The spring musical for the 2023-2024 school year is finally here, and Veterans is proud to announce the production of Legally Blonde. Rodrigo Mireles, the director, oversees the production.
Mireles’ job is to ensure that all of the student musicians who are a part of the orchestration are ready and prepared for opening night, that all of the actors are good to go, and that they know what they have worked on. Ensure that all of the technical aspects, such as the lights, the sound, the costumes, hair, and makeup, are accounted for. In terms of opening night, students will be putting up extra chairs in the middle of the auditorium and creating a house crew, which is a group of students responsible for making sure everybody is safely seated and tickets are accounted for.
“It’s really exciting to see all the different disciplines coming together in unison—not just the tech and the acting, but also the choir singing, the dance department choreography and the bands’ and orchestra’s orchestration, “Mireles said.
With the excitement also come challenges, which include making sure Mireles remains organized so that everything runs smoothly come opening night. Oversees over 150 costumes made and fitted for more than 50 student actors in time for production.
Students are currently building one of many sets, which is a wall for a beauty salon that’s going to hang on stage.
Students create program covers and playbills for the musicals while eagerly looking forward to what will be created in the upcoming weeks.
Junior Madalyn Holstein is one stage manager for Legally Blonde. As stage manager, she is in charge of ensuring everybody is doing their part and staying on task. Holstein takes feedback from the actors and reports it back to the directors while also making sure that all the technical equipment is in order. She keeps all the actors updated on when the rehearsals will be placed. She has been in the musical industry since the eighth grade, and through it all, she still faces challenges being a technical musician.
Holstein explained, “Techs have difficulty collaborating with choir and theater kids. They don’t focus on the same things, so it can be difficult to get things done faster.”
Ciara Gujarto, senior, is the other stage manager for Legally Blonde and is mentoring Holstein. She’s been performing musicals since she was in the sixth grade.
The excitement of being a stage manager is spending a lot of time doing something she loves.
Guajarto stated, “My favorite part as stage manager is being able to put on a show and have that creative directory over it, as well as having our input into the show and incorporating ourselves into it. ”
According to Guajarto, collaborating with the other fine arts departments can be difficult at times, and the technical aspect of the play can also cause issues. A lot of the time, all of the technical equipment doesn’t work the first time, so there’s a lot of trial and error when testing.
To become a stage manager, students need to fill out an application and submit a portfolio of everything technical and acting-wise that they have experience in or any theater experience overall to showcase a student’s skills. Good leadership skills and qualities are also very important in the application process.
Some advice Guajarto gives to incoming theater students is not to get too stressed about everything. “The outcome and reaching your goal when everything is finished are all worth it in the end,” Guajardo said.
There are many moving parts in producing a musical, but their efforts are coming together to bring this iconic production to the stage from May 9 to 11.
