Last Updated on April 16, 2024 7:21 pm
WATAUGA — The Watauga High School Theatre Department is bringing the experience of the early 1900s in the fictional city of River City, IA in their spring musical production of “The Music Man.”
Show dates are April 18, 19 and 20 in the Ross Auditorium at Watauga High School. The show will begin at 7 p.m. on these evenings. Ticket prices are $10 each and the running time is 2.5 hours with one 15-minute intermission.
WHS Theatre teachers Sarah Miller and Zachary Walker, along with all students involved in the production are excited to bring this show to Watauga County. A lot of hard work and time has gone into perfecting lines, scenes and musical numbers so that the production will be enjoyed and remembered by the Watauga community.
Several WHS students shared their experiences with theatre classes and productions.
William Greene plays Charlie Cowell in “The Music Man” and has been involved in theatre for a few years. He started out with community theatre and began taking classes as a high school student.
In addition to theatre, he continues to be involved in clogging which he has been doing for about 11 years.
When asked about his favorite part of theatre classes and being involved in productions, he shared the following.
“Probably the amazing cast that you get to work with or put on a show with to bring entertainment to people,” Greene said. “I always love performing for other people to bring them joy and getting to do that during school with amazing cast members is like a dream come true.”
His favorite musical that he has been a part of is “The Music Man” because it is fun and upbeat, which is something he would never see himself doing. His favorite musical that the theatre department has not done is “Beetlejuice: The Musical”.
Raffaell Vazquez-Gutierrez has been involved in theatre for three years.
“I took a class my freshman year during COVID, but because of the limitations I did not get the full experience and decided to not continue pursuing theatre,” Vazquez-Gutierrez said. “However, after watching ‘Seussical: The Musical’ at WHS, I was inspired to retake it and audition for the musical.”
He shared that he is constantly inspired by the commitment, passion and effort the ensemble puts forth every day they are on-stage as they work together on something bigger than themselves.
Vazquez-Gutierrez’s favorite musical is “La La Land” and his favorite play is “Murder in the Knife Room”.
Liliana Lemus plays Zaneeta Shinn in “The Music Man” and has been involved in theatre since fifth grade. Her experience began when she was in Parkway Elementary School’s production of “Beauty and the Beast Jr.” Lemus is currently a Sophomore and still loves it just as much, if not more than she did back then.
In addition to theatre, Lemus plays a few instruments, her favorite being guitar.
“There is something about sitting in my room after school and playing that is so therapeutic to me,” Lemus said. “Music is probably what got me involved in theatre in the first place. Music made me fall in love with performing, which led me to the wonderful world of theatre.”
Her favorite part about being involved in theatre is how close-knit everyone in the community is, even in programs across the country.
“You will find yourself adopting certain mannerisms and sharing inside jokes that other theatre kids will relate to,” Lemus said. “What I love about theatre, specifically the theatre program at Watauga, is that it is something that wildly different groups of people can enjoy. It creates friendships that likely would not have formed otherwise.”
Lemus’ favorite musical is “Newsies”, which WHS performed in 2019. She shared that since it is a very dance-heavy show, it is visually interesting and fun to watch. She added that the soundtrack has zero skips and is filled with go-to karaoke songs.
“‘Sante Fe’ makes me feel something every time I hear it,” Lemus said.
Andrew Ward plays Tommy Djilas in “The Music Man”. Ward has been involved in theatre since 6th grade. His favorite part about being involved in the WHS Theatre Department and productions is working with and for the ensemble.
In addition to being involved in theatre, he enjoys dancing, especially ballet. Ward’s favorite musical is “The Sound of Music.”
