In the Montezuma-Cortez school district, theater gives students and staff the chance to bring new worlds to life each school year. From the acting to music to sets and costumes, students express their creativity, get out of their comfort zones and bring a project to life.
Each year, staff choose which plays and musicals will be given to students, and this year’s roster promises exciting performances.
Normally, the high school has a play in the fall and a musical in the spring, while the middle school performs a musical in the fall and a play in the spring, but this year, the schools are switching it up.
The high school will perform the musical “Beauty and the Beast” in the fall and the play “Treasure Island” in the spring, while the middle school has chosen “One Stoplight Town” for the fall and the musical “The Wizard of Oz” in the spring.
On Friday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 26 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., middle school students will perform “One Stoplight Town,” and MCHS students will perform the musical “Beauty and the Beast” on Nov. 7, Nov. 14, Nov. 15 and Nov. 16 at 7 p.m., and Nov. 8 and Nov. 16 at 2 p.m.
According to CMS theater teacher Angela Gabardi and choir teacher Marla Sitton, “One Stoplight Town” is a comedy about a small town.
“It’s a really cute story about a small town, which our students can relate to,” Gabardi said. “Sometimes we try to pick performances that connect. The ‘Wizard of Oz’ and ‘One Stoplight Town’ is a lot about home and the treasures of home and your community.”
Gabardi each new year is exciting as they imagine how the students will shine in their roles.
“When you read a show and you start getting excited like, ‘Oh, the kids would love this, the kids would have so much fun,’” Gabardi said.
High school Theater Program Director Nicholaus Sandner said the dates offered for “Beauty and the Beast” are unusual because they are accommodating a major band competition that will take place on the musical’s opening weekend. They also chose to do a musical first because of the play’s rights.
“We decided to do ‘Beauty and the Beast’ because the rights are not going to be available after December, because it’s looking to make a comeback to Broadway,” Sandner said. “So, we had to flip-flop things. We’re actually starting off with our musical in the fall, and they’re (CMS) doing their musical in the spring.”
Auditions for “Beauty and the Beast” will take place Tuesday, and community members are invited to audition for a part.
In the spring, the middle school will perform the musical “The Wizard of Oz” on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. and March 1 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The last time the middle school chose “The Wizard of Oz” as their play, Sitton directed and Gabardi played Dorothy. Sitton and Gabardi said it felt like a full-circle moment to be working on the play together as partners when the last time was as teacher and student.
“It’s really special to Marla and I because that’s the play we did my senior year, and she was my director,” Gabardi said.
“Angela was my Dorothy,” Sitton said.
To Sitton, seeing the students’ growth is her favorite part of being involved in the local theater programs.
“I like watching their growth. It’s always amazing to me,” Sitton said. “You’ll have a student come in that is so quiet and shy, and they’re not even sure they want to be in the same room, let alone on stage, and then they’re like, ‘I have to say that on stage? I have to sing and I have to dance and I have to wear that?’ And then, they just do it, and they grow more than they could ever imagine that they could grow, and then they become these confident young people.”
The high schoolers will perform “Treasure Island” on March 7, March 8, March 14 and March 15 at 7 p.m. The plan a matinee March 8 and March 15 at 2 p.m.
Besides main stage plays, Sandner shared that high schoolers have the opportunity to participate in the school’s improv troupe and go to ThesCon in December.
“We try to provide a lot of opportunities in a lot of different ways for students to get involved in the performing arts,” Sandner said.
Students can also be part of the Narrative Ninjas.
The Narrative Ninjas are a group of high school students that visit elementary schools as ninjas and help the children write a story. After a few weeks, the ninjas come back for a surprise.
“They write us stories that we collect up, then we come back a couple weeks later and we perform the stories,” Sandner said. “We celebrate the kids and we bring them up and we dub them honorary ninjas.”
