Marcos Echevarria (287)

The lights in the auditorium begin to dim, the whispers and chatter of the audience start to settle, and the orchestra begins to softly play a whimsical melody. For the next two hours, “theater magic” presents itself on Central’s stage, bringing about deafening applause.  However, “theater magic” isn’t simply the results that appear on stage, because the two hours the audience witnesses do not showcase all that went into creating the hilarious and astounding production, Anything Goes. But how do they do it? How does a community of students and faculty turn into a found-family that delivers remarkable performances? 

After school has finished and everyone has been dismissed, though the halls may be empty and silent, the auditorium is erupting with the sounds of laughter, running, the pushing and pulling of sets, and Mr. Kelsey’s thundering instructions. Time seems to multiply in speed as the rush of the cast and crew increases when the clock starts counting down to showtime. However, the hour before the musical begins is only a small amount of the dedication and work that goes into the show. Junior Captain & Construction Lead Irene Hong (285) expresses how “the people that the audience see, even the crew, is only a fraction of the contributors to the musical: many people came to help paint, build sets, and so much more.” 

Behind the beautifully-talented voices, the gorgeous 1930s outfits, and the all-too-real boat reaching far into the audience, lies the challenges and long nights that went into this amazing production. 

But first, of course, the musical had to be cast and a dedicated stage crew had to be put together. 

Photo by Annabel Nguyen (284); Closing Night Cast

This year’s showing of Anything Goes is the first time in recent Central Theater history that we’ve had a double cast, which provided its own challenges, as well as impressive outcomes. “It was really cool to work with Savannah in developing little physical cues for our scenes and a personality for the character we both played, Hope. We both got to watch each other’s treatment of the character and make adjustments to our own performance from there” Natalie Margasak (284) says speaking from her first time in a double-casted role. Her counterpart, Savannah Sandhaus (284) went on to explain “Of course, there were the little things that we tried to do the exact same, how we’d walk down the stairs or down to ship’s point and some things that were distinctly different between us, like the looks and gestures that made us fall in love with Billy,”

From the perspective of a stage crew leader, Irene explains that “the double-cast of actors make slightly different choices with their movements, and so the lighting sometimes slightly changes, but they have a great way of staying cohesive throughout the process.”

As for the stage crew, it takes an immense amount of effort and drive to work behind the scenes, so when underclassmen first joined, “it was a bit rough, as we had many people coming in knowing nothing about stage crew, but seeing them grow and learn the ways like the proper use of power tools, makes me so proud” (Hong 285). The crew overcame many difficulties throughout the creation process: “It’s a large set to build. It was a big challenge since the auditorium and stage is a shared space, meaning we would have to take it apart and put it back together again”, Senior Captain Valerie Qiu (284) expressed. 

As the stress-filled tech week came to an end, and opening week was to ensue, the cast, crew, and teachers’ commitment and strenuous work were whole-heartedly evident in their spectacular performances. Throughout the week, the audience captured each cast in awe as they delivered humorous, at times tear-jerking performances that captured the beauty of “Anything Goes.” 

After the last showing, the theater department was met with an uproar of applause, but they also found themselves hit by a wave of bittersweet emotion. “For me, musical theater has always been a joyous way to let voices shine and let people represent their true selves….I’m always so proud of what we’re able to do, and in awe of what a big group of people can do when they come together for a common goal,” Irene explained. 

For many of the seniors, “Anything Goes” was their last Central production: “The closing night of the show is always really sweet. Seniors make heartfelt speeches for the dedicated teachers who committed to the musical. Safe to say there were a lot of tears,” Natalie, a future 284 graduate, said. “The last show is like a milestone that confirms we are one step closer to leaving Central and it’s both exciting and sad,” Savannah, a fellow senior said with a bittersweet smile. 

The students and faculty that participated in the musical continue to showcase the magic and prominence of theater in our school community. No matter if you’re ready to take the stage again next year, or your time here at Central is coming to an end, we hope your viewing of this year’s show was delightful and de-lovely!