Whether it’d be through two horn pronged hand signs and a fashion sense pulled straight out of 80s and 90s, our school musical Rock Of Ages has brought rock back to San Marino.
Set on Sunset Strip in 1987, the musical intertwines a love story with an overarching story of preserving rock. The main character of the musical, Drew Boley, played by Xander Wang, 12, tangles with feelings of self-doubt over his career as a rock star as well as conflicting love over a country girl named Sherrie, played by Rosalie Guiterrez, 11. However, to Drew’s dismay, his nonchalant attitude towards their love pushes Sherrie away and into the arms of an arrogant, egotistical, but successful rock star named Stacee Jaxx, played by Christian Oliveros, 11. Upon finding success in the rock industry after opening for Stacee Jaxx’s band Arsenal, Boley finds himself replacing Jaxx as the frontman for Arsenal and does all he can within his power to win back Sherrie’s love. All while this is occurring, a pair of german developers, played by Lillian Flowers Pasquith, 11, and Benjamin Miller, 12, try to raze down Sunset strip for the development of commercial buildings, much to the outcry of the citizens of the city, led by City Planner Regina, played by Monica Wang, 10. As the main cast attempts to battle failing dreams, the story eventually culminates in a discovery of self-worth and personal aspirations, as the cast tries to salvage their relationships with each other as well as LA’s history with rock.
Regarding the actual preparation of the musical, the cast began auditions on and started rehearsals for . Much of the work for the production was as usual, done behind the scenes. Whether it’d be designing the numerous personalized props on stage, designing the lighting for the entire show, and making sure everything moved slowly on the frontend and behind the scenes, Stage Crew was ever present throughout the show. “Crewing the musical is always so fun because we have a lot of backstage traditions and bonding things that we do. Specifically this year though, we got a lot more people than we normally do, which was really amazing. I’d definitely say that my favorite part of crewing was hearing everyone’s reactions to things that happened during show days,” Jullien Collet, 11, stage manager and lighting co-designer said. .
One notable scene included Benjamin Miller’s performance in the scene “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”, where his character Franz, an uptight german with a dream of owning a confectionary store, strips down into a wrestling onesie to perform a scintillatingly energetic scene that marks a major shift in the musical’s tone. “My favorite part was being able to see how much everyone began to improve as rehearsals progressed. As for me, my character actually aligned pretty close to my own personality, so I just needed to amplify my own mannerisms to make Franz really come to life. As for my “special” scene, I was terrified when I found out what exactly I would have to be performing. But after the first time I got through it with my costume, it became a lot easier as time went on, even kinda fun,” Miller said. “I’d also like to highlight some standout performances from Rosalie Guiterrez and Kattia Bradshaw. I knew both of them could sing and act, but I was blown away every night of the show.”
