The fall play has been chosen, auditions have been held, and the first showing of High School Musical is slotted Nov. 9. The play was chosen by the director, Ms. Kyla Hatler. The play highlights a love story about a small-town star athlete, Troy Bolton, falling for Gabriella Montez, at a holiday karaoke party. 

“I was looking for a show that interested many students, also a musical that allowed many leads for more people to get involved,” Ms. Hatler explained. 

On Sept. 8, following two days of auditions, the cast was announced.  Announcements were on the shared Google Classroom for the High School Musical cast members. In auditions,  students had to sing with a partner, learn a few dances, read several lines, and sing songs of the characters in which they were auditioning. 

“It’s always really hard to choose the cast members, but this time it was really more so because there were many talented kids and only a handful of them could be chosen due to the little handful of lead acts,” Ms. Hatler said. 

Despite the difficult decisions in casting the play, Ms. Hatler selected lead actors and actresses for the performance.

 Star-athlete Troy Bolton is played by senior Owen Bartholow, his love-interest Gabriella Montez is played by senior Ruby James, antagonist Sharpay Evans is played by senior Cierra Bettencourt, and her brother, Ryan Evans, is played by junior Austin Paris.               

Bettencourt commented on the selection process. 

“Out of all the roles, I was not expecting to get Sharpay, but now that I have, I have come to find that I am really excited to play a more exotic and bossy character and explore that bigger side of me.” 

Some of the cast already had an idea of who they wanted to play, such as Bartholow. 

“I wanted to be Troy because I found that I am like him in general already.” 

Ms. Hatler also states, “Everyone that tried out had huge talent which means the ensemble will be really strong because we have a lot of strong singers.” 

The cast was very excited to learn that the fall musical was going to be the High School Musical. Not only is it exciting for the cast, but it’s exciting for Ms. Hatler, as well for the whole school.

Theater is a passion amongst the students here at Summerville High and Connections Visual and Performing Arts Academy. Many students have participated for years, and some are new to the program. 

James says, “I’ve been doing theater for seven years and I have loved it since [the beginning].” 

Theater gives students the opportunity to showcase their talents and some even think that theater will be in their lives for years to come, such as Paris.

 “I was singing a song on stage with the lights blinding me and just thinking in my head: ‘This is what I want to do for the rest of my life,’” stated Austin Paris.

Being in theater has taught many students to put themselves out of their comfort zone and show their talents.