The fall play season is coming to an end which means musical season is right around the corner!
To hype people up for the musical, Dr. Agostin, The director of Central Theater, slowly reveals what the musical is going to be. She does this by ripping off a picture that represents a musical everyday until the actual musical is left. The creator of this trend is a theater teacher on tiktok, Tommy Varela. Dr. Agostin got the idea from the student director that was there when she first started directing here, Gabby FLynn.
The process Dr. Agostin goes through to pick each musical is rather simple. She states “ I think about how many days of rehearsal we have that we’re going to pull something down. I make sure there are at least three left on set strike, so that it’s not just down to two and then I just make a list of that many musicals, whatever I could think of, including the one that I actually chose”. The process of actually picking the musical is also rather intense.Dr. Agostin does a lot of prior research to make sure whatever the students perform in March works out.
From students to parents and even teachers from other schools, the countdown brings a lot of attention to WMC’s spring musical and the current play that is going on. Junior Brooke Jones was shocked to see just how popular the reveal can get. She states, “I didn’t realize how many people, like, actually paid attention to the board until I was in TOK today [when this girl in class] was like, ‘Oh, I really wanted it to be Guys and Dolls. I’m so upset that it’s not Guys and Dolls.”\’ And I was like, whoa. Like, that was like, literally yesterday, like, I forgot that people watched it, but I just found that really cool.” Jones is one of the co-student directors alongside senior Juliana Davidman. Davidman really enjoys the board. She states, “I think it’s funny to see everyone get so hype about the musicals”.
While the board brings positive attention to the program, there has also been a lot of drama surrounding it in previous years. Usually the students get very attached to one choice so if it gets taken down, they get upset. Dr. Agostin gets very hurt by these reactions. She states, “ I put a lot of work into picking the show, and I want you all to like the choice.” This year though, all the students have been cheering and clapping for every musical rather than just getting attached to one.
The final choices for the spring musical are, Fiddler on the Roof, Seussical, Pippin, Oklahoma, and The Music Man. Make sure to stay tuned on instagram @central_theatre_westmorris to see what the musical is going to be!
