For the past few months, choir students have been preparing for opening night of West Side Story and the productions that will follow. On March 8, 9, 10, 16 and 17, the Mambo cast will perform at either 7:30pm or 2:00pm starring seniors Ruby Cutler and Gavin Juni. The Cha-Cha cast is set to perform during March 9, 10, 15, 16, and 17, with junior Clea Lee and senior Henry Vanhouten as Maria and Tony. The rehearsals include expertise from professional choreographers, tech crews, and actors in order to execute the level of proficiency and dedication demonstrated by everyone involved.
Starting in early January, rehearsals began with a few full-cast calls before delving into the nitty-gritty scene blockings with only specific lead roles. “Rehearsals are around four times a week and three hours each for my role as ‘anybodys’,” said senior Valerie Yarve. “There’s a lot of fun people to hang out with during rehearsals. Theater is such a bonding experience where I can spend time with people who share my interest in musicality,” Yarve explained.
Senior Mina Lim takes on the role of Anita, the lover of the Jet leader Bernardo. Her role requires at least an hour daily, Monday through Saturday, spent running through her lines and scenes. Anita’s truest love was murdered by her sister’s boyfriend, as the audience expects a riveting and highly emotional performance. Her talent for acting is evident in her ability to cry on demand and deliver her lines appropriately, engaging the audience deeply within the plotline.
“When I’m actually on stage and in the number, it’s easier for me to lock into the headspace. I just take a deep breath and really think about the scene in its entirety as well as the emotions I felt when running it by myself,” said Lim.
“It’s a mix of both eliciting emotions of grief and loss from my own personal experience and placing myself in Anita’s shoes. It comes from my stomach and my heart in that way. The other part is just understanding the lyrics that convey her trauma.” All of this aids Lim in evoking emotion into the audience through her performance.
“Especially during the dance scenes and a lot of the heavier scenes, it’s really difficult, but the more we run it, the closer we get and I am able to feel more comfortable with many members of the cast. I like to think of theater as a safe space for everyone,” Lim said.
Lim is one of many characters experiencing heartbreak and grief in this captivating production. Cutler, who is playing Maria, gives credit to her fellow actors and the pit orchestra as they support her in the enhancement of her performance. “This is only my second musical and I’ve only ever done them for the singing aspect, so I really don’t consider myself to be as thoughtful with my acting as people with significant experience and expertise,” said Culter. “The best thing that I can do to convey emotions is to lean on other people as we perform together. I tend to utilize their expressions and drama skills to enhance my own performance and allow myself to reciprocate their emotions.”
As for her preparation in these weighty scenes, Cutler tries to distance herself from other people before a heavy scene in preparation because she gets distracted easily. “It’s important for me to be alone for at least a few minutes before I start,” she said.
Junior Claire Birdsey is a lead dancer in the production. “As a dancer for CAPA, my prior knowledge is helping me a lot with the choreography,” she said. “The movements we perform are a lot easier than anything I would do outside of Campo. But the simultaneous aspect of acting while dancing adds a layer of complexity.”
Managing schoolwork on top of all the time spent at rehearsals is no easy feat, as Lim attested: “You may not even be on stage that long, but you are exhausted by the end of it after all of that dancing, singing, and multitasking.”
When “West Side Story” was first revealed as this year’s musical production, a lot of controversy came to rise. With a highly racially motivated storyline, many believe that Campolindo does not provide an appropriate cast to perpetuate the upsetting diegesis. Sophomore Meher Gupta gives her take on this response from the community. “Considering that we’re a predominantly white school, I think a lot of the initial resistance was expected. Also, the fact that there’s a lot of controversial aspects such as the language used, violence, and sexual assault makes it easier to understand people’s discomfort,” she said.
“But I also understand why Campo has chosen to commit to Westside [Story] because I’ve experienced sexual assault and racial prejudice at this school, and forcing students within this community to open their eyes by confronting them with all these real issues that so many of us face, it’s a really important thing. I think it’s a really good way of making people think about what goes on day to day,” Gupta concluded.
Rather than avoiding controversy by putting on a light-hearted production, Campo has chosen to confront many types of bias and take on the challenge of performing an extremely emotional show. After months of preparation and back-breaking work, “Westside Story” is sure to be a huge success.
