May 12, 2025 • 45 mins
What happens when a teacher trusts students to create theatrical magic? In this captivating conversation from Ayala High School's drama department, we discover how one unexpected career twist transformed English teacher Madeline Sherritt into a theater director who puts students firmly in the driver's seat.
Technical Director Aiden Kitavis and Assistant Director Karly Welsh share their journeys from theater newcomers to program leaders, revealing how the department's unique approach fosters both artistic growth and personal development. Rather than micromanaging, Ms. Sherritt creates an environment where students design sets, manage tech, direct scenes, and solve problems as they arise—from figuring out how to transform a multipurpose room into a medieval rock concert venue to determining how to spend their limited, self-funded budget.
The conversation centers around their upcoming production of "Six: The Musical," the Broadway hit that reimagines the wives of Henry VIII as a pop group. Securing rights to this coveted show—one of the first high schools to perform it—represents a meaningful milestone for the program. Through candid stories and lighthearted moments (including impromptu appearances by Ms. Sherritt's young children), we see how Ayala's theater program builds not just productions but a genuine community where students become "the calm in the storm" and develop practical skills they'll carry forward.
Whether you're a theater enthusiast, educator, or simply appreciate stories of young people exceeding expectations when given genuine responsibility, this behind-the-scenes look at student-led theater will inspire you to reconsider what's possible when we trust the next generation with creative control. Don't miss Six: The Musical at Ayala High School, running May 15-17!
Find STTS:
Steps To The Stage (@stepstothestage) | Instagram
Facebook
Steps To The Stage (buzzsprout.com)
Steps To The Stage - YouTube
Please follow on your favorite podcast platform and we appreciate 5 Star ratings and positive reviews!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Steps to the Stage Drama Department, a
7th Street Theater podcastfeaturing local area Inland
Empire Schools Drama Departmentand now your host, Giorgio
Haddad.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Welcome to Steps, to the Stage Drama Department.
I am your host, giorgio Haddad,and I am here in Ayala High
School, and so we're going tostart off with the crew here.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Hello, my name is Aiden Kitavis.
Speaker 5 (00:28):
Hi I'm Carly Welsh and I'm Madeline Sherritt, also
known as Miss S.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Awesome, and welcome to the podcast guys.
Speaker 5 (00:35):
Thanks for having us.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
So let's start with you, aiden.
What is your position or yourjob in the theater department
here?
Oh, or your job in the theaterdepartment here?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Oh, I'm the technical director, so I manage a lot of
the crew and the behind thescenes of the show, like the set
or like a lot of the tech stuffas well.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Awesome.
And what about you, Carly?
Speaker 4 (00:56):
So I'm the assistant director or co-assistant
director.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Sweet.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
And we basically just kind of corral people, tell
people when it's time to bequiet, what we're moving on to
next, and then in the show weget to kind of lead with the
scenes.
And that's probably my favoritepart is acting.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Awesome and Mrs S.
Speaker 5 (01:15):
So I am just overseeing all of it.
I got the pleasure ofinterviewing these two directors
, so I get to select thestudents that are in the
production.
I oversee the marketing for theshow, ticket sales, sound
lighting design.
I get to work with the cast andthe crew.
(01:40):
I have learned more about setbuild than probably any other
aspect of tech over the last fewyears out of forced necessity,
not necessarily desire, but myjob is basically just to be here
to facilitate all the aspectsof the show that the kids put
(02:02):
together, the students puttogether, aspects of the show
that the kids put together, thestudents put together.
So while I oversee it, I don'tactually have a full hand in
everything, just a little pinkyand then the kids are really
responsible for makingeverything happen that is so
cool to hear.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
So you would say the students are the ones running
the show here and you're justsupervising.
Speaker 5 (02:20):
Definitely the drivers of the program.
I mean there are students thatknow how to do things that I
don't even know how to do so,like our light board and our
sound board.
The students are so much bettertrained on those things than I
am.
My attention gets split betweena lot of different things so I
have to rely on the kids a lotto be able to make everything
(02:41):
happen.
You can hear my kids in thebackground.
I mean they're here with usevery day from 3.30 to 5.
Happen.
You can hear my kids in thebackground.
I mean they're here with usevery day from 3.30 to 5.30.
So my attention's everywhere.
So I put a lot of trust in thekids and honestly, they've
deserved a lot of the trust.
They deserve it all.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Awesome.
That is so great that you buildso much trust in your students
as well as in yourself, and thatyou learn something from what
you just told me.
Right now and when did youstart deciding to become?
You know what?
I'm going to become a theaterdirector and I'm going to start
getting into all this new youknow, stage and performing arts
stuff.
Speaker 5 (03:16):
I would love to say it was a decision, but it kind
of fell into my lap.
I interviewed to be an Englishteacher here on campus and in
the middle of my interview theyasked me if I had any background
or experience in theater ordrama.
And I was in theater in highschool.
I did one year of stagecraftwhere I primarily worked with a
(03:36):
light board.
But those have come a long wayin 10 years, so I don't know how
to do anything that I knew howto do in high school other than
act.
So the directing has comefairly naturally.
But even that I'm kind of justmaking it up as I go.
I'm going off of one theaterteacher that I had in high
school.
Sort of I feel like I'mcosplaying as a theater teacher
(03:58):
most of the time, but it wasn'treally a decision that I made.
I'm very lucky that it came tome when it did.
I think I've had a lot ofgrowth in theater in the last
few years and so I'm still kindof figuring it out.
You're still kind of figuringit out.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
I mean that is really , really good and I'm assuming
you have some more memorableshows and you had a lot of fun
memories with all the studentsyou had.
Speaker 5 (04:25):
Yeah, yeah, it's been one of those surprises in your
career.
You know you don't get so manyof them where something just
falls into your lap and you'renot prepared for it, but it
prepares you and this hasdefinitely been the case case
and all of the difficulty ismade a lot easier by the fact
that the kids are so great andthey are so eager to learn and
(04:49):
to contribute and, yeah, that'sbeen an absolute joy for me.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
That sounds amazing.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
It's like that's your calling that's your destiny.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
right there they just said, hey, you got theater
experience.
You're like, oh, I got a year.
And they're like you know what,You're hired.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
Yeah, definitely.
I don't know if they knew whatthey were doing.
I don't think they knew whatthey were doing when they hired
me, but it's worked out, I thinkfor the most part.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Well, you've been doing a great job from what I've
heard, and I bet Carly andAiden are very honored to have
you as their teacher.
Speaker 5 (05:20):
That's kind to hear, beth.
I know they're pressured, theyfeel pressured to say so, but no
, they in particular, these twoin particular, are such
excellent additions to theprogram.
Carly has like a wealth ofknowledge when it comes to the
acting side and has become veryadept with the technical side as
(05:40):
well, and Aidan is brand new totheater.
I mean he was in introductionto theater at the beginning of
the school year and is now inour upper level performance and
production class.
He came in like full steamahead, just like full speed
running, so it's been really funto watch both of them grow in
their own individual interestsand then to watch them transform
(06:01):
into leaders in the program.
Like that's such a joy for me tobe able to see them, so I feel
very lucky to have them in theprogram.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
That is so sweet and I'm glad that you're enjoying it
as you go, and I bet you domiss your students when they do
graduate and move on.
Speaker 5 (06:15):
Yes, it's hard.
It's a hard thing.
It's a weird thing too, becauseevery year there's like a batch
of students that you adore andthen they graduate and then
there's a new batch of studentsand all of them get to watch my
kids grow up like cooper'splaying with carly right now in
the background, like they.
They become part of my family.
It's so so it gets bittersweet,yeah, and this is a particularly
(06:39):
odd situation for me, becausethis is the this school year I'm
graduating the seniors thatcame in when I took over the
program, so they were freshmenwhen I got the job and now they
are graduating.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Oh my goodness, I mean.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
I was pregnant with with Cooper when I took over the
newly pregnant with Cooper whenI took over the program.
So like it's just a weird, Imean I feel like they're they're
such a huge part of my kid'slife, they're a huge fixture in
my, my family's life, like youknow, my you know they're here
with my kids every day.
Like it's.
It feels like family and soit's.
I'm very I'm going to have ahard time.
(07:18):
I think it's going to be reallytough to send this group off,
but I'm doing it with fullconfidence, knowing that they
are ready for the world.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
I just hope the world's ready for them that is
amazing and I bet for yourstudents as well, that is very
relieving to hear coming fromtheir teacher as well.
Yeah, I appreciate you bringingus all into your story on when
you started and how your kidsare a part of something so great
and so big, as well as you knowyour theater family.
A question for Aiden when youjoined, did you know what you
(07:50):
were going to do, or were youmore of just like I'm going to
see how it goes and we're goingto see where I land?
Speaker 3 (07:54):
It's really funny because I kind of flipped a coin
on what I was going to do atthe beginning of the year when
we were choosing classes and itlanded on theater.
So I didn't really know what Iwas getting myself into because
I didn't know anybody else intheater.
Like, a lot of the people thatI met this year are like
entirely new to me in my life.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Ah, I see.
So how does it feel being, youknow, in the technical aspect of
this theater program?
Speaker 3 (08:22):
It's been an interesting ride.
I mean, I started out intheater this year with their
fall play and I was literallyjust a part of crew.
But before I even joined crew Iwas like I feel like I'm going
to have a really fun time here.
It's a lot of new things for me, especially since theater is so
new.
Directing people was quite achallenge.
(08:45):
But I mean, I mean I'm havingfun so far, so I think I I kind
of like it.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Awesome.
What do you think you havelearned from the theater program
?
What is one thing you're like?
You know what?
I could definitely implementthis thing in my life in the
future, after I get out of here.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Oh, I did not know how to use a drill or any
construction tools before I gotinto this program and then I
left this program like knowinghow to knowing how to use a
drill for once, it's a big deal.
Speaker 5 (09:14):
Not a lot of people ever learn how to use a drill,
so that's huge awesome.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
So where are you scared?
At first you're like this isawesome, like I like.
I like drilling stuff honestly.
Speaker 5 (09:23):
Yeah, I had like when we were building the set for
the fall play, I was kind ofhaving a lot of fun because
especially they just gave me thetools and I was like, okay,
sure, I'll do it and I thinkthat was one of the things about
Aiden that was so impressive isthat a lot of people, when you
throw them into a situationwhere there's this whole new set
of skills, they're veryhesitant to just jump right in.
(09:44):
But Aiden was like sure, let'sdo it.
And not only was he sure let'sdo it, he was sure let's do it,
and let's do this too, and let'sdo this too, and let's do this
too.
Like he had all these ideas.
So it wasn't just that he wasready and willing, he was like
excited about it.
(10:05):
So that's rare.
It's that's a hard thing tofind among teenagers high school
students is the the.
Even though I don't know whatI'm doing, I'm just going to
jump in and I'm going to makethe best of it.
That's really rare.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
The first time I met Aiden, like actually had a
conversation with him Well, nota conversation, but I was in the
middle of a breakdown.
We were in the middle of techweek for the fall play.
Someone had put, taped withscotch tape, a bottle cap onto a
wine bottle.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
There was liquid inside.
Inside it was spilling.
I was freaking out.
We had like a couple of daystill opening, which that's a
whole nother story but um, I wasfreaking out.
I went into the wings helpsomebody, help.
Like I don't know what to doand it's like calm down, I got
you, don't worry, I'll fix it.
Just go back on stage.
You're okay, you got it and Iwas like who is?
(10:56):
this guy, he's so sweet like youcalmed me down instantly.
From then I was like, okay,okay, we're gonna be okay yeah
he's the emotional supportaround here, so I've heard yeah,
he's a.
Speaker 5 (11:07):
he's a rock definitely, and so it was very
net when he expressed interestin being a director for the show
.
It was very, it was like a veryeasy decision and he's new in
the program so we kind of needsome like every every now and
then you get a little stagnant,a little stale yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
Kind of get set in your ways and everyone kind of
falls into very specific roles.
So it's always really fun towatch someone new come in and
shake things up, and then youwatch how different ideas create
such like a kind of a beautifulvariety.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah , sweet, and I'm glad.
Congratulations also for beinga.
You know doing the technicalstuff too, because a lot of
people you know they don't belike, oh, I'm going to work for
it, but it's like he was borninto the role of it?
Speaker 5 (11:52):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
So that's great.
And, carly, when did you join?
Did you join?
When did you join?
What year did you join thistheater program?
Speaker 4 (11:58):
I joined my sophomore year.
I've done theater with 7thStreet for a while, took a gap
during COVID, but when I finallycame back to theater my
sophomore year I joined intro totheater and went back and did
newsies at 7th Street.
So like that year, it was justit was fun to be in that class
and even though it was like thebasics just I don't know, having
(12:22):
you as a teacher, like pushingmyself even more and then also
being noticed in that introclass, it felt like it gave me
confidence in myself that Ireally needed at the time.
Right needed at the time.
Right, and though I didn't jointhe shows at the time, I
watched them and I realized,like, how talented these kids
(12:42):
are at Ayala Theater and made mereally want to get involved.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
That's sweet and I guess you know straight up.
It just went up from there.
Yes, Carly.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
I went and saw Carly in Newsies.
Oh yes, I remember thinkingbecause she said she felt
noticed, which is funny, becauseI remember thinking when I went
and saw Newsies like I shouldhave moved her up to P&P.
What was I thinking?
Like she is such a good actressand it was so fun to see her in
that role.
Because you know, it's hardwhen you're in intro to theater
(13:11):
class.
You're with a lot of kids therethat are taking the class just
for the visual performing artscredit.
Very much so, and so it was it.
Sometimes I feel like you kindof lose some of the better
students because they get pairedup with students that they
don't really want to be there.
I'm sure that happened toeveryone, that's ever been an
intro yes, but when I saw her innewsies I was like like oh my
(13:33):
gosh, and I knew that she wasauditioning for PNP and I was
like she's like shooing, like soin, and I her her first year in
PNP last year it was it washigh chaos, because I mean it
always is, but she was alwayslike the two things that the.
The thing that these two havein common is that they're both
(13:56):
calm in the storm.
They are just focused ongetting things done.
Yeah, my kids are like that theyare.
They're calm in the storm,they're focused on getting
things done.
They're not worried about what'snot going well, they're just
focused on what they can do tomake it go better.
And when you're the sole adultin the room, it is so comforting
(14:18):
to know that you've got kidsthat are just squared away.
They're just self-sufficient.
Yeah, it's a fine line.
It's like a razor's edgebetween I want to give them
responsibility and I'm alsostill the adult in the room,
like I don't want them to haveto deal with stress that's not
meant for them.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Right right.
Speaker 5 (14:35):
And we walk that razor's edge Like we really do,
like teeter sometimes on.
They're very stressed, butthese two are always.
The other thing that I loveabout them is they're always so
vocal when it's like this is toomuch, like we've got to pull
back a little bit.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
They're very honest.
Speaker 5 (14:49):
Yeah, and in such a respectful and mature way.
It's so professional.
The way they communicate likethis is what the students need.
So I think it's just been sucha good.
The show has been so goodbecause I have such good leaders
in these positions and and theother directors of the show,
brookie esparo and vanessa glowand, uh and um, genevieve, I'm
(15:12):
worried.
I'm gonna say genevieve's lastname wrong, but Genevieve
Mladenov, I think is how you sayit.
I think that's correct KennedyTowns, like they're all so good
at their individual tasks and soand they just they get along,
they're nice to the people theywork with.
That's also hard to find in astudent director, you know
(15:33):
someone where the power doesn'tgo to their head Like that's a
huge thing.
So they've been, really thisshow has been, so this has just
been so excellent working withthem.
They're so great, they're somuch fun.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Right right.
Speaker 5 (15:43):
They've got such good ideas.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
They're the calm in the storm.
Yeah, absolutely Calm in thestorm for sure, and speaking of
assistant directing Carly,you're assisting directing soon.
If you guys would let us in onwhat show and what's the details
.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
Yeah, take it away we are doing Sixth of Music.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
Whoa, oh, my gosh, who knew yes?
Speaker 5 (16:04):
Yes, very excited.
Aiden, tell us about the show.
Okay, like what the show is.
Yeah, tell us what the show'sabout.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
So it's about the six ex-wives of Henry VIII.
They've gotten together to forma band and they're going to
have a little competition to seewho will be the leader of the
band.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Yeah, who has the most trauma wins basically.
Speaker 5 (16:24):
Yeah, it's a fun show .
I think it's one of the coolestmusicals out there right now.
It's a rock concert and a popconcert and it's also this like
really profound glimpse behindthe curtain of, you know, these
women in history whoseidentities have really been
(16:45):
reduced to who they were marriedto, and so the story the show
is about taking back thenarrative being more than who
you're in a relationship with,more than the people you're
associated with, andestablishing your own identity.
Yeah, so I don't know.
For me, this has been, that'sbeen really fun to put together,
a show that is super empoweringto female voices and the women,
(17:08):
yeah.
The female narrative and to havea cast that's mostly female.
While we're doing that, we'vegot excellent guys in the cast,
like so stellar email.
While we're doing that, we'vegot excellent guys in the cast,
like so stellar.
It is a very special treat forme to be able to work with women
, who I think this story is forand a message that I think
really resonates with a lot ofthem.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
A hundred percent and I agree.
And, if I'm not mistaken, sixjust got on MTI just to get.
Yes.
Speaker 5 (17:36):
Concord.
We got it on Concord.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (17:38):
Theatricals and it was.
It's brand new.
It's really hard to get, and sowe feel very, very fortunate
that they licensed the show tous.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Congratulations.
Speaker 5 (17:48):
Thank you, it's a huge deal, like we were.
We were fingers crossed forthis one, like we really, really
wanted to do this show.
We have the talent for it.
We were able to kind of worksome fun little surprises into
the show.
Yeah, yeah, a little.
It's obviously because it's theteen version.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
It's different from the broad version Right, right,
right.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
But they've these two in particular.
I mean, they've added so manylittle Easter eggs, little
surprises for the audience andthe set's amazing.
Everything about it is justit's killer.
It's coming together so well.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Awesome, and I mean that show.
I mean I've heard a lot of buzzcircling around the show
because right when it gotreleased, a lot of my friends
were like, oh my gosh, six justgot released.
I hope my school does that.
And I was like, oh well, youknow what it's just released.
I highly doubt any school isgoing to do it.
When I found out that you guyswere going to do it, I was
(18:44):
actually shocked.
I was like Ayala's doing six.
Speaker 5 (18:47):
Really.
We had the same reaction.
We're like we're doing six.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Yeah, I bet, that feels so good because they're
like what shows are you doing?
Oh, we're doing six, the new,one that just got released yeah,
it's, it is.
Speaker 5 (18:58):
Uh, I think that's also there's a challenge in that
in a lot of the other showsthat we've done in the past,
we've been able to watch otherproductions of it.
You can access other people'sinterpretations of things like
set and light design, but forthis one we're kind of in the
dark.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
Yeah, especially like the teen version.
We got to change it up.
Speaker 5 (19:20):
Yeah, a lot.
There's a lot of different.
Yeah, I mean the lyrics.
Like there's a lot of themes inthe show that are a little more
adult, the Broadway versions,the teen version the kids are
kind of working with.
Like well, how do we translatethe?
It's funny.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (19:36):
Yeah, right, so that's been fun.
They've been doing a good jobtoo.
This the script.
You know the script changes inthe teen version, like how do we
make this land with an audiencethe same way that we feel it
lands in the Broadway version,and they've done an excellent
job with that.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Awesome.
And Aiden and Carly, what wasyour guys' first reaction once
he announced that you guys aregoing to do 16 edition?
Speaker 4 (19:58):
I was shocked, I mean , like I didn't believe it, like
I think we had guessed, becauseMiss S was like oh, I'm going
to reveal the musical soon.
So we were guessing, like youknow, like oh sorry, I'm telling
my kids, keep going.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
They're the special guests on this show as well.
Speaker 4 (20:16):
They are the extra special guests.
Keep going, just you know,costume closet.
Well, it's also our changingroom.
That kind of gossip, oh, Iwonder what it's going to be.
We thought like six had beenthrown out as maybe a guess, but
everyone shut it down Like no,there's no way.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
No way we'd do that.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
And then when it got announced, we were just like I
don't think we had time toprocess it, like we never got
over processing it.
It's still insane that we'redoing it.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
I bet the smile on Mrs S's face was like oh,
they're going to love this forsure.
Speaker 5 (20:54):
You know, what's funny is I thought I was like,
oh, everyone will lose theirminds over this, because in my
mind I'm thinking you know anensemble and you know, and
everyone else is like there'sonly six leads in that show.
Like, how are we going to puton a show with just six people
in it?
Like, are we going to triplecast it?
Like how are you going to getas many people in as possible?
And so sometimes it's reallyhard to translate the vision
that I have for a show to thekids so that they're like this
(21:17):
is something for me, and I thinkwhen I try to do that on my own
, it falls flat.
When I rely on the kids fortheir input, like how would you
do it?
Like, what do you need in orderto be like enthusiastic about
this?
They always come up with thesereally great ideas and a lot of
our most fun little Easter eggscame from the kids, like the
students' ideas, thebrainstormers in this whole
project right here, most funlittle Easter eggs came from the
(21:38):
kids, like the students' ideas.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
So the brainstormers in this whole project, right
here.
Speaker 5 (21:42):
It's impressive to me because you get in your head
that, like I'm the adult in theroom.
I'm the one that should bemaking the decisions.
And then, when you release thereins a little bit, you're like,
oh, nevermind, I don't need tobe here, I'm literally just
chaperoning their genius inprogress.
So it's really fun to watchthem come up with these ideas
(22:02):
and we sit at my desk and we'relike, okay, I love that, that's
beautiful, that's perfect.
It's honestly one of thereasons that AIM got moved up to
P&P.
It's because after I announcedthe musical, he was at my desk
every day in intro, like what ifwe did this?
Have this idea.
What if we tried this?
Speaker 2 (22:24):
You, know the part where it's like this, and every
single one I was like oh, oh,exactly what I had.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
It's like perfect, excellent.
These ideas are so good.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Yeah, I was like it's like you crawled inside of my
brain like this is excellent, soso fun, so I have a question
that I rarely ask on this showand maybe, if you're allowed to
answer it, you can.
Can, but other than six, whatwere the options that you had
for the musical?
Ooh, I want to know this yeah so, other than six, what musicals
were you like?
Well, maybe we should do thisone, and I know because most
(22:49):
theater teachers are like Idon't like revealing this
because it might be the aftersmusical, but let us in on the
tea.
But let us in on the tea.
Speaker 5 (22:56):
Okay.
So I actually made the decisionto do six Like that was the
original idea was when we werecasting Mamma Mia.
We did Mamma Mia last year,yeah, and I had students
audition for Mamma Mia and I waslike, oh my gosh, I think I
might have enough vocalists nextyear to do six.
So it was very early on in mybrain.
(23:17):
I almost didn't even think aboutany other musicals before that
yeah but we, I did, I was like,well, I'll keep it on the back
burner, I need to keep myoptions open, right.
So I did consider west sidestory.
But there are some technicalchallenges with that show, right
, and I'm I am very cognizantand conscientious of the fact
that if there's a show that'skind of based around subjects
(23:40):
like the characters have to fitinto certain categories like the
racial aspect of it.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5 (23:46):
I also don't want to create like I think you can go
the exact opposite way.
I don't want to create like aracial dynamic in the show, so
that one kind of quickly wentout the door.
I love the story, I love theidea, but I just I was like I
think that's a tough one for usto put together.
I have considered, but it willnever happen.
I just don't think we'll everhave the wherewithal to put it
(24:09):
on.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Remember guys, maybe she maybe throwed you guys off.
So, keep that in mind.
Speaker 5 (24:13):
Into the Woods was one that I had considered, and
I'm sure the kids would losetheir minds, but it's such a
hard show to do and then thelast one that I had thought
about, but this was supposed tobe our musical.
The first year that I taughtbefore we switched it to a
spring play was Footloose.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
So I had thought about Footloose.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
I did Footloose in high school so it's one that I'm
familiar with, but I was, likeooh, very pregnant at the time.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (24:41):
Didn't think that we were going to.
So I was like, oh well, I'llbring back Footloose and it just
I don't know, it didn't feelright.
I was like Six, always kind ofstayed at the forefront.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
Because I thought the licensing was going'll be able
to do it.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
So, as future musicals come along, do you
think so?
You said, footloose will neverhappen.
Speaker 5 (25:03):
I don't think Into the Woods will ever happen.
Into the Woods West.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Side Story.
But what about Footloose?
Would you ever consider, likeyou know what I'm going to?
Speaker 5 (25:10):
definitely it's such a fun show and I think one of
the things that I liked aboutSix that I also like about
Footloose is that the music iskind of.
My children are just runningamok in the background.
The music in Footloose is kindof genre bending.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Right right.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
It's kind of rock and roll, a little more modern.
It's popular.
So I like that aspect of it.
I like being able to putstudents in roles that they
resonate with, and so I like thehigh school student cast of
that.
And then I also really like themessage behind Footloose, like
(25:51):
that, things aren't always asthey appear, yeah, yeah.
But even when you're young, youhave a voice.
You can make a difference, youcan make a change, you can get
involved in your community andhave a positive impact.
So I love that.
So I'm totally open to doingFootloose.
I have a musical in mind forthis upcoming school year.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
But it cannot be revealed it has been selected.
Speaker 5 (26:15):
Already it has been picked, but the kids can't know
about it yet Not even a hint,not even like the worst hint
possible.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
You should get a little early access, maybe a
hint.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
Tiny's, tiny's hint.
Yes.
Speaker 5 (26:25):
If I gave any hint, I think you would know what it is
.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Is it really that obvious?
Speaker 5 (26:30):
Give a color, let's give a Someone asked me this in
PNP today and I came up with acolor.
Loosely, I mean it's not, it'sdefinitely not One of the main
colors.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
One of the main colors.
Speaker 5 (26:42):
If you don't feel like you want to reveal it, that
is totally fine.
The color that I thought ofwhen I think of this musical
although I don't think it'sunique to the musical, it's just
a color I think of is red.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
I think I know what it is, do you?
Is it kind of new?
Speaker 5 (26:59):
Would you say it's kind of new?
I'm not going to guess itbecause no, it's not new.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Did it get released any time last year?
Speaker 5 (27:04):
No.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Really.
So it's pretty old.
Speaker 5 (27:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Pretty old.
Sorry, I thought it wasHadestown for a minute.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Oh my God, I thought it was Hadestown.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
That was going to be my next question.
I was like would you ever do?
Speaker 5 (27:17):
Hadestown here, so I don't know much about Hadestown
this was.
I was just having thisconversation.
I know that it is correct me ifI'm wrong about Greek myth.
Yes, but I don't know.
The kids always make fun of mebecause they always like blast
the musical theater songs.
I'm more of like a play girl,not a musical theater girl.
(27:37):
I'm getting more and more intoit Again.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
this film so you're familiar with.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Our Town?
Yeah, there we go, all right.
Speaker 5 (27:42):
Yes.
Our Town, we're doing theCrucible it's my favorite.
I love the Crucible.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
What relationship with the Crucible?
Speaker 5 (27:49):
Never break that bond .
I love the Crucible.
We're doing it in intro rightnow.
Oh, you guys are alreadystarting that.
Yes, fabulous, it's so muchwhen people say they don't like
the Crucible, I'm like why.
You don't understand thesignificance, it's just.
I love the storytelling ofplays, but I'm starting again
(28:10):
inching into musical theater.
Right, okay, when I was intheater in high school I did one
musical.
That's it.
Because I have no dancingability and yet I wasn't
footloose.
It's a wild irony there.
But I'm trying to get more intothe musicals.
I loved Mamma Mia, so fun.
I think I'm following a patterna little bit.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Yeah, you're trying to like gradually go into it.
Yeah, the music that I'mfamiliar with the jukebox
musical, you know I love that,and speaking about Six, are the
tickets out or are theyavailable to be for?
Speaker 5 (28:44):
purchase.
They are on sale.
Yes, awesome, I think we'readding the QR code to our
website as we speak.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Yay, but the flyers are up, so the website you can
access it.
Speaker 5 (28:55):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Can you tell us the URL for the website?
Speaker 5 (28:57):
Yes, it's ayalatheaterorg and it's theater
spelt the British way, r-einstead of E-R.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Wow, that's a little fancy to it.
Speaker 5 (29:08):
Everything else is E-R.
It's just the website.
We don't want to change the URL, okay.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
We don't want to pay to change it.
No, just Ayala Theater is highclass.
Yeah, very, that's what it isDefinitely.
Speaker 5 (29:18):
We use all the best materials in our build.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
The most royal of them all.
Speaker 5 (29:22):
We use the newest lights, the newest microphone.
We do Everything about.
Our program is very posh andvery streamlined.
Not half of our set is made ofcardboard.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
That would be a wild.
Speaker 5 (29:33):
That would be an insane thing to say that would
be crazy to say that half of ourset is cardboard and foam.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
No, it looks too real , come on, too real.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
The bricks look like real bricks because they are.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
They are real bricks, so not foam.
Speaker 5 (29:46):
We had stone imported from the riverbanks, the Thames
, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
If you guys are listening.
This is another reason why youguys should see Six.
Look at that Imported goods.
Speaker 5 (29:56):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
From my understanding .
What I heard is that you guyshave transformed a whole
multipurpose room into what isnow the quote unquote theater.
Speaker 5 (30:06):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
And I have seen and it looks absolutely stunning.
So give us more like info andintel on the multipurpose room.
How did you guys kind ofovercome, like kind of like,
well, we have to get throughthis or that, but it's not a
theater, but it's a multipurpose?
Speaker 5 (30:24):
room.
Yeah, you know what's funnywhen I first walked.
So Robert Davis is the choirteacher here on campus and all
the kids are walking aroundoutside singing.
They're practicing their breathcontrol right outside this room
.
That's so funny.
So when I first walked in,Robert Davis was like showing me
everything.
And I was like where's thetheater?
He's like this isn't thetheater.
I'm like this is an NPR.
(30:44):
He's like no, this is thetheater.
I was like, oh no, what are wegoing to?
But it actually translatesreally well because we can
transform the space to whateverwe want.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
So it starts in the lobby.
Tell us about our lobby designfor the show.
Yes, so you just want me toyeah, well, yeah tell me what
we're gonna see in the lobbygive us a little early sneak
peek here there will be like umportraits of everybody in cast
and crew, or at least like mainensemble and cast and the
directors, um there will be likehey, so it's really funny.
I kind of like haven't seen thelobby design in a hot minute,
(31:22):
so I kind of forgot what itlooks like.
Speaker 5 (31:24):
It's going to be like a party rock castle.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
Oh yeah, oh okay.
Speaker 5 (31:29):
So the show is the design kind of aesthetic that
we've gone with.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Oh, he's, oh, oh, oh, you want to say hi.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
I'd grab the headphones if I were you.
Oh, he's, oh, oh oh.
You want to say hi?
I'd grab the headphones if Iwere you.
He's kind of a monster.
That was Cooper Sherritt, ournewest special guest.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
All right, he just stole some glasses.
Guys, there are a lot ofsilhouettes and gold-plated
designs.
Very fancy, like you guys said.
Again, very, very fancy it'smedieval rock concerts.
Speaker 5 (31:55):
So it's neon lights and lots of color, lots of
changing, but also it's on astone background, like a stone
backdrop.
So, we'll have some portraitsthat'll kind of feel like a hall
of royals in the lobby when youfirst walk in and then the
stage is what would happen ifyou turned a castle into a rock
(32:20):
venue.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Right, that's so cool , super fun.
So, other than the stage, whathave you guys turned this area
into?
Speaker 4 (32:27):
We made stairs.
Oh yeah, we made stairs for thefirst time.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
Whoa.
Speaker 4 (32:30):
Talk about that.
Tell us about that, marlee Lane.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
Marlee.
Speaker 5 (32:35):
Marlee Lane.
She's our walk-on coach here.
So she is our theater coachhere at Ayala Sweet yes.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
So for the first time ever, ayala NPR slash theater
has stairs in the middle of thestage.
They're big, they're paintedblack, they're sturdy.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
I hope.
Speaker 4 (32:52):
No, they are.
They are.
Marley promised me no one woulddie.
Speaker 5 (32:57):
That's all we ask for .
That's our bottom line.
We just don't want anyone todie.
If no one dies at the end of ashow, we've done our job.
Speaker 4 (33:02):
Yeah, and we've gotten close, but we have never
killed anybody in here.
Round of applause.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
It's the stairs' fault.
No one is liable.
Speaker 5 (33:10):
Yeah, no one is liable Sweet.
And, oh, we built a set ofstairs that go off the front of
the stage.
But because we're in an NPR,it's such a wide space that when
the kids have parts where oh,we're going to spoil over, when
the kids have parts where theygo into the audience for like,
parts of their choreography orparts of the show, they have to
(33:31):
run off the side of the stageand then run around to the front
of the stage and then run upthe middle of the audience and
by the time they've done that,they already have to turn around
and go back on stage.
So having stairs that take themright down into the audience,
right off the front of the stage.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
So much more relieving.
Speaker 5 (33:45):
Yeah, and they get to spend more time in the audience
again trying to bring theconcert that's happening on
stage into the audience.
So it feels like a genuineconcert Sweet.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
So fun concert sweet, so fun, awesome.
And so when you brung up, abouthow six is normally a
six-person cast and there's Ihave there's males in here.
What is the official cast andensemble?
I've heard you guys are doingan ensemble yes give us, give us
more, give us more of the juicystuff we.
Speaker 5 (34:14):
So we're supposed to be performing at the rally in
May and we were talking aboutdoing a, an ensemble number for
the rally, but we were like no,I think we're going to keep it
just the six wives.
Cause there is a moment in theshow.
The show goes on with just thesix wives for the first couple
of numbers and then there's amoment where the curtain opens
(34:35):
and then the ensemble is onstage with them and I kind of
want the audience to besurprised by that.
They're going to know themoment they walk into the lobby
and see everyone's headshotsthat there's an ensemble and
they're going to be like howmany sixes are these?
Six times what?
But I think it's going to bereally fun.
We have a dance ensemble.
So we have a dance troupe thatdances alongside the queens.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
Anyway, as you were saying, Keep going, go play.
No bottle down.
Speaker 4 (35:10):
Yes, we have a dance ensemble and we also have a
vocal ensemble as well, awesomeDance ensemble accompanies some
of the songs not all of themsame with vocal ensemble and
vocal ensemble is in the back onrisers singing and also doing.
You know some cute littlelittle dances awesome awesome.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
And did you guys get the costumes?
Did you guys handmade them?
Did you guys?
Speaker 3 (35:34):
rent them, we bought them.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
We bought these costumes oh, how do they look?
Speaker 3 (35:38):
they're actually like , actually really nice.
Like we had a, the originalshow dates got moved so we had
like a whole week to ourselveswhere there was like nobody in
the NPR.
So that was basically our likemini tech week and we got to run
rehearsals with, like thecostumes and I was like, wait,
these costumes look so good wespent like the most of the whole
(36:01):
budget.
Speaker 4 (36:01):
We spent the most on just the costumes.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
These costumes Really ?
Speaker 4 (36:03):
They're amazing.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
Are you guys going to have a display after the show's
over?
Be like, look at these costumes.
Speaker 4 (36:08):
That's a good idea.
Speaker 5 (36:09):
I did consider, because we like to display at
the end of every show the posterfrom the show, the banner from
the show.
But I thought after this I waslike we should really start
focusing on costume design more.
Oh yeah, because it would bereally fun to put mannequins out
and do our end of the yearshowcase and showcase the
costumes that we did that's agood idea the props that we used
(36:33):
, some of the set flats thatwe've used.
Yeah, oh my God, pause realquick, if we can.
Speaker 3 (36:40):
And I think it's really fun because our costumes
aren't even like fully, fullydone yet they look great even if
we haven't even done any musclealterations.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
They're going to look greater from here.
Speaker 3 (36:50):
Because we still have a lot of ideas for the
costuming, so I feel likethey'll look really really good
once we get on stage.
Awesome.
And I do have a questionregarding I feel like they'll
look really really good once weget on stage.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
Awesome, you need to.
And I do have a questionregarding costumes.
Would you guys say that theseare the best costumes out of all
the musicals?
You guys have done.
From what.
I'm hearing if half the budgetis going to the costumes, they
better look really good, oh yeahthey do and usually I can say,
oh well, we kind of justthrifted them.
Speaker 5 (37:18):
And most of the shows that we do it's easy to find
the costumes for, because it'sstreet wear or it's street wear
from.
I think the farthest back we'vehad to go so far is like the
50s, so it's been really easy todo a show, or the 20s, I guess,
was the way that goes wrong.
Speaker 4 (37:36):
What about Peter Pan?
Speaker 5 (37:37):
Well, that's fantastical, it's just like
Wendy and the boys, peter Panwas easy to find because it was.
Speaker 4 (37:41):
Oh, they're nightgowns, Never mind.
Speaker 5 (37:44):
Peter Pan was semi-easy because it was
costumes that you could buy at aHalloween store.
But these ones, I mean, theyhave to look medieval, but also
like a pop concert outfit, likewhat a pop star wears on stage.
And so we, yeah, we.
(38:04):
We were like, if we're going tospend money on something for
the show, since the set is sominimal and we have most of the
materials for the set already,let's just go all out on the
costumes.
Yeah, let's we devote most ofour budget to that, which has
never been the case in the show.
The costumes have always beenkind of an afterthought.
The set's usually been the mostexpensive thing that we work on
, or the rights for the show arethe most expensive thing.
(38:26):
So we found a good budget forthose.
We spent almost $0 on the setbecause we just reused material
that we had and then we spent apretty penny on the costumes but
, a pretty penny for the ayalatheater company is not a pretty
penny for most people.
Our pretty pennies are are muchsmaller than other people's
(38:49):
pretty pennies, but still, Imean, we're a program that's
completely self-funded.
So right right.
It's, uh, every dollar dollarthat I spend or that I pitch to
the boosters.
I'm very cognizant that we haveto recoup that in ticket sales.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (39:04):
So we try really hard to appoint money to things that
we know will have a good return, and for this show the costumes
are the most important return.
Speaker 2 (39:15):
And speaking about costumes and budgeting for that,
as you were saying, the costumeis normally the last thought.
Question about the set.
So I have never seen the sixthset.
You know, I don't know if theyhave a set or if it's just like
a background.
If you could give us more?
You know details on how the setkind of looks.
Speaker 5 (39:33):
You want to talk about Broadway first.
Speaker 4 (39:35):
Yeah, I mean, broadway is pretty simple.
Yeah, yeah, I mean, broadway ispretty simple.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
Yeah, if I'm being honest, when I was like
researching because I alsodesigned the set for for our um
musical I was like but there'snot a lot off to go of because
the broadway set is very muchjust a lot of like risers or
it's me, it's moment, oh my gosh, sorry.
It's mostly based off of likethe tech and the lighting, yeah,
(39:58):
of what the set, that's.
What makes the set on broadwayis the lighting and how it's
designed.
But especially since our stageis very minimal and we have to
make the best that we can withthe set, I think designing it
was like really fun.
I might want to talk about whatit was yes, absolutely okay so
the idea that we were going forwas it would be basically like a
(40:18):
chapel or a castle that thequeens just decided to like
throw their concert at,basically, and I think it looks
really good because, uh, it'slike imagine those medieval um
cathedrals in the stained glass,right.
So can I talk about the light?
Yeah, I just don't want to leakanything.
Go Go crazy.
Within, like, there's like sixwindows because there's six of
(40:40):
them.
Speaker 4 (40:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:42):
They have these lights in them that will change
colors according to, like, thesongs or the queens that are on
stage.
There's going to be like thisit's going to come to like a
point where it's just like themain cathedral part, yeah.
So there's a lot of good ideashere and I'm very excited for
how the set will turn out Sweet.
Speaker 5 (41:00):
I was shushing Josh, by the way, not you.
I was going shh, don't give anymore away.
Speaker 2 (41:06):
But yeah, if you guys listen to this, there's
billions of reasons to watch it.
There's zero reasons not to go.
Come and see 16th edition atAyala High School.
And if you don't mind givingthe dates again on when you guys
open and when you guys close,yes, it is May 15th, 16th and
17th.
Speaker 5 (41:23):
That is a Thursday, a Friday and a Saturday.
We have 7 o'clock shows on allof those dates and then a 2 pm
matinee on the Saturday show.
It's a pretty quick run time.
I mean it's less than 75minutes start to finish.
So if you don't have all nightI know sometimes we look at
musicals like an all-nightcommitment if you've just got an
(41:45):
hour and a half, we would loveto have you there.
These, they have worked.
They have worked so hard.
We're probably gonna have toedit this part out he coughed
milk on me.
Speaker 4 (42:01):
Yeah, it was a sight, he's kind of.
Speaker 5 (42:06):
He's kind of a monstrous child, this one.
Um, yeah it's, it's been such aum, it's been a labor of love.
Like not everything has goneright.
Um, aiden mentioned I think itwas in that mentioned that our
show dates got moved.
Like we had originallyrequested licensing for last
week and that got denied.
You know, there's always.
If I've learned anything in mytime as a theater teacher, it's
(42:29):
that it's not going to go theway that you plan it to no
matter how prepared you are,something is going to go wrong,
and so it's.
it's been really oddly enough,it's been really fun kind of
addressing the challenges,working collaboratively with the
students to figure out whatworks for them and then watching
it come together, even when itdoesn't go well or when it
(42:53):
doesn't go perfect.
I feel the most comfortableabout the show that I've ever
felt.
I feel the most comfortableabout the show that I've ever
felt Like it's we.
I feel very prepared.
I feel like if someone saidtoday do the musical right now a
month before it's we'resupposed to put it on.
I'd be like a hundred percentlet's do it.
So it's, they're killing it.
They're doing such a good job.
I'm so proud.
(43:14):
I fun fact, I wasn't actuallysupposed to be the theater
teacher this year.
They were supposed to hire anew theater teacher just because
you know.
I mean, I've got young kids inthe background of the podcast.
This is a young woman's game.
I think it's hard balancingeverything and being the theater
teacher.
So when they told me I wasgoing to be the theater teacher,
(43:35):
I was like, well, got to go outwith a bang, like got to go out
with something that's going tobe the theater teacher.
I was like, well, gotta go outwith a bang, like gotta go out
with something that's gonnaleave a mark.
And so to do this for you know,every year now it's going to be
potentially my last show.
I'll never know, I'll never knowif they're going to hire a new
theater teacher until they'vehired the person.
So yeah if it were this, ifthis is the last thing I do,
like what a, what a splendid wayto go out like this, and I
(44:00):
think for the seniors thatresonates as well, like the
seniors that left last year onMamma Mia like what a great way
to go.
I think we got to recreate thatthis year, and it's funny
because I feel like I'm startingto get better at doing the
musicals than I am the plays.
So I think that might be anindication that the musicals
(44:22):
maybe need a more prominentfixture at IA.
So I'm being converted, slowlyconverted from a play girly to a
musical girly.
Speaker 2 (44:31):
So this year might be your last last year.
Speaker 5 (44:33):
You know, but I said it last year and it didn't
happen.
So, we all say it's my lastyear, and then we kind of giggle
, we're like it's Miss, s's'thappen, we'll see how it plays
out.
We all say it's my last yearand then we kind of giggle,
we're like it's Ms S's last year.
We'll see?
Probably not, but we'll see.
Speaker 2 (44:44):
Well, that's one way to leave them in the mark, I
appreciate you all coming outhere and if you guys are
listening, don't forget to comesee 16 Edition at Ayala High
School.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
I am your host, georgia Haddad, and you guys are
listening to Steps to the StageDrama Department.
Thanks for listening to Stepsto the Stage Drama Department, a
7th Street community theatrepodcast.
Follow us on your favouritepodcast platform and leave us a
review and a 5-star rating.
You can also follow us onInstagram or Facebook and
subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Special thanks to ChinoCommunity Theatre and Chino
Community Children's Theatre fortheir generous support.
Steps to the Stage was createdby Joey Rice and Kirk Lane.
(45:25):
Logo created by Marley Lane.
Original music by Joey Rice andDevon.
Your host and producer, giorgioHaddad.
Engineering producer Joey Rice.
Engineering executive producer,kirk Lane.
Welcome to Steps to the Stage Drama Department, a
7th Street Theater podcastfeaturing local area Inland
Empire Schools Drama Departmentand now your host, Giorgio
Haddad.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Welcome to Steps, to the Stage Drama Department.
I am your host, giorgio Haddad,and I am here in Ayala High
School, and so we're going tostart off with the crew here.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Hello, my name is Aiden Kitavis.
Speaker 5 (00:28):
Hi I'm Carly Welsh and I'm Madeline Sherritt, also
known as Miss S.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Awesome, and welcome to the podcast guys.
Speaker 5 (00:35):
Thanks for having us.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
So let's start with you, aiden.
What is your position or yourjob in the theater department
here?
Oh, or your job in the theaterdepartment here?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Oh, I'm the technical director, so I manage a lot of
the crew and the behind thescenes of the show, like the set
or like a lot of the tech stuffas well.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Awesome.
And what about you, Carly?
Speaker 4 (00:56):
So I'm the assistant director or co-assistant
director.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Sweet.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
And we basically just kind of corral people, tell
people when it's time to bequiet, what we're moving on to
next, and then in the show weget to kind of lead with the
scenes.
And that's probably my favoritepart is acting.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Awesome and Mrs S.
Speaker 5 (01:15):
So I am just overseeing all of it.
I got the pleasure ofinterviewing these two directors
, so I get to select thestudents that are in the
production.
I oversee the marketing for theshow, ticket sales, sound
lighting design.
I get to work with the cast andthe crew.
(01:40):
I have learned more about setbuild than probably any other
aspect of tech over the last fewyears out of forced necessity,
not necessarily desire, but myjob is basically just to be here
to facilitate all the aspectsof the show that the kids put
(02:02):
together, the students puttogether, aspects of the show
that the kids put together, thestudents put together.
So while I oversee it, I don'tactually have a full hand in
everything, just a little pinkyand then the kids are really
responsible for makingeverything happen that is so
cool to hear.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
So you would say the students are the ones running
the show here and you're justsupervising.
Speaker 5 (02:20):
Definitely the drivers of the program.
I mean there are students thatknow how to do things that I
don't even know how to do so,like our light board and our
sound board.
The students are so much bettertrained on those things than I
am.
My attention gets split betweena lot of different things so I
have to rely on the kids a lotto be able to make everything
(02:41):
happen.
You can hear my kids in thebackground.
I mean they're here with usevery day from 3.30 to 5.
Happen.
You can hear my kids in thebackground.
I mean they're here with usevery day from 3.30 to 5.30.
So my attention's everywhere.
So I put a lot of trust in thekids and honestly, they've
deserved a lot of the trust.
They deserve it all.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Awesome.
That is so great that you buildso much trust in your students
as well as in yourself, and thatyou learn something from what
you just told me.
Right now and when did youstart deciding to become?
You know what?
I'm going to become a theaterdirector and I'm going to start
getting into all this new youknow, stage and performing arts
stuff.
Speaker 5 (03:16):
I would love to say it was a decision, but it kind
of fell into my lap.
I interviewed to be an Englishteacher here on campus and in
the middle of my interview theyasked me if I had any background
or experience in theater ordrama.
And I was in theater in highschool.
I did one year of stagecraftwhere I primarily worked with a
(03:36):
light board.
But those have come a long wayin 10 years, so I don't know how
to do anything that I knew howto do in high school other than
act.
So the directing has comefairly naturally.
But even that I'm kind of justmaking it up as I go.
I'm going off of one theaterteacher that I had in high
school.
Sort of I feel like I'mcosplaying as a theater teacher
(03:58):
most of the time, but it wasn'treally a decision that I made.
I'm very lucky that it came tome when it did.
I think I've had a lot ofgrowth in theater in the last
few years and so I'm still kindof figuring it out.
You're still kind of figuringit out.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
I mean that is really , really good and I'm assuming
you have some more memorableshows and you had a lot of fun
memories with all the studentsyou had.
Speaker 5 (04:25):
Yeah, yeah, it's been one of those surprises in your
career.
You know you don't get so manyof them where something just
falls into your lap and you'renot prepared for it, but it
prepares you and this hasdefinitely been the case case
and all of the difficulty ismade a lot easier by the fact
that the kids are so great andthey are so eager to learn and
(04:49):
to contribute and, yeah, that'sbeen an absolute joy for me.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
That sounds amazing.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
It's like that's your calling that's your destiny.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
right there they just said, hey, you got theater
experience.
You're like, oh, I got a year.
And they're like you know what,You're hired.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
Yeah, definitely.
I don't know if they knew whatthey were doing.
I don't think they knew whatthey were doing when they hired
me, but it's worked out, I thinkfor the most part.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Well, you've been doing a great job from what I've
heard, and I bet Carly andAiden are very honored to have
you as their teacher.
Speaker 5 (05:20):
That's kind to hear, beth.
I know they're pressured, theyfeel pressured to say so, but no
, they in particular, these twoin particular, are such
excellent additions to theprogram.
Carly has like a wealth ofknowledge when it comes to the
acting side and has become veryadept with the technical side as
(05:40):
well, and Aidan is brand new totheater.
I mean he was in introductionto theater at the beginning of
the school year and is now inour upper level performance and
production class.
He came in like full steamahead, just like full speed
running, so it's been really funto watch both of them grow in
their own individual interestsand then to watch them transform
(06:01):
into leaders in the program.
Like that's such a joy for me tobe able to see them, so I feel
very lucky to have them in theprogram.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
That is so sweet and I'm glad that you're enjoying it
as you go, and I bet you domiss your students when they do
graduate and move on.
Speaker 5 (06:15):
Yes, it's hard.
It's a hard thing.
It's a weird thing too, becauseevery year there's like a batch
of students that you adore andthen they graduate and then
there's a new batch of studentsand all of them get to watch my
kids grow up like cooper'splaying with carly right now in
the background, like they.
They become part of my family.
It's so so it gets bittersweet,yeah, and this is a particularly
(06:39):
odd situation for me, becausethis is the this school year I'm
graduating the seniors thatcame in when I took over the
program, so they were freshmenwhen I got the job and now they
are graduating.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Oh my goodness, I mean.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
I was pregnant with with Cooper when I took over the
newly pregnant with Cooper whenI took over the program.
So like it's just a weird, Imean I feel like they're they're
such a huge part of my kid'slife, they're a huge fixture in
my, my family's life, like youknow, my you know they're here
with my kids every day.
Like it's.
It feels like family and soit's.
I'm very I'm going to have ahard time.
(07:18):
I think it's going to be reallytough to send this group off,
but I'm doing it with fullconfidence, knowing that they
are ready for the world.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
I just hope the world's ready for them that is
amazing and I bet for yourstudents as well, that is very
relieving to hear coming fromtheir teacher as well.
Yeah, I appreciate you bringingus all into your story on when
you started and how your kidsare a part of something so great
and so big, as well as you knowyour theater family.
A question for Aiden when youjoined, did you know what you
(07:50):
were going to do, or were youmore of just like I'm going to
see how it goes and we're goingto see where I land?
Speaker 3 (07:54):
It's really funny because I kind of flipped a coin
on what I was going to do atthe beginning of the year when
we were choosing classes and itlanded on theater.
So I didn't really know what Iwas getting myself into because
I didn't know anybody else intheater.
Like, a lot of the people thatI met this year are like
entirely new to me in my life.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Ah, I see.
So how does it feel being, youknow, in the technical aspect of
this theater program?
Speaker 3 (08:22):
It's been an interesting ride.
I mean, I started out intheater this year with their
fall play and I was literallyjust a part of crew.
But before I even joined crew Iwas like I feel like I'm going
to have a really fun time here.
It's a lot of new things for me, especially since theater is so
new.
Directing people was quite achallenge.
(08:45):
But I mean, I mean I'm havingfun so far, so I think I I kind
of like it.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Awesome.
What do you think you havelearned from the theater program
?
What is one thing you're like?
You know what?
I could definitely implementthis thing in my life in the
future, after I get out of here.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Oh, I did not know how to use a drill or any
construction tools before I gotinto this program and then I
left this program like knowinghow to knowing how to use a
drill for once, it's a big deal.
Speaker 5 (09:14):
Not a lot of people ever learn how to use a drill,
so that's huge awesome.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
So where are you scared?
At first you're like this isawesome, like I like.
I like drilling stuff honestly.
Speaker 5 (09:23):
Yeah, I had like when we were building the set for
the fall play, I was kind ofhaving a lot of fun because
especially they just gave me thetools and I was like, okay,
sure, I'll do it and I thinkthat was one of the things about
Aiden that was so impressive isthat a lot of people, when you
throw them into a situationwhere there's this whole new set
of skills, they're veryhesitant to just jump right in.
(09:44):
But Aiden was like sure, let'sdo it.
And not only was he sure let'sdo it, he was sure let's do it,
and let's do this too, and let'sdo this too, and let's do this
too.
Like he had all these ideas.
So it wasn't just that he wasready and willing, he was like
excited about it.
(10:05):
So that's rare.
It's that's a hard thing tofind among teenagers high school
students is the the.
Even though I don't know whatI'm doing, I'm just going to
jump in and I'm going to makethe best of it.
That's really rare.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
The first time I met Aiden, like actually had a
conversation with him Well, nota conversation, but I was in the
middle of a breakdown.
We were in the middle of techweek for the fall play.
Someone had put, taped withscotch tape, a bottle cap onto a
wine bottle.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
There was liquid inside.
Inside it was spilling.
I was freaking out.
We had like a couple of daystill opening, which that's a
whole nother story but um, I wasfreaking out.
I went into the wings helpsomebody, help.
Like I don't know what to doand it's like calm down, I got
you, don't worry, I'll fix it.
Just go back on stage.
You're okay, you got it and Iwas like who is?
(10:56):
this guy, he's so sweet like youcalmed me down instantly.
From then I was like, okay,okay, we're gonna be okay yeah
he's the emotional supportaround here, so I've heard yeah,
he's a.
Speaker 5 (11:07):
he's a rock definitely, and so it was very
net when he expressed interestin being a director for the show
.
It was very, it was like a veryeasy decision and he's new in
the program so we kind of needsome like every every now and
then you get a little stagnant,a little stale yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
Kind of get set in your ways and everyone kind of
falls into very specific roles.
So it's always really fun towatch someone new come in and
shake things up, and then youwatch how different ideas create
such like a kind of a beautifulvariety.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah , sweet, and I'm glad.
Congratulations also for beinga.
You know doing the technicalstuff too, because a lot of
people you know they don't belike, oh, I'm going to work for
it, but it's like he was borninto the role of it?
Speaker 5 (11:52):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
So that's great.
And, carly, when did you join?
Did you join?
When did you join?
What year did you join thistheater program?
Speaker 4 (11:58):
I joined my sophomore year.
I've done theater with 7thStreet for a while, took a gap
during COVID, but when I finallycame back to theater my
sophomore year I joined intro totheater and went back and did
newsies at 7th Street.
So like that year, it was justit was fun to be in that class
and even though it was like thebasics just I don't know, having
(12:22):
you as a teacher, like pushingmyself even more and then also
being noticed in that introclass, it felt like it gave me
confidence in myself that Ireally needed at the time.
Right needed at the time.
Right, and though I didn't jointhe shows at the time, I
watched them and I realized,like, how talented these kids
(12:42):
are at Ayala Theater and made mereally want to get involved.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
That's sweet and I guess you know straight up.
It just went up from there.
Yes, Carly.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
I went and saw Carly in Newsies.
Oh yes, I remember thinkingbecause she said she felt
noticed, which is funny, becauseI remember thinking when I went
and saw Newsies like I shouldhave moved her up to P&P.
What was I thinking?
Like she is such a good actressand it was so fun to see her in
that role.
Because you know, it's hardwhen you're in intro to theater
(13:11):
class.
You're with a lot of kids therethat are taking the class just
for the visual performing artscredit.
Very much so, and so it was it.
Sometimes I feel like you kindof lose some of the better
students because they get pairedup with students that they
don't really want to be there.
I'm sure that happened toeveryone, that's ever been an
intro yes, but when I saw her innewsies I was like like oh my
(13:33):
gosh, and I knew that she wasauditioning for PNP and I was
like she's like shooing, like soin, and I her her first year in
PNP last year it was it washigh chaos, because I mean it
always is, but she was alwayslike the two things that the.
The thing that these two havein common is that they're both
(13:56):
calm in the storm.
They are just focused ongetting things done.
Yeah, my kids are like that theyare.
They're calm in the storm,they're focused on getting
things done.
They're not worried about what'snot going well, they're just
focused on what they can do tomake it go better.
And when you're the sole adultin the room, it is so comforting
(14:18):
to know that you've got kidsthat are just squared away.
They're just self-sufficient.
Yeah, it's a fine line.
It's like a razor's edgebetween I want to give them
responsibility and I'm alsostill the adult in the room,
like I don't want them to haveto deal with stress that's not
meant for them.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Right right.
Speaker 5 (14:35):
And we walk that razor's edge Like we really do,
like teeter sometimes on.
They're very stressed, butthese two are always.
The other thing that I loveabout them is they're always so
vocal when it's like this is toomuch, like we've got to pull
back a little bit.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
They're very honest.
Speaker 5 (14:49):
Yeah, and in such a respectful and mature way.
It's so professional.
The way they communicate likethis is what the students need.
So I think it's just been sucha good.
The show has been so goodbecause I have such good leaders
in these positions and and theother directors of the show,
brookie esparo and vanessa glowand, uh and um, genevieve, I'm
(15:12):
worried.
I'm gonna say genevieve's lastname wrong, but Genevieve
Mladenov, I think is how you sayit.
I think that's correct KennedyTowns, like they're all so good
at their individual tasks and soand they just they get along,
they're nice to the people theywork with.
That's also hard to find in astudent director, you know
(15:33):
someone where the power doesn'tgo to their head Like that's a
huge thing.
So they've been, really thisshow has been, so this has just
been so excellent working withthem.
They're so great, they're somuch fun.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Right right.
Speaker 5 (15:43):
They've got such good ideas.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
They're the calm in the storm.
Yeah, absolutely Calm in thestorm for sure, and speaking of
assistant directing Carly,you're assisting directing soon.
If you guys would let us in onwhat show and what's the details
.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
Yeah, take it away we are doing Sixth of Music.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
Whoa, oh, my gosh, who knew yes?
Speaker 5 (16:04):
Yes, very excited.
Aiden, tell us about the show.
Okay, like what the show is.
Yeah, tell us what the show'sabout.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
So it's about the six ex-wives of Henry VIII.
They've gotten together to forma band and they're going to
have a little competition to seewho will be the leader of the
band.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Yeah, who has the most trauma wins basically.
Speaker 5 (16:24):
Yeah, it's a fun show .
I think it's one of the coolestmusicals out there right now.
It's a rock concert and a popconcert and it's also this like
really profound glimpse behindthe curtain of, you know, these
women in history whoseidentities have really been
(16:45):
reduced to who they were marriedto, and so the story the show
is about taking back thenarrative being more than who
you're in a relationship with,more than the people you're
associated with, andestablishing your own identity.
Yeah, so I don't know.
For me, this has been, that'sbeen really fun to put together,
a show that is super empoweringto female voices and the women,
(17:08):
yeah.
The female narrative and to havea cast that's mostly female.
While we're doing that, we'vegot excellent guys in the cast,
like so stellar email.
While we're doing that, we'vegot excellent guys in the cast,
like so stellar.
It is a very special treat forme to be able to work with women
, who I think this story is forand a message that I think
really resonates with a lot ofthem.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
A hundred percent and I agree.
And, if I'm not mistaken, sixjust got on MTI just to get.
Yes.
Speaker 5 (17:36):
Concord.
We got it on Concord.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (17:38):
Theatricals and it was.
It's brand new.
It's really hard to get, and sowe feel very, very fortunate
that they licensed the show tous.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Congratulations.
Speaker 5 (17:48):
Thank you, it's a huge deal, like we were.
We were fingers crossed forthis one, like we really, really
wanted to do this show.
We have the talent for it.
We were able to kind of worksome fun little surprises into
the show.
Yeah, yeah, a little.
It's obviously because it's theteen version.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
It's different from the broad version Right, right,
right.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
But they've these two in particular.
I mean, they've added so manylittle Easter eggs, little
surprises for the audience andthe set's amazing.
Everything about it is justit's killer.
It's coming together so well.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Awesome, and I mean that show.
I mean I've heard a lot of buzzcircling around the show
because right when it gotreleased, a lot of my friends
were like, oh my gosh, six justgot released.
I hope my school does that.
And I was like, oh well, youknow what it's just released.
I highly doubt any school isgoing to do it.
When I found out that you guyswere going to do it, I was
(18:44):
actually shocked.
I was like Ayala's doing six.
Speaker 5 (18:47):
Really.
We had the same reaction.
We're like we're doing six.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Yeah, I bet, that feels so good because they're
like what shows are you doing?
Oh, we're doing six, the new,one that just got released yeah,
it's, it is.
Speaker 5 (18:58):
Uh, I think that's also there's a challenge in that
in a lot of the other showsthat we've done in the past,
we've been able to watch otherproductions of it.
You can access other people'sinterpretations of things like
set and light design, but forthis one we're kind of in the
dark.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
Yeah, especially like the teen version.
We got to change it up.
Speaker 5 (19:20):
Yeah, a lot.
There's a lot of different.
Yeah, I mean the lyrics.
Like there's a lot of themes inthe show that are a little more
adult, the Broadway versions,the teen version the kids are
kind of working with.
Like well, how do we translatethe?
It's funny.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (19:36):
Yeah, right, so that's been fun.
They've been doing a good jobtoo.
This the script.
You know the script changes inthe teen version, like how do we
make this land with an audiencethe same way that we feel it
lands in the Broadway version,and they've done an excellent
job with that.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Awesome.
And Aiden and Carly, what wasyour guys' first reaction once
he announced that you guys aregoing to do 16 edition?
Speaker 4 (19:58):
I was shocked, I mean , like I didn't believe it, like
I think we had guessed, becauseMiss S was like oh, I'm going
to reveal the musical soon.
So we were guessing, like youknow, like oh sorry, I'm telling
my kids, keep going.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
They're the special guests on this show as well.
Speaker 4 (20:16):
They are the extra special guests.
Keep going, just you know,costume closet.
Well, it's also our changingroom.
That kind of gossip, oh, Iwonder what it's going to be.
We thought like six had beenthrown out as maybe a guess, but
everyone shut it down Like no,there's no way.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
No way we'd do that.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
And then when it got announced, we were just like I
don't think we had time toprocess it, like we never got
over processing it.
It's still insane that we'redoing it.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
I bet the smile on Mrs S's face was like oh,
they're going to love this forsure.
Speaker 5 (20:54):
You know, what's funny is I thought I was like,
oh, everyone will lose theirminds over this, because in my
mind I'm thinking you know anensemble and you know, and
everyone else is like there'sonly six leads in that show.
Like, how are we going to puton a show with just six people
in it?
Like, are we going to triplecast it?
Like how are you going to getas many people in as possible?
And so sometimes it's reallyhard to translate the vision
that I have for a show to thekids so that they're like this
(21:17):
is something for me, and I thinkwhen I try to do that on my own
, it falls flat.
When I rely on the kids fortheir input, like how would you
do it?
Like, what do you need in orderto be like enthusiastic about
this?
They always come up with thesereally great ideas and a lot of
our most fun little Easter eggscame from the kids, like the
students' ideas, thebrainstormers in this whole
project right here, most funlittle Easter eggs came from the
(21:38):
kids, like the students' ideas.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
So the brainstormers in this whole project, right
here.
Speaker 5 (21:42):
It's impressive to me because you get in your head
that, like I'm the adult in theroom.
I'm the one that should bemaking the decisions.
And then, when you release thereins a little bit, you're like,
oh, nevermind, I don't need tobe here, I'm literally just
chaperoning their genius inprogress.
So it's really fun to watchthem come up with these ideas
(22:02):
and we sit at my desk and we'relike, okay, I love that, that's
beautiful, that's perfect.
It's honestly one of thereasons that AIM got moved up to
P&P.
It's because after I announcedthe musical, he was at my desk
every day in intro, like what ifwe did this?
Have this idea.
What if we tried this?
Speaker 2 (22:24):
You, know the part where it's like this, and every
single one I was like oh, oh,exactly what I had.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
It's like perfect, excellent.
These ideas are so good.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Yeah, I was like it's like you crawled inside of my
brain like this is excellent, soso fun, so I have a question
that I rarely ask on this showand maybe, if you're allowed to
answer it, you can.
Can, but other than six, whatwere the options that you had
for the musical?
Ooh, I want to know this yeah so, other than six, what musicals
were you like?
Well, maybe we should do thisone, and I know because most
(22:49):
theater teachers are like Idon't like revealing this
because it might be the aftersmusical, but let us in on the
tea.
But let us in on the tea.
Speaker 5 (22:56):
Okay.
So I actually made the decisionto do six Like that was the
original idea was when we werecasting Mamma Mia.
We did Mamma Mia last year,yeah, and I had students
audition for Mamma Mia and I waslike, oh my gosh, I think I
might have enough vocalists nextyear to do six.
So it was very early on in mybrain.
(23:17):
I almost didn't even think aboutany other musicals before that
yeah but we, I did, I was like,well, I'll keep it on the back
burner, I need to keep myoptions open, right.
So I did consider west sidestory.
But there are some technicalchallenges with that show, right
, and I'm I am very cognizantand conscientious of the fact
that if there's a show that'skind of based around subjects
(23:40):
like the characters have to fitinto certain categories like the
racial aspect of it.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5 (23:46):
I also don't want to create like I think you can go
the exact opposite way.
I don't want to create like aracial dynamic in the show, so
that one kind of quickly wentout the door.
I love the story, I love theidea, but I just I was like I
think that's a tough one for usto put together.
I have considered, but it willnever happen.
I just don't think we'll everhave the wherewithal to put it
(24:09):
on.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Remember guys, maybe she maybe throwed you guys off.
So, keep that in mind.
Speaker 5 (24:13):
Into the Woods was one that I had considered, and
I'm sure the kids would losetheir minds, but it's such a
hard show to do and then thelast one that I had thought
about, but this was supposed tobe our musical.
The first year that I taughtbefore we switched it to a
spring play was Footloose.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
So I had thought about Footloose.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
I did Footloose in high school so it's one that I'm
familiar with, but I was, likeooh, very pregnant at the time.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (24:41):
Didn't think that we were going to.
So I was like, oh well, I'llbring back Footloose and it just
I don't know, it didn't feelright.
I was like Six, always kind ofstayed at the forefront.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
Because I thought the licensing was going'll be able
to do it.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
So, as future musicals come along, do you
think so?
You said, footloose will neverhappen.
Speaker 5 (25:03):
I don't think Into the Woods will ever happen.
Into the Woods West.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Side Story.
But what about Footloose?
Would you ever consider, likeyou know what I'm going to?
Speaker 5 (25:10):
definitely it's such a fun show and I think one of
the things that I liked aboutSix that I also like about
Footloose is that the music iskind of.
My children are just runningamok in the background.
The music in Footloose is kindof genre bending.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Right right.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
It's kind of rock and roll, a little more modern.
It's popular.
So I like that aspect of it.
I like being able to putstudents in roles that they
resonate with, and so I like thehigh school student cast of
that.
And then I also really like themessage behind Footloose, like
(25:51):
that, things aren't always asthey appear, yeah, yeah.
But even when you're young, youhave a voice.
You can make a difference, youcan make a change, you can get
involved in your community andhave a positive impact.
So I love that.
So I'm totally open to doingFootloose.
I have a musical in mind forthis upcoming school year.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
But it cannot be revealed it has been selected.
Speaker 5 (26:15):
Already it has been picked, but the kids can't know
about it yet Not even a hint,not even like the worst hint
possible.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
You should get a little early access, maybe a
hint.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
Tiny's, tiny's hint.
Yes.
Speaker 5 (26:25):
If I gave any hint, I think you would know what it is
.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Is it really that obvious?
Speaker 5 (26:30):
Give a color, let's give a Someone asked me this in
PNP today and I came up with acolor.
Loosely, I mean it's not, it'sdefinitely not One of the main
colors.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
One of the main colors.
Speaker 5 (26:42):
If you don't feel like you want to reveal it, that
is totally fine.
The color that I thought ofwhen I think of this musical
although I don't think it'sunique to the musical, it's just
a color I think of is red.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
I think I know what it is, do you?
Is it kind of new?
Speaker 5 (26:59):
Would you say it's kind of new?
I'm not going to guess itbecause no, it's not new.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Did it get released any time last year?
Speaker 5 (27:04):
No.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Really.
So it's pretty old.
Speaker 5 (27:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Pretty old.
Sorry, I thought it wasHadestown for a minute.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Oh my God, I thought it was Hadestown.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
That was going to be my next question.
I was like would you ever do?
Speaker 5 (27:17):
Hadestown here, so I don't know much about Hadestown
this was.
I was just having thisconversation.
I know that it is correct me ifI'm wrong about Greek myth.
Yes, but I don't know.
The kids always make fun of mebecause they always like blast
the musical theater songs.
I'm more of like a play girl,not a musical theater girl.
(27:37):
I'm getting more and more intoit Again.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
this film so you're familiar with.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Our Town?
Yeah, there we go, all right.
Speaker 5 (27:42):
Yes.
Our Town, we're doing theCrucible it's my favorite.
I love the Crucible.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
What relationship with the Crucible?
Speaker 5 (27:49):
Never break that bond .
I love the Crucible.
We're doing it in intro rightnow.
Oh, you guys are alreadystarting that.
Yes, fabulous, it's so muchwhen people say they don't like
the Crucible, I'm like why.
You don't understand thesignificance, it's just.
I love the storytelling ofplays, but I'm starting again
(28:10):
inching into musical theater.
Right, okay, when I was intheater in high school I did one
musical.
That's it.
Because I have no dancingability and yet I wasn't
footloose.
It's a wild irony there.
But I'm trying to get more intothe musicals.
I loved Mamma Mia, so fun.
I think I'm following a patterna little bit.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Yeah, you're trying to like gradually go into it.
Yeah, the music that I'mfamiliar with the jukebox
musical, you know I love that,and speaking about Six, are the
tickets out or are theyavailable to be for?
Speaker 5 (28:44):
purchase.
They are on sale.
Yes, awesome, I think we'readding the QR code to our
website as we speak.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Yay, but the flyers are up, so the website you can
access it.
Speaker 5 (28:55):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Can you tell us the URL for the website?
Speaker 5 (28:57):
Yes, it's ayalatheaterorg and it's theater
spelt the British way, r-einstead of E-R.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Wow, that's a little fancy to it.
Speaker 5 (29:08):
Everything else is E-R.
It's just the website.
We don't want to change the URL, okay.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
We don't want to pay to change it.
No, just Ayala Theater is highclass.
Yeah, very, that's what it isDefinitely.
Speaker 5 (29:18):
We use all the best materials in our build.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
The most royal of them all.
Speaker 5 (29:22):
We use the newest lights, the newest microphone.
We do Everything about.
Our program is very posh andvery streamlined.
Not half of our set is made ofcardboard.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
That would be a wild.
Speaker 5 (29:33):
That would be an insane thing to say that would
be crazy to say that half of ourset is cardboard and foam.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
No, it looks too real , come on, too real.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
The bricks look like real bricks because they are.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
They are real bricks, so not foam.
Speaker 5 (29:46):
We had stone imported from the riverbanks, the Thames
, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
If you guys are listening.
This is another reason why youguys should see Six.
Look at that Imported goods.
Speaker 5 (29:56):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
From my understanding .
What I heard is that you guyshave transformed a whole
multipurpose room into what isnow the quote unquote theater.
Speaker 5 (30:06):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
And I have seen and it looks absolutely stunning.
So give us more like info andintel on the multipurpose room.
How did you guys kind ofovercome, like kind of like,
well, we have to get throughthis or that, but it's not a
theater, but it's a multipurpose?
Speaker 5 (30:24):
room.
Yeah, you know what's funnywhen I first walked.
So Robert Davis is the choirteacher here on campus and all
the kids are walking aroundoutside singing.
They're practicing their breathcontrol right outside this room
.
That's so funny.
So when I first walked in,Robert Davis was like showing me
everything.
And I was like where's thetheater?
He's like this isn't thetheater.
I'm like this is an NPR.
(30:44):
He's like no, this is thetheater.
I was like, oh no, what are wegoing to?
But it actually translatesreally well because we can
transform the space to whateverwe want.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
So it starts in the lobby.
Tell us about our lobby designfor the show.
Yes, so you just want me toyeah, well, yeah tell me what
we're gonna see in the lobbygive us a little early sneak
peek here there will be like umportraits of everybody in cast
and crew, or at least like mainensemble and cast and the
directors, um there will be likehey, so it's really funny.
I kind of like haven't seen thelobby design in a hot minute,
(31:22):
so I kind of forgot what itlooks like.
Speaker 5 (31:24):
It's going to be like a party rock castle.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
Oh yeah, oh okay.
Speaker 5 (31:29):
So the show is the design kind of aesthetic that
we've gone with.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Oh, he's, oh, oh, oh, you want to say hi.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
I'd grab the headphones if I were you.
Oh, he's, oh, oh oh.
You want to say hi?
I'd grab the headphones if Iwere you.
He's kind of a monster.
That was Cooper Sherritt, ournewest special guest.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
All right, he just stole some glasses.
Guys, there are a lot ofsilhouettes and gold-plated
designs.
Very fancy, like you guys said.
Again, very, very fancy it'smedieval rock concerts.
Speaker 5 (31:55):
So it's neon lights and lots of color, lots of
changing, but also it's on astone background, like a stone
backdrop.
So, we'll have some portraitsthat'll kind of feel like a hall
of royals in the lobby when youfirst walk in and then the
stage is what would happen ifyou turned a castle into a rock
(32:20):
venue.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Right, that's so cool , super fun.
So, other than the stage, whathave you guys turned this area
into?
Speaker 4 (32:27):
We made stairs.
Oh yeah, we made stairs for thefirst time.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
Whoa.
Speaker 4 (32:30):
Talk about that.
Tell us about that, marlee Lane.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
Marlee.
Speaker 5 (32:35):
Marlee Lane.
She's our walk-on coach here.
So she is our theater coachhere at Ayala Sweet yes.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
So for the first time ever, ayala NPR slash theater
has stairs in the middle of thestage.
They're big, they're paintedblack, they're sturdy.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
I hope.
Speaker 4 (32:52):
No, they are.
They are.
Marley promised me no one woulddie.
Speaker 5 (32:57):
That's all we ask for .
That's our bottom line.
We just don't want anyone todie.
If no one dies at the end of ashow, we've done our job.
Speaker 4 (33:02):
Yeah, and we've gotten close, but we have never
killed anybody in here.
Round of applause.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
It's the stairs' fault.
No one is liable.
Speaker 5 (33:10):
Yeah, no one is liable Sweet.
And, oh, we built a set ofstairs that go off the front of
the stage.
But because we're in an NPR,it's such a wide space that when
the kids have parts where oh,we're going to spoil over, when
the kids have parts where theygo into the audience for like,
parts of their choreography orparts of the show, they have to
(33:31):
run off the side of the stageand then run around to the front
of the stage and then run upthe middle of the audience and
by the time they've done that,they already have to turn around
and go back on stage.
So having stairs that take themright down into the audience,
right off the front of the stage.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
So much more relieving.
Speaker 5 (33:45):
Yeah, and they get to spend more time in the audience
again trying to bring theconcert that's happening on
stage into the audience.
So it feels like a genuineconcert Sweet.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
So fun concert sweet, so fun, awesome.
And so when you brung up, abouthow six is normally a
six-person cast and there's Ihave there's males in here.
What is the official cast andensemble?
I've heard you guys are doingan ensemble yes give us, give us
more, give us more of the juicystuff we.
Speaker 5 (34:14):
So we're supposed to be performing at the rally in
May and we were talking aboutdoing a, an ensemble number for
the rally, but we were like no,I think we're going to keep it
just the six wives.
Cause there is a moment in theshow.
The show goes on with just thesix wives for the first couple
of numbers and then there's amoment where the curtain opens
(34:35):
and then the ensemble is onstage with them and I kind of
want the audience to besurprised by that.
They're going to know themoment they walk into the lobby
and see everyone's headshotsthat there's an ensemble and
they're going to be like howmany sixes are these?
Six times what?
But I think it's going to bereally fun.
We have a dance ensemble.
So we have a dance troupe thatdances alongside the queens.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
Anyway, as you were saying, Keep going, go play.
No bottle down.
Speaker 4 (35:10):
Yes, we have a dance ensemble and we also have a
vocal ensemble as well, awesomeDance ensemble accompanies some
of the songs not all of themsame with vocal ensemble and
vocal ensemble is in the back onrisers singing and also doing.
You know some cute littlelittle dances awesome awesome.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
And did you guys get the costumes?
Did you guys handmade them?
Did you guys?
Speaker 3 (35:34):
rent them, we bought them.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
We bought these costumes oh, how do they look?
Speaker 3 (35:38):
they're actually like , actually really nice.
Like we had a, the originalshow dates got moved so we had
like a whole week to ourselveswhere there was like nobody in
the NPR.
So that was basically our likemini tech week and we got to run
rehearsals with, like thecostumes and I was like, wait,
these costumes look so good wespent like the most of the whole
(36:01):
budget.
Speaker 4 (36:01):
We spent the most on just the costumes.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
These costumes Really ?
Speaker 4 (36:03):
They're amazing.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
Are you guys going to have a display after the show's
over?
Be like, look at these costumes.
Speaker 4 (36:08):
That's a good idea.
Speaker 5 (36:09):
I did consider, because we like to display at
the end of every show the posterfrom the show, the banner from
the show.
But I thought after this I waslike we should really start
focusing on costume design more.
Oh yeah, because it would bereally fun to put mannequins out
and do our end of the yearshowcase and showcase the
costumes that we did that's agood idea the props that we used
(36:33):
, some of the set flats thatwe've used.
Yeah, oh my God, pause realquick, if we can.
Speaker 3 (36:40):
And I think it's really fun because our costumes
aren't even like fully, fullydone yet they look great even if
we haven't even done any musclealterations.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
They're going to look greater from here.
Speaker 3 (36:50):
Because we still have a lot of ideas for the
costuming, so I feel likethey'll look really really good
once we get on stage.
Awesome.
And I do have a questionregarding I feel like they'll
look really really good once weget on stage.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
Awesome, you need to.
And I do have a questionregarding costumes.
Would you guys say that theseare the best costumes out of all
the musicals?
You guys have done.
From what.
I'm hearing if half the budgetis going to the costumes, they
better look really good, oh yeahthey do and usually I can say,
oh well, we kind of justthrifted them.
Speaker 5 (37:18):
And most of the shows that we do it's easy to find
the costumes for, because it'sstreet wear or it's street wear
from.
I think the farthest back we'vehad to go so far is like the
50s, so it's been really easy todo a show, or the 20s, I guess,
was the way that goes wrong.
Speaker 4 (37:36):
What about Peter Pan?
Speaker 5 (37:37):
Well, that's fantastical, it's just like
Wendy and the boys, peter Panwas easy to find because it was.
Speaker 4 (37:41):
Oh, they're nightgowns, Never mind.
Speaker 5 (37:44):
Peter Pan was semi-easy because it was
costumes that you could buy at aHalloween store.
But these ones, I mean, theyhave to look medieval, but also
like a pop concert outfit, likewhat a pop star wears on stage.
And so we, yeah, we.
(38:04):
We were like, if we're going tospend money on something for
the show, since the set is sominimal and we have most of the
materials for the set already,let's just go all out on the
costumes.
Yeah, let's we devote most ofour budget to that, which has
never been the case in the show.
The costumes have always beenkind of an afterthought.
The set's usually been the mostexpensive thing that we work on
, or the rights for the show arethe most expensive thing.
(38:26):
So we found a good budget forthose.
We spent almost $0 on the setbecause we just reused material
that we had and then we spent apretty penny on the costumes but
, a pretty penny for the ayalatheater company is not a pretty
penny for most people.
Our pretty pennies are are muchsmaller than other people's
(38:49):
pretty pennies, but still, Imean, we're a program that's
completely self-funded.
So right right.
It's, uh, every dollar dollarthat I spend or that I pitch to
the boosters.
I'm very cognizant that we haveto recoup that in ticket sales.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (39:04):
So we try really hard to appoint money to things that
we know will have a good return, and for this show the costumes
are the most important return.
Speaker 2 (39:15):
And speaking about costumes and budgeting for that,
as you were saying, the costumeis normally the last thought.
Question about the set.
So I have never seen the sixthset.
You know, I don't know if theyhave a set or if it's just like
a background.
If you could give us more?
You know details on how the setkind of looks.
Speaker 5 (39:33):
You want to talk about Broadway first.
Speaker 4 (39:35):
Yeah, I mean, broadway is pretty simple.
Yeah, yeah, I mean, broadway ispretty simple.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
Yeah, if I'm being honest, when I was like
researching because I alsodesigned the set for for our um
musical I was like but there'snot a lot off to go of because
the broadway set is very muchjust a lot of like risers or
it's me, it's moment, oh my gosh, sorry.
It's mostly based off of likethe tech and the lighting, yeah,
(39:58):
of what the set, that's.
What makes the set on broadwayis the lighting and how it's
designed.
But especially since our stageis very minimal and we have to
make the best that we can withthe set, I think designing it
was like really fun.
I might want to talk about whatit was yes, absolutely okay so
the idea that we were going forwas it would be basically like a
(40:18):
chapel or a castle that thequeens just decided to like
throw their concert at,basically, and I think it looks
really good because, uh, it'slike imagine those medieval um
cathedrals in the stained glass,right.
So can I talk about the light?
Yeah, I just don't want to leakanything.
Go Go crazy.
Within, like, there's like sixwindows because there's six of
(40:40):
them.
Speaker 4 (40:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:42):
They have these lights in them that will change
colors according to, like, thesongs or the queens that are on
stage.
There's going to be like thisit's going to come to like a
point where it's just like themain cathedral part, yeah.
So there's a lot of good ideashere and I'm very excited for
how the set will turn out Sweet.
Speaker 5 (41:00):
I was shushing Josh, by the way, not you.
I was going shh, don't give anymore away.
Speaker 2 (41:06):
But yeah, if you guys listen to this, there's
billions of reasons to watch it.
There's zero reasons not to go.
Come and see 16th edition atAyala High School.
And if you don't mind givingthe dates again on when you guys
open and when you guys close,yes, it is May 15th, 16th and
17th.
Speaker 5 (41:23):
That is a Thursday, a Friday and a Saturday.
We have 7 o'clock shows on allof those dates and then a 2 pm
matinee on the Saturday show.
It's a pretty quick run time.
I mean it's less than 75minutes start to finish.
So if you don't have all nightI know sometimes we look at
musicals like an all-nightcommitment if you've just got an
(41:45):
hour and a half, we would loveto have you there.
These, they have worked.
They have worked so hard.
We're probably gonna have toedit this part out he coughed
milk on me.
Speaker 4 (42:01):
Yeah, it was a sight, he's kind of.
Speaker 5 (42:06):
He's kind of a monstrous child, this one.
Um, yeah it's, it's been such aum, it's been a labor of love.
Like not everything has goneright.
Um, aiden mentioned I think itwas in that mentioned that our
show dates got moved.
Like we had originallyrequested licensing for last
week and that got denied.
You know, there's always.
If I've learned anything in mytime as a theater teacher, it's
(42:29):
that it's not going to go theway that you plan it to no
matter how prepared you are,something is going to go wrong,
and so it's.
it's been really oddly enough,it's been really fun kind of
addressing the challenges,working collaboratively with the
students to figure out whatworks for them and then watching
it come together, even when itdoesn't go well or when it
(42:53):
doesn't go perfect.
I feel the most comfortableabout the show that I've ever
felt.
I feel the most comfortableabout the show that I've ever
felt Like it's we.
I feel very prepared.
I feel like if someone saidtoday do the musical right now a
month before it's we'resupposed to put it on.
I'd be like a hundred percentlet's do it.
So it's, they're killing it.
They're doing such a good job.
I'm so proud.
(43:14):
I fun fact, I wasn't actuallysupposed to be the theater
teacher this year.
They were supposed to hire anew theater teacher just because
you know.
I mean, I've got young kids inthe background of the podcast.
This is a young woman's game.
I think it's hard balancingeverything and being the theater
teacher.
So when they told me I wasgoing to be the theater teacher,
(43:35):
I was like, well, got to go outwith a bang, like got to go out
with something that's going tobe the theater teacher.
I was like, well, gotta go outwith a bang, like gotta go out
with something that's gonnaleave a mark.
And so to do this for you know,every year now it's going to be
potentially my last show.
I'll never know, I'll never knowif they're going to hire a new
theater teacher until they'vehired the person.
So yeah if it were this, ifthis is the last thing I do,
like what a, what a splendid wayto go out like this, and I
(44:00):
think for the seniors thatresonates as well, like the
seniors that left last year onMamma Mia like what a great way
to go.
I think we got to recreate thatthis year, and it's funny
because I feel like I'm startingto get better at doing the
musicals than I am the plays.
So I think that might be anindication that the musicals
(44:22):
maybe need a more prominentfixture at IA.
So I'm being converted, slowlyconverted from a play girly to a
musical girly.
Speaker 2 (44:31):
So this year might be your last last year.
Speaker 5 (44:33):
You know, but I said it last year and it didn't
happen.
So, we all say it's my lastyear, and then we kind of giggle
, we're like it's Miss, s's'thappen, we'll see how it plays
out.
We all say it's my last yearand then we kind of giggle,
we're like it's Ms S's last year.
We'll see?
Probably not, but we'll see.
Speaker 2 (44:44):
Well, that's one way to leave them in the mark, I
appreciate you all coming outhere and if you guys are
listening, don't forget to comesee 16 Edition at Ayala High
School.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
I am your host, georgia Haddad, and you guys are
listening to Steps to the StageDrama Department.
Thanks for listening to Stepsto the Stage Drama Department, a
7th Street community theatrepodcast.
Follow us on your favouritepodcast platform and leave us a
review and a 5-star rating.
You can also follow us onInstagram or Facebook and
subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Special thanks to ChinoCommunity Theatre and Chino
Community Children's Theatre fortheir generous support.
Steps to the Stage was createdby Joey Rice and Kirk Lane.
(45:25):
Logo created by Marley Lane.
Original music by Joey Rice andDevon.
Your host and producer, giorgioHaddad.
Engineering producer Joey Rice.
Engineering executive producer,kirk Lane.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.