Two completely different sounds heard at Cherokee Trail, cheering for the winning touchdown, and a quiet theater. But behind the scenes, they aren’t all that different. Both theater and sports are mentally and physically demanding, however one is more celebrated and showcased than the other. Legally Blonde the Musical, is set to open on November 10th of this year, and the theater program has put a lot of work into making this their best show yet, which is why, the student body of CT should go support their work. 

A musical is a performing art, and a lot of effort goes into creating such thing. It takes a lot of moving parts to put together a show, and this is exactly what the program has been working on achieving, “We are all putting in all of our manpower to get this show together,” said Almedra Torres Saranaga (12), the head stage manager of the latest musical at CT. This role is responsible for helping ensure everything under the director runs smoothly and efficiently. 

Part of what makes a show is not only the actors, but also the crew. The crew creates the foundation of the musical from behind the scenes, “We have multiple different crews and each crew is fulfilling their own part to help us prepare for the show,” said Ace Newberg (10). The crew consists of sound, lights, costumes, props, and construction. Each member of the crew is hard at work, from building the sets, to managing the actor’s mics and more. As a result of all the different members’ collaboration, the performance is something they can all take pride in. 

The theater program is a big part of the cast and crews lives, and many of them have participated in similar activities growing up. So naturally many hours of their day are devoted to rehearsing,  “…we put a lot of hard work into this play, we’re here until 6:30 everyday…” Ellie Zuber (9) said. Zuber (9) works on the lighting during the plays, and has been working in theater since kindergarten. Preparing for a play is a big time commitment and not an easy feat, “We are engaging in practices five times a week to get ready for the show.” said Turner McClellan (10) who plays Professor Callahan. It is safe to say that putting on any performance takes countless hours of practicing and perfecting one’s craft, for such reasons, students should go and cheer on all this hard work and dedication, just like they do for sports.

 Although, some of the students believe that the theater program does not get enough recognition, “I don’t see a lot of theater stuff around school. I mean we have a drama club but, otherwise I don’t really see a lot of stuff around [about] us,” Alex Kochkayan (10) answered. Some of the participants in the musical also believe that the reason theater programs don’t get enough recognition is because they have gained a bad reputation, but the student body has the ability to change that, “Just talking to your friends about it, not hating on it as much, [and] just coming to shows and participating in fundraisers and stuff like that,” said Zuber (9).

However, the effort of the theater students at Cherokee Trail hasn’t gone unnoticed. Chris Castaneda, a CT alumni said, “[Between 2012 and 2016] we ended up qualifying for Bobby G’s, a statewide recognition [almost] like the Tony’s for Colorado high school theater.” However, a lot more can be done to show support to the theater program, “You could talk to Ms. Poinsett, [or] you could talk to some of the officers for the drama club,” Kochkayan (10) said.

Overall, the theater program participants put a lot of time and effort into their passion, and would enjoy it if their peers would make more of an effort to come see the hard work they put into something they have spent so much time creating.