, thethespian festival, right,
correct, and I think that isreally, really amazing, because
there's some students and somekids that I know you probably
would know that that give ittheir all and sometimes they
can't afford it, and it'sheartbreaking because you're
like I really wished it could go, and so this concert will
(35:34):
really give them the opportunityto go.
So that's really great and I'mreally really happy that at high
school, you guys are doingsomething like this and that's
really great, especially withThespian stuff, because some
kids really love it and they'relike, oh, awesome.
Me personally, I've never been,but to whoever is going, and if
you guys are already going, I'mhappy for you guys and I'm
happy for anyone who else iscoming.
(35:55):
So that's really really goodand oh, yeah, how do you how?
do you guys get tickets?
Speaker 4 (35:59):
um well, there are tickets.
There's a link to tickets up onthe claremont high school
theater instagram.
That, what else?
Speaker 3 (36:05):
uh, yeah, it's a scripts.
It's a scripts present.
Uh, presents production they'rehosting at the garrison.
We have the link.
Like moxie said on theinstagram, yeah, and if you go
to um claremont high schooltheater's website, the link,
like Moxie said on the Instagram.
Speaker 4 (36:14):
Yeah, and if you go to Claremont High School
Theater's website, the link totickets is also there.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
Yes, Well, yeah, you guys are doing a lot and I hope
you guys it all goes great andthank you guys so much for
coming out and talking to us andcoming through about your shows
and also to everyone who'slistening.
This Sunday is going to be thebenefit concert, so come check
it out.
Where is it going to be at?
Speaker 4 (36:36):
again, At the Garrison Theater 2 pm.
2 pm in Claremont 2 pm.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
Be there, come see the alumni and come see the
amazing people who are at thistable who are going to perform
and yeah, so thank you guys somuch, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (36:50):
Great.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Thank you so much.
Thanks for listening to Stepsto the Stage, and now it's time
for the curtain call.
Perfect and for the students.
Are you guys excited too?
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm super excited.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
Yeah, I think it's a really cool idea.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Yeah, I'm hoping to be one of the playwrights this
year.
I really want to do it.
I just think it's really cool.
Speaker 4 (00:09):
I want to be a part of it in some way.
It sounds really interesting.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
I want to show up and take a bunch of pictures and
post them on the Instagram.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Wow, I could tell yeah, you guys are all excited
for it the curtain's up.
This is Steps to the Stage.
Welcome back to Steps to theStage drama department.
My name is Georgia Haddad, I'myour host and today I'm with
Claremont High School's theaterdepartment.
So if you guys would like tointroduce yourself, start with
the director.
Hi.
Speaker 5 (00:34):
I'm Mohamed Mangrio.
I've been the director here formy fourth year now.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Perfect and your students.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Hello, my name is Avin Bessono.
I'm currently the co-presidentof Troop 2129 here at Clement
High School.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Hi, I'm Zoe Averagell and I am one of the co-social
media managers of Troop 2129.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
My name is Moxie Moore and I am the other
co-social media manager of Troop2129.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Perfect.
Well, it's nice to meet all ofyou guys and thank you guys for
coming out here and joining us.
Speaker 5 (01:09):
So a question for the director, a little background.
So how long have you beendirecting in this school and how
is it?
It's great.
This is my fourth year.
Here, we are in our 62nd seasonfor Claremont High School and
I'm the third director to everrun the program.
So Don F Frickte, whose name ison the building, he was a
founding director and workedhere for a little over 30 years.
And then his student, kristaCarsonel High, took over and was
(01:31):
here for 28 years, and shehappened to be my teacher at a
different school.
And when I became a teacher shefound out she was retiring.
I threw my hat in because thisis basically a dream job for the
type of theater that I want todo and that I do.
Um and so here I am.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Perfect.
Thank you so much, and aquestion for the co-president.
Um, so tell me how's your timeand how does it feel being
co-president of the Thespian?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Honestly, it's, it's all like a blast.
Uh, I joined here the troopwhen I was like, during my
freshman year.
Like always, I like, even in myfirst meeting I was like I
gotta be president, like I waslike I have to be, um, you know,
I love, I love running themeetings.
That's the main main thing wedo is we run the meetings, um,
and we coordinate communityservice events events me and my
(02:16):
other co-president, um, yeah,it's so fun.
I love, you know, making allthe sign-up sheets and
everything.
My favorite part is probablyreaching out to all the
different organizations in thecommunity.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Right, perfect, and for your social media people.
So tell me what is the bestpart about doing social media
for the theater?
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Me.
Okay, what I like about it is Ilove being able to, because
I've always had social mediaideas for the theater.
Like since I joined, since Iwas inducted my freshman year
and started following the CHS2129 Instagram account, I've
loved posting the shows on myown stories, making little
creative ways to advertise, andI just love being able to to be
(03:04):
like the online voice of thetroop.
It's really fulfilling to dothat for a troop that I love so
much Zoe, anything to add.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Yeah, I also.
I just love social mediamanaging in general.
I think it's a really fun joband especially with, like, the
troop.
There's just so many differentareas that we can boost online
and um spotlight.
And again, like, I also had alot of ideas for different
(03:31):
videos, different spotlights,different posts, and it's really
cool to be able to do that nowthat's good.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
So it looks like you guys are enjoying it.
So far.
That's good to hear.
So um question for all of youguys.
So I see you guys are doing amovie night a wicked fundraiser.
Um, tell us more about thefundraiser and what is it?
What is it funding?
Speaker 2 (03:52):
uh, yeah.
Well, so, um, one of theteachers here at claremont high
school, his name is, uh, davidsawhill, he actually, uh, he, uh
, he's talked to um in a lemleytheater down the street right
from our school, um, and he kindof asked like hey, like he
pitched a little idea to them.
He was like hey, would you bewilling to, you know, host, like
like a private showing ofwicked, if we, you know, pay you
(04:13):
enough money?
And they were like, yeah, sure,um, so, yeah, he did that.
And then he ended up getting abunch of sponsorships.
So all these sponsorshipsyou're actually paying for, so
we're not even paying anything,right, and then we also get all
the proceeds.
So forty dollars, uh, for aticket that's neat I know it's
good, it's cool and yeah, itincludes like a drink of popcorn
, and our goal right now iswe're trying to sell out the
(04:34):
house completely and if we do,we'll get like upwards of like
ten thousand dollars that'sperfect.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
So do you guys have any idea of how much you guys
sold so far?
Is it going great?
Speaker 5 (04:44):
um, it's just, it's just starting out.
I think we're um a little likearound 30 tickets have sold.
So there's, you know about, Ithink it seats a total of like
two, a little over 200.
Um, so, yeah, we are like, likewe said, or 40 a ticket.
All the proceeds come back tochs theater, um, because all of
the all of the costs havealready been covered perfect,
(05:04):
perfect.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
I'm assuming all the theater kids already bought
their tickets to see wicked.
I'm, I'm excited.
Well, that's good, yeah, that'sgreat.
And um, so about your 2024 to2025 season?
Uh, let's start off with thefirst show you guys are doing.
And um, again question for allof you guys run us through it uh
.
Speaker 5 (05:21):
So the first one is, uh, the 24-hour plays, and this
is the first time for us to dothat.
Uh, we were at theinternational thessamine
festival last june in indianaand one of our students
participated in this at thefestival and what it is is it's
a um on a for us.
We're doing on a saturday night, we're going to start and
everybody comes, get, comestogether.
(05:41):
There's six directors, sixplaywrights, six stage stage
managers and 24 actors and theymeet each other and the actors
get to kind of talk aboutsomething that they've always
wanted to do on stage, thatthey've never been able to, and
kind of dream roles, that kindof thing.
They bring a costume elementand a prop and then the
playwrights take all thatinformation.
So the actors, everybody, goeshome and the playwrights stay
(06:02):
and they write from like 10 pmuntil 6 am, so they have that
much time to write an entireplay, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Yeah, trying to incorporate allthose ideas.
And then everybody comes backtogether in the morning, from 8
am till 8 pm.
So that would be our 24 hours,and they rehearse the whole
thing.
The audience shows up at 8o'clock and they perform.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Perfect and for the students.
Are you guys excited too?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
I'm super excited.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Yeah, I think it's a really cool idea.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Yeah, I'm hoping to be one of the playwrights this
year.
I really want to do it.
I just think it's really cool.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
I want to be a part of it in some way.
It sounds really interesting.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
I want to show up and take a bunch of pictures and
post them on the Well, perfect.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
And this one here.
It says you guys are doing ashow.
I don't know if it's a show, socorrect me if I'm wrong.
High school league.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah, so that's our comedy sports.
We're with comedy sports likethe organization.
Oh awesome.
Yeah, it's cool.
It's an improv team here atClaremont High School.
They meet like every week, Everyweek yeah, yeah, and so those
dates are all of our shows andlike, how it works is so?
They'll like pick out, like forevery show.
(07:11):
They'll be like, oh, we'regoing to play these four games,
right, and they'll go up.
It's like a little improv game,yeah.
So then, yeah, they'll go outin front of the audience just
play the improv games.
It's super fun.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Perfect.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
I've been in it for the past three years.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Yeah, they're really fun to watch and be in the
audience.
It's super interactive.
They take suggestions from allthe audience members.
Yeah, and it's such a funexperience to go to a comedy
sports game, so if you haven'tbeen to one, I recommend it.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
So all of you guys have attended one.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
Yeah, I've attended.
I'm on the comedy sports team,so has Ava.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Yep oh, perfect, alright.
So you guys are all good atimprov.
You guys love doing it, it'sfun hopefully sure, sure and
what about for your theaterdirector?
Are you good at improv as well?
You love doing it.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
I'm good at teaching it perfect we'll get him on the
teacher match sometime.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Mangrove needs to be in a teacher match oh, if you
guys do, please release it onyour social media oh yeah, and
um november 8, the um f-o-o-tauction, or foot auction is how
I'm reading it, so tell me moreabout that that's uh, f-o-o-t
stands for friends of ourtheater, um, so basically what
that is is students um, collectlike different, different,
(08:23):
different things to sell inbaskets and auction them off,
and the whole night.
We have like previews of theupcoming season, so musical
theater will do like a song fromfrom the last musical and a
song from the winter musical,and then advanced theater will
perform a scene from the playand in between each of those
little previews, auctioneerswill sell these baskets and it's
(08:45):
a huge fundraiser for thetheater.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Perfect, and for the director as well, if you could
tell me more about this as well.
Speaker 5 (08:52):
Yeah, it's like Moxie said it's a huge fundraiser.
It pretty much kind of givesour financial footing for the
whole season.
Upwards of $10,000 to $15,000.
Is generally raised in twonights.
This year we're condensing itto one night.
Is generally raised in twonights.
This year we're condensing itto one night.
And then it also gives anopportunity for everybody to see
the upcoming shows as wepreview the season as well.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
That's great.
So can anyone auction, or it'sjust the students or anyone
outside the school or within theschool?
Speaker 5 (09:19):
It's open to the public.
We have a lot of just communitymembers that may not even have
students in the school yet, thatjust come because they want to
support our program.
Otherwise, yeah, the audienceanybody who comes to see the
show is also able to bid.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
That's great.
I love how welcoming that is.
And for December 12th throughthe 14th, an extra show you guys
are running.
It's the Amazing Lemonade Girl.
Now is that a musical or isthat a play?
Speaker 5 (09:50):
It's a play and it's a true story about a girl named
Alex who died of cancer when shewas eight years old, and when
she was around four, sherealized that the doctors needed
more help to raise money forcancer research, and so she
started a lemonade stand.
The doctors needed more help toraise money for cancer research
, and so she started a lemonadestand, and then, between the
ages of four and eight, thatwhole concept just grew, and by
(10:11):
the time she was eight years oldat the year she died, there
were lemonade stands all overthe country and it's now a
foundation Alex's Lemonade Standthat still exists and they've
continued to raise, I believe,millions of dollars for cancer
research.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
That's amazing, and the cool thing is that we're
actually partnering with them,the organization for that show.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Oh, that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Yeah, and we're going to have one of their booths
there.
A lemonade stand.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Let's us base on Next to Normal.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
Next to Normal is.
It's a musical, it has a verysmall cast and it's basically
about this family with a motherwho has bipolar depression and
struggles with her mental health, and her whole family kind of
goes through trials andtribulations because of their
mother and she goes throughtherapy, she goes through
(11:00):
different treatments.
It's a very, very moving andimpactful musical with amazing
music, amazing soundtrack,amazing score and, yeah, it's
just all around just a wonderfulmusical.
Speaker 5 (11:11):
And one of the major themes is about grief and
grieving the loss of a familymember, and so we can see this
family and how different peopledeal with that grief and that
not everybody is the same andnot everybody recovers the same
way and deals with those kindsof things the same way.
So it's done very well, so youcan kind of see the various
(11:33):
coping mechanisms that peoplehave.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Yeah, that's personally my favorite part of
the show.
I was reading the script, likelast week, and just seeing how
all the different family membersand all the different members
in the show how they deal withthis grief and this trauma, the
things that are afflicting them.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
It really shows it centralizes around the mother
and her mental health, but itshows the mental health issues
with the whole family and howthey all kind of react to things
differently and it just showsevery character is complex,
every character is a fullydeveloped person and it's really
interesting to see.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
So I'm hearing it's really emotional and really
strong and very touching.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
That's great.
And how do you get tickets forthese shows too?
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Well, we post them on the Instagram for every show.
Go follow, yeah, go follow ourInstagram.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Claremont2129 on Instagram.
Yes, and then we also have ourClaremont High School website,
where you can access all of thetickets for the season.
Claremont High School Theater.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Perfect.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Claremont.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
High School Theater.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Dot com, dot com.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
CHS?
Well, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (12:31):
That's not exactly it .
That's not it.
Don't.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Claremont High.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
School Theater dot com, that's not it.
Speaker 5 (12:39):
It should be on our page.
Yeah, it should.
A link on the homepage of theschool site.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Yes, Perfect, all right, so on to the next one.
On March 6th through the 8th,you guys are doing one acts and
are you guys excited for it?
Speaker 4 (12:51):
I'm super excited, yeah, so excited.
Speaker 5 (12:53):
So the beginning theater production class is
going to be doing a one actdirected by me, so it's no
longer just student directed,it's like a festival of one acts
, and then in the past it'susually only been about three,
because that's how much time yougenerally have for an evening
of performances.
But because there's so manywonderful students that I think
are ready to direct, I'm openingthat up a little bit, and so
(13:14):
we're going to keep them smaller.
They're going to be no morethan 30-minute shows, but we're
going to do, hopefully, six ofthem.
And so then for our weekendswe'll do like on Thursday night
we'll do shows one, two andthree, and then Friday we'll do
four, five and six, and then onSaturday we're doing all day,
all six shows, and so, yeah, soit's a little bit different than
it has been in the past, butI've just been going to other
(13:36):
Setting up a little.
Yeah and just like I went to, Isaw someone actually at a
different company in LA like notso long ago and I've just been
kind of inspired by how they rantheir night.
So I've kind of takeninspiration from other directors
and other programs and we'rebringing it here.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
And on April 3rd to the 5th you guys are doing Willy
Wonka Jr.
Oh my gosh, Now that soundscool.
I personally did not know.
There was a junior.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
There is a junior.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
We've been.
Oh yes, we were in it.
I want to design Me too.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
I'm assuming everyone went wild when this got
revealed yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Are you guys excited for thatone so excited?
Speaker 5 (14:14):
I'm working that for sure.
Oh, okay, I was like that's alittle big, the ball is rolling
Awesome.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
That one is limited to the advanced theater class.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Advanced theater class.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
All of them in that class have the opportunity to
audition.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
And last but not least, May 30th to June 1st, you
guys are doing.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Mean.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Girls High School Edition, musical Theater.
So I'm assuming you guys coulddo it.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
You could do it as well as well.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (14:37):
That's perfect Moxie's in both.
She's in Musical Theater also.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Yeah, the resume is stacking up, oh, yeah, and you
could also get the tickets onthe websites you said.
Speaker 5 (14:47):
Absolutely, and that show is the one we do at Bridges
Auditorium at Pomona College.
Perfect, yes.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
When you pick a show or when you, you know, get a
license for the show.
What drives you to pick whatdecision, like, let's say, if
you want to do Mean Girls or ifyou want to do Percy Jackson.
Is it the students thatconvince you to be like, hey,
you should pick this one or thatone, or is it just like you're
like, no, I'm picking this one?
Speaker 5 (15:13):
It's a little bit of both.
I do ask for some input fromstudents, kind of depending on
the class, but I mean it's awhole season right.
So I love to do shows that whenpeople leave a show that
they're continuing conversation.
That's like one of my favoritetype of theater.
Yeah yeah, and a show like Nextto Normal should be able to do
(15:37):
that.
It's about mental health andit's about grief and loss, but
that's also not a lot of peopleknow Next to Normal.
So then I have to think as aproducer and I have to sell
tickets because otherwise Ican't pay for this eight show
season, right?
So that's where things likeHarry Potter and Mean Girls come
in.
You know, and you know that'svery popular.
People are really excited aboutthem.
I'm also very excited aboutthem, but I also need to sell
(15:59):
tickets.
So, if you, there's another showthat I saw, a new musical when
we were at International calledBetween the Lines, that I just
like I fell in love with, I'mjust like I really, really want
to direct this show and I wantto direct it in our final slot
and I want to do that at BridgesAuditorium.
But nobody knows what that titleis.
So the amount of work andresources that would have to go
(16:19):
to marketing just to make surepeople went there would be
different than doing somethingthat is known so people went
there would be different thandoing something that is known.
So that definitely factors inwhen you're looking at a whole
season.
But, like I said the main thing.
Like I pick up a script and ifI can visualize it and I can see
it on our stage and it'stelling a story like it's
tugging at me, then that goes inthe pile of like this is what I
want to direct.
So I have these lists of like.
(16:43):
These are things I want to doat some point, but then every
year you got to put the wholeseason together.
That has that is varied.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Do you guys also do tech as well, right?
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Yeah, yeah, I do a lot of tech, um, I think,
honestly, tech.
The fact that our um technicaldepartment is so strong and also
mostly run by students is likeone of my favorite aspects of
the theater.
It's like working a show andseeing every single element come
together and knowing that itwas like your friend who
designed that prop, or like your, like your friend who did that
(17:14):
costume or whatever, or someoneor your friend typing in all the
stuff at the light board.
It's just so fulfilling, and soI think it also it it makes
what we do a lot more impressive, knowing that all of it, all of
it was done a good amount of itat least, was done by students.
Yeah, yeah, and I love I'veworked lighting, hair and makeup
, wardrobe scenic definitely, oh, audio, and I just I don't know
(17:39):
.
It's such a fun frontier toexplore.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
That's good, and I bet it feels good when you're
just like seeing it all cometogether on stage.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
You're like, yeah, I did that.
See that spotlight, that's meyeah.
Speaker 5 (17:51):
And when it comes to, as a director, the way the
program runs, once the showopens, I literally don't do
anything.
Like I show up and I open thedoors, the stage management team
, everything going, you know,everyone has their departments,
the actors know what they'redoing, we've, we're ready, and
the only thing that if I'm, ifI'm, doing anything to support
the show, it's because I'mstepping into someone who may
(18:12):
not be there or, you know, liketo fix a mistake, whatever.
But yeah, um, I I'm on commsonly for emergencies so that if,
like, they need an adultsomewhere, then I will go.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Um, but otherwise everything is done by students
it's really fun because becausethere's so many leadership
positions that you get to be inand just so much experience,
because, even if you're notcompletely sure what you're
interested in, you have theoption to try out so many
different things.
And also I know we talked aboutit earlier of how you can be in
(18:42):
sports and theater and allthose people support you and you
support them.
But also just working backstagetheater and all those people
support you and you support them.
But also, um, just workingbackstage people will come and
support you because they want tosee what you put together.
Um, like tech does so muchbehind the scenes, that isn't
necessarily um, um.
Speaker 5 (19:00):
I feel like it's yeah , it's not shown, yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
So hopefully we can do better of representing the
technical side.
Yeah, but again, like it's just, it's really cool that you can.
You can do so many differentthings in theater.
You don't have to just be aperformer, you can work
backstage and have fun with itand just all that together.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Yeah, it's another thing that kind of warps the
idea of like a theater kidTypical.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Yeah, like more than that.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Honestly, even even before I even started acting, I
was like being a theater kid,Come on.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
I started doing it.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
And.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
I was like well, I kind of feel cool.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
You know I mean, yeah , that's great.
I mean show other than theactors as well.
So, um, again from the director, you were telling me how you
obviously you do you step in andstuff, but it's basically just
whole student ran, the wholeshow and technical aspect and
I'm assuming they're veryreliable and that sounds really
really good.
So when you guys are on techand like, let's say, you guys
(19:59):
are doing costumes and stuff,what do you say it's the most
like challenging part aboutteching or doing some sort of I
don't know how to explain itsome sort of input in the show.
What's the most challengingpart?
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Yeah, Okay.
So last year I was a stagemanager, production stage
manager for a few shows, and forme the definite hardest part
was just communicating witheveryone there's so many people
and they're all students, right.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
So many people.
They're all students.
You know people exaggeratethings.
Things get lost in translations, like oftentimes, like I'll say
something, my words will getlike warps and I'll be like what
?
Like I never said that.
So yeah, that was definitelyone of the challenges clear
communication between everyone.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Yeah.
Yeah, I agree with you too.
Yeah, I'm like all right.
Lights.
He said curtain, no, I saidlight.
Yeah, that was good.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Keeping track of people, because people will just
walk out sometimes and it'slike where?
Speaker 4 (21:03):
are you going?
Speaker 1 (21:04):
We have a job to do.
We need a stage manager.
Why is he at McDonald's?
Speaker 4 (21:10):
Were you right after that yeah, quite honestly, real
answer dealing with people justin general.
Like I said before, there's allthis love that comes with
working in theater, but there'salso all this frustration and
things get again lost intranslation, love that comes
with working in theater.
But there's also all this umfrustration and like um, things
get again lost in translationand like people, people will do
(21:31):
things.
That um, I mean it's hard as astage manager, because I I've
been an assistant stage managerit's hard um going from like a
regular crew member beingclueless to somebody in power
and like oh, oh shoot, I have tolike actually put my foot down
and like discipline, like be, bemean to people if I need to you
know, yeah, and it's, it's,it's a, it's a, it's a good
(21:54):
experience, but it's alsosometimes a struggle.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Yeah, that, that too Cause.
Yeah, like these.
So, hard for me to be rude ormean Like, hey, you can't do
that.
It's almost like.
The part of me is like no mango ahead, but I'm like I can't.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
I can't.
I gotta be professional.
How do I tell my best friendshe can't leave during the show
to go get canes?
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Yeah exactly.
And they're all trying to bribeyou Like oh no, I'll get you
some too, and you, I can't dothis?
Speaker 4 (22:20):
I can't do this right now.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Yeah.
And just like getting people totake you seriously, like yeah
we're the same grade Like yeah,I know you, but like I also am
in charge of how many pointsyou're getting from this show,
yeah, you're like, if you don'tlisten to me, this show is.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Yeah, I'm deducting points.
That's a big threat is like oh,I'm going to deduct points.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Oh work, you can get a max amount of points and
whoever your super is.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
That's being points, right?
Yeah, that's being points.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Whoever your super is gets to decide how, if you get
a minimum, normal whatever, andthen a maximum, yeah, and so
that's a good use.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
Yeah, sorry, sometimes when I'm like in like
someone's like boss and I'mtrying to like put my foot down
and like tell them like whatthey did is not okay, it kind of
feels like I'm being likelisten up punk, like listen to
your buster, like it feels likeI'm just like not like it feels
hard.
It's hard to like get that likekind of power, I guess, without
kind of feeling a little sillyyeah, I mean sometimes walking
(23:20):
like, hey, you gotta be there.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
Oh, I'm so sorry I said that, but yeah, I know how
that feels you gotta make sureyou're not gonna go on a power
trip, because like we had awhole.
We just did a leadership thingover the weekend and like it was
it was, most of it was centered.
Oh sorry, okay oh okay, so giveme a look um.
A big portion of it was how tobe in a position of leadership
(23:46):
without like oversteppingoverstepping your, your place,
yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
I understand it sometimes where someone's like I
have this power, they don'tknow they're overusing it,
because they're like they knowthey're doing something right,
yeah, but it's like come on,you're like, hey man, you're my
friend.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Like, yeah, when?
Yeah, like, can we be civil?
Where's the?
How's your?
Speaker 1 (24:02):
day, Not go, get in costume you know.
Well, that's great.
So you guys started all fromtech, I'm assuming, or something
before acting, or one of youguys started acting first.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
I actually, I think, all of us we all started
performing.
Yeah, we all started performing.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
I didn't think I was ever going to work a tech crew.
I only thought I was going todo it for the points and then I
started doing it and I was likewait.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
So you guys, obviously you guys love
performing and doing all thegood stuff?
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
But tech is obviously different.
It's like when you're doing afilm or you're filming something
, you're like that's cool seeingthe picture, but I want to see
the camera.
I want to see how it's made.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
There's been times where I've worked shows that I
really would have loved to be inum percy jackson was one of
them but I think honestly, likegetting to have that experience
of working backstage and workingalongside, like you're still a
part of it.
You still get to be part of it.
So, even though you're not inthe cast, like you still are
part of this big picture andit's just.
It was so much fun.
That was by far the most funI've had working a show.
I I usually work hair andmakeup that's that's my crew of
(25:09):
choice um, but that that wasjust a really positive
experience.
And those, those experiencesreally are what bring you back
to working show after show aftershow, even though we have like
such a long season with, yeah,packed with shows, like whenever
we go to, whenever we'retalking to other troops, or like
we were at um, like thespianfestivals and stuff, and we were
(25:32):
like, oh yeah, we have like anine because we we usually did
nine shows right, like the pastcouple years.
Am I blanking?
uh, yeah yeah, we've had nineshow seasons this year.
We cut back a little bit, thankgod but we have eight shows now
.
Um, but like people, like thereactions that people will give
you when you're like oh yeah, we, we have a nine show season,
(25:52):
yeah like they're like that'sone of my favorite things.
Yeah, most people have like afall play and a spring musical
and we're like yeah, we haveshows every month and and also
because we we do our runs areusually just like one weekend
and we build up to thatthroughout our tech week.
But just sorry, my train ofthought is not working right now
(26:15):
, but the amount ofopportunities that we have make
it really easy to get inductedfaster than other theater
departments, departments, Ithink, because of just the sheer
amount of shows that we put on.
so there's so many opportunitiesto meet that point requirement
by the end of your freshman year, which is why we have such a
(26:36):
large number of inductedthespians.
So I don't, I just, I justthink it's really cool how many
shows we're able to put on inone year I think it's impressive
too.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
I mean it's so nice how you your guys's school is
very involved, especially in thethespian society yeah and I.
I personally I love thatbecause, like I've seen all the
festivals and all the stuff on,you know, instagram reels or
youtube, and I'm like this is socool.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
So knowing that you guys got to experience those
type of things and it, you know,exploring it, that's that's
really great claremont's kind ofalways been really supported by
, or Claremont, like the arttheater department, has been
like supported by the communityfor a really long time.
Like, um, I've been doing, uh,throwback Thursdays on the
Instagram where we spotlight oldproductions that they put on
(27:21):
here and, um, I think it was ooh, it was Sound of Music.
They needed wedding dresses andstuff for the nuns and they had
donations from differentcommunity members and they
literally had the help of nunsto put the show on and it was a
(27:43):
whole thing Really cool, becauseI mean we don't do that now,
had the help of nuns to put theshow on and it was like a whole
thing really cool, because Imean we don't do that now
because it's just it's limitedto the, the student body here,
but just like seeing howinvolved like claremont has
always been in our theaterdepartment is like really
interesting to me and like wejust have like such a rich
history and even now, like ourconnections are still super
(28:05):
strong with alumni and communitymembers that have either been
in our theater department, ouralumni of that theater
department, or just have alwaysadmired it.
We'll touch on it later butwith the Benefit concert, just
the support is really nice.
Speaker 4 (28:20):
Yeah, I mean.
Chs Theater has a near and dearplace in people's hearts who
have been part of it.
For the benefit concert we'regetting alumni from as far back
as the class of 1968 coming backand performing, which just
shows how much of a specialplace this really is and what a
kind of magical community thatthere's always been here.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
I think we definitely have a lot of supporters.
There are a lot of people thatjust kind of don't get into it,
which is fine, but I think forour department at least, like we
do have, we're really lucky tohave a lot of um supportive like
students and faculty members,community members who show up
and show out for almost all ofour shows it also depends there
(29:03):
is, um, you know, a good deal ofcrossover between athletics and
the arts here, and that'simportant to the school
community and the admin howthings are set up so that
students can participate invarious things.
Speaker 5 (29:16):
That's one of the unique things about our program
is that for most of these shows,like the musicals, it's a class
.
You have to be in the musicaltheater class.
We're rehearsing during theschool day, not after school, so
you can be in a musical and bean athlete, and those two things
don't conflict.
And so, like what's happened inthe past, a previous student,
andrew Eisenberg, who's a trackrunner, so like he, you know,
(29:39):
whenever he was on stage, all ofthe cross country people were
in the audience for him.
So they're definitelysupporting each other, and when
we have that crossover, you seea lot more of the student body
as well.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
I think, also because this department is so large,
there's so many studentsinvolved in it that people
harbor support from theirfriends and I feel like we're
very lucky to be so widelysupported across the campus in
the way that we are, because Iknow that that's pretty unique
to our school.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
Yeah, I think social media also plays a major hand in
the popularity and the rise ofpopularity of a lot of musicals
right now, because there's a lotof trending audios that are
from musicals and just havingthese platforms definitely helps
broaden the fan base.
And that sounds like a lot ofit's not as like weird to be a
(30:28):
theater kid now and that's likea stupid thing to say, but like
it really.
It's like there's just so manyfans of theater and like the
arts in general, like it's justnot something that you would get
picked on for now yeah, yeah,yeah, uh, kind of adding on to,
like, what moxie had said.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Like, since our department is so large, like
during our meetings, you'll findliterally every type of person.
You'll go in there you'll findthe president of French Club,
you'll find a speech and debatecaptain, someone who swims, and
that's one of my favorite thingsis, you have all these people
united in one place because oftheater, and that's what I like
the most about it.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
There's also.
There's also.
There's something for everyonein theater like you don't have
to be a performer to still be apart of theater, and something
that I've really wanted to getout is that you don't actually
have to be in one of the theaterclasses to still participate.
We have so many odd likeopportunities for people to sign
up and work shows if they're atall interested.
We have like QR codes that youcan sign up and like just join
(31:27):
crews and, like I just the the.
The fact that we have so manyopportunities for people for
people to get involved is reallyspecial, um cause you can
explore all those differentareas without having to add a
schedule.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Tell, tell me more about.
I hear you guys are having abenefit concert.
Yeah.
I would love to hear about thebenefit concert and just run me
through, let's touch base withit and just tell me about it.
Question for all of you guys.
Any answers?
Speaker 3 (31:56):
Yeah, so Michael Alden is the alumni that is
putting all of this together andbasically it's a showcase of
the past years how many?
From 1960s to now.
It's just a showcase of.
Speaker 5 (32:18):
So I believe Michael is class of 74, is that?
Speaker 3 (32:19):
right.
Yes, he is class of 74.
Speaker 5 (32:21):
So the 50-year reunion for the class of 74 is
on Saturday, the 14th, and sohis idea was okay, if all these
people are coming, let's do thisOn Sunday, let's do another
concert, because the people arecoming in for the reunion.
And this all kind of startedwhen because we go to the
International Thespian Festivalevery year and it's not cheap,
it's in Indiana, we fly there.
(32:42):
Between the registration andthe room and board and
everything, it's about $1,700 aperson, and so not everybody can
afford that.
And so we this year, michael'sgroup of people were able to
raise $8,000 for us to usetowards scholarships for
students that are going to ITF.
So that's where the benefitcomes in.
(33:04):
The money that they're raisingis to create an endowment that
will forever give us money tosend kids to international
festivals.
That's great.
You can tell more about that.
So that's the background ontell more, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
So that's that's the background on, like the what the
benefit is for um, butbasically it we're inviting
alumni from 1960s to current umto perform songs that they
performed at chs.
So they have numerous differentmusicals that we've put on at
(33:36):
CHS and they're bringing backthe performers that did those
and as well as that.
Like sorry, on top of thatmusical theater, the class is
also going to be performing onSunday, and so it's just really
cool because we're getting allof these different generations
that have all passed throughthis theater in one, in one show
(33:59):
that's really cool yeah it'sgonna be super, super awesome
yeah, that sounds reallyexciting.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
So, so, um, so, how does it feel like getting all
these alumni coming back andjust performing for this concert
?
Are you guys excited?
I'm very excited.
Speaker 4 (34:12):
It's gonna be very, very cool, both for the students
to see what they could possiblybecome like, see people who
were once in their positions,who have gone and lived
successful, amazing theaterlives, and also for parents or
people who have lived here for awhile, who maybe have seen
these shows when they were firston, and it's going to be super,
(34:34):
super amazing.
We have people who have been onBroadway in movies, who have
been Michael Alden himself is aBroadway producer.
He's the one producing thisevent.
Yeah, these people are wildly,wildly impressive and it's just,
it's astonishing to like beable to see these people perform
here.
I'm super excited.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
Yeah, I'm personally just hearing.
I'm shocked like that is,that's really cool and that
sounds really efficient and Ihope it goes really good.
I I mean, when is it again?
Speaker 4 (35:02):
september 15th it's this sunday at 2 pm, garrison
theater.
You should come see it I wouldlove to go see it.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
So, um, that's great.
So you guys, um, you are doingthis benefit for the kids who
can't afford to go to indiana.
You said for the, um, thethespian festival, right,
correct, and I think that isreally, really amazing, because
there's some students and somekids that I know you probably
would know that that give ittheir all and sometimes they
can't afford it, and it'sheartbreaking because you're
like I really wished it could go, and so this concert will
(35:34):
really give them the opportunityto go.
So that's really great and I'mreally really happy that at high
school, you guys are doingsomething like this and that's
really great, especially withThespian stuff, because some
kids really love it and they'relike, oh, awesome.
Me personally, I've never been,but to whoever is going, and if
you guys are already going, I'mhappy for you guys and I'm
happy for anyone who else iscoming.
(35:55):
So that's really really goodand oh, yeah, how do you how?
do you guys get tickets?
Speaker 4 (35:59):
um well, there are tickets.
There's a link to tickets up onthe claremont high school
theater instagram.
That, what else?
Speaker 3 (36:05):
uh, yeah, it's a scripts.
It's a scripts present.
Uh, presents production they'rehosting at the garrison.
We have the link.
Like moxie said on theinstagram, yeah, and if you go
to um claremont high schooltheater's website, the link,
like Moxie said on the Instagram.
Speaker 4 (36:14):
Yeah, and if you go to Claremont High School
Theater's website, the link totickets is also there.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
Yes, Well, yeah, you guys are doing a lot and I hope
you guys it all goes great andthank you guys so much for
coming out and talking to us andcoming through about your shows
and also to everyone who'slistening.
This Sunday is going to be thebenefit concert, so come check
it out.
Where is it going to be at?
Speaker 4 (36:36):
again, At the Garrison Theater 2 pm.
2 pm in Claremont 2 pm.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
Be there, come see the alumni and come see the
amazing people who are at thistable who are going to perform
and yeah, so thank you guys somuch, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (36:50):
Great.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Thank you so much.
Thanks for listening to Stepsto the Stage, and now it's time
for the curtain call.
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