As finals approach, Carlmont High School students involved in this year’s musical production are expected to attend rehearsals after school in addition to studying for various subjects, starting at the beginning of December and running through the last day of finals.
During the 19-day period, cast members have a baseline of 23 hours of rehearsal, according to the rehearsal schedules made for the musical. The different roles, from minor to major, are then also called in for many more hours to work on vocals, dance, and blocking.
As rigorous as this may sound, numerous students still choose to dedicate a significant amount of time to the musical.
“I like acting. I really like dancing, and singing is just really fun,” said sophomore Talia Loeb, who is playing a lead role for this year’s musical, ‘Anything Goes.’ “A bunch of my family members are involved with theater, so it’s always been part of my life.”
Loeb and her cast members also find that they can interact with a group where everyone is passionate about performance.
“I’ll start quoting a musical to a theater friend, then I can start having full-on conversations only using inside jokes from that musical since we both know what we’re talking about,” Loeb said.
The shared interests draw members of this community together. Students in the Carlmont Technical Theatre Association (CTTA) also share a welcoming community.
“It’s always easier to break the ice by having something to do together,” said Jillian Yong, the current theatre manager of Carlmont’s Performing Arts Center (PAC). “By creating an environment where you’re naturally working on projects where everyone has a set role, you’re forced to engage with a prebuilt framework, and that helps take away the anxiety or uncertainty of trying to make friends.”
CTTA is one of many organizations that provide volunteer hours and advanced levels of work in technical theatre.
“There are more professional opportunities for students now with design elements and getting to build portfolios,” Yong said. “If you want to pursue technical theatre as a career, you’re set up really well.”
Compared to the technical theatre program she had while a student at Carlmont, she observes an increase in the time students spend at the PAC, with increased student involvement. Sophomore Molly Davis, the hair-and-makeup lead for “Anything Goes,” feels that this year has given her more of a workload compared to being in the run crew.
“Hair and makeup are something that I’ve been really interested in, and I like experimenting with it and learning more about it,” Davis said.
The workload has prompted Davis and fellow cast and crew members involved in the musical to adjust their schedules to accommodate rehearsals. Loeb participates in extracurricular activities, which she ended up rescheduling to make it possible to attend as many rehearsals she’s called for.
“I miss out on time to do homework, so I have to figure out other ways to get that done. So I usually stay up later at night,” Loeb said. “It can definitely be stressful at times, but it’s something that I enjoy, so it doesn’t feel that bad.”
Being involved in a big production is not necessarily easy, especially if a student holds a lead role in the cast or crew, which requires them to be present for most, if not all, days of rehearsals. Senior Tanya Nair, who has been a part of CTTA for three years, serves as the stage manager for this production.
“It’s a heavy time commitment role, so I’m here for rehearsals every single day,” Nair said. “For certain roles, the higher you go, the more demanding it gets.”
It’s not easy to commit to a large production like the musical, whether students take on a role in the cast or crew. To dedicate time, students start small and gradually increase their involvement in the following years.
“I say this to my friends all the time, CTTA and the drama community are such an amazing and welcoming community. For anyone who wants to join, I’d say join. There are so many different opportunities for you,” Davis said.
