By Myleigh Amrhein
Coronado has always had great plays and shows, but what happened when the school went online? Well, the shows went online as well, and so far this year, Coronado’s theatre has had 3 successful online productions.
The first show Coronado’s theatre performed this year was The Show Must Go On(line) directed by Senior Abigail Martin and assistant director Kayleigh Gilchrist. Last year, the theatre was going to perform Broadway Memories, but because school was cancelled, they didn’t have a chance to perform. This performance’s goal was trying to feature some of those plays. Anyone who wanted to audition for the show was allowed to send a video of their performance, then all the video clips were put together to make one big performance.
“I really enjoyed seeing people be able to perform again,” Martin said. “The pandemic really hurt us as performers because we couldn’t do what we loved anymore, so I was very fortunate to be able to give them that again.”
Additionally, they performed Vintage Hitchcock directed by Carly King. This performance actually made State this year. The show was directed, performed and produced online in everyone’s own houses. All rehearsals took place on a Google Meet, and then for the performance, students made their own recordings and sent them to the crew to edit, add sound effects, and add music. Then the crew put it all together into an outstanding film. It consisted of mainly recordings and then some pictures were added to show who was talking. The process was challenging, but they were able to succeed and produce a creative masterpiece.
“Starting off, I was skeptical of directing such a big production while being completely virtual. While at first, it was difficult to adapt to this new way of performing, I learned to get creative and think outside of the box to ensure we had a successful production,” King said. “The cast and crew were absolutely phenomenal. They were so committed and patient as we navigated through this new and unique experience together. Looking back, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Everyone’s hard work has definitely paid off as we were able to prove that the show can and will go on.”
Coronado’s most recent production was Clue. The performance ‘Clue’ was a high school edition based on the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn and written by Sandy Rustin. The play was performed at Coronado High school this past weekend. The performance was on stage then pre-recorded and then streamed for audiences. This was Coronado’s first performance together on stage this year.
“I felt like clue was a really fun experience. The cast was perfectly chosen, and we’ve been through a lot together!” sophomore Ryan Peralta said. “The whole play was originally supposed to be online, but slowly and slowly we transitioned into an in person play and we were able to perform it! I felt that through everything we got super close and in the end it turned out to be one of the coolest and fun experiences during COVID I’ve had!”
