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From the Directors

This show has been an absolute whirlwind. It all started 2 years ago in 2020, when I was originally a member of the cast. Now, 2 years later, I was given the opportunity to direct this show with two of my very close friends. I remember wishing every day that we had been able to do this show, and just wondering “what if”. Even if it wasn’t what I had expected, I would change nothing about the final path to opening night. I want to use this note most to thank those involved in the show. To our cast and crew, thank you for all of your hard work and your commitment, I’ve never been more proud of anyone; you are all amazing. To the unsung hero of the theatre program, thank you Chris Connor for putting up with us student directors and making all of our ideas come to life. To Noelani, thank you for the amazing vocals and for helping temper me when I get frustrated. To Mrs. Nelson, thank you for supporting us and making sure we made it to the final product. To Sydney and Elena, thank you for being so involved and working so hard with us. You are two of the most hard-working people I know, and I love you so much. To Morgan, who I wish I got to act with one last time. Thank you for an amazing three years, I love you. And finally to Brennis: I wouldn’t ask for a different head director. I remember crying watching you take your final bow (here at HHS at least), and I’m so grateful for the time we’ve had together, I love you so much. To our cast: Break a Leg! To our crew: You’ve got this! And to my fellow directors, well, I’m shocked we made it this far. Nelson wasn’t kidding when she said this was the most tired we would ever be! I wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world.

Ian Rodriguez

When we finally decided directors for this show we were all excited and terrified. We had 5 weeks to get vocals, choreography, blocking, and acting like your character in tip top shape. As I am writing this I can say that we weren’t even close to done. We also had a mainly new acting crew with us. We had to teach the lingo, the way things work, so we were basically starting from before square one. The amount of work everyone has put into this show has been unbelievable. The actors have spent so much time learning and running things over and over again. The crew for making a show within a week. The tech for designing the entire show within a few days. Everyone had to work together to get this done and to say it was hard was an understatement. 

The things I have learned as a director would probably be that I understand why Nelson walks around with no shoes. I was nice to the other side of things. Instead of being onstage I was a part of making the notes. Inflection in actors, I’ve noticed, has to be spot on. Especially in a show like this. The next time I am acting, I know that this experience will help me immensely. 

Scripts can’t turn into plays without a team. Our team is composed of myself, Brennis, and Ian. Here we developed such bad bags under all of our eyes that we became the factory “zombie workers”. We were tired 100% of the time and snaking on so much junk food that we must have collectively gained 5 pounds but we all worked together very well. Scene after scene we worked to tell a story, like how the children should always be walking left to right like a person reading a book and the children who were lost had to be walked right to left like they were left behind in the chapter. Every small detail was made. If you pay attention to Mike Teavee, he will do everything wrong like holding his left hand up instead of his right when signing the contract, or putting on his goggles wrong. This is where we had the most fun. Everytime we laughed at the little interactions. 

Those small moments showed us exactly what directing was about. I have loved this chance to be a part of this show and I would do it all again.

Morgan Sanchez