AIDA was GRAND in its Opening Night!
The theatre was almost sold out. The audience, excited, for a whirlpool of emotions, applauded loudly as the lights went dim and Mr. Fallows, the director and Heritage’s theatre teacher, came out to make sure phones were turned off and the audience was excited. They were excited.
On Friday, March 2nd, lots of people crowded the lobby of Heritage High School’s theatre, waiting for the doors to open to see the hard work that went into the production of AIDA.
“Yes, I am super pumped for the rest of the shows,” says Myles Marquez (11), who plays Mereb, “I really see our production improving and growing with each show and I’m excited to see the end result!
AIDA is a musical by Elton John and Tim Rice that tells the story where Radames, the captain of the English army, falls in love with Aida, a recently-captured slave and Nubian princess.
The character Aida is played by Rezahn Abraha (12) in her first leading role. Radames is played by Chris Wheeler (12) in his second leading role, following playing Edward in Rising Stars’ Big Fishin 2017.
The opening night of AIDA was definitely a success. The theatre was almost sold-out and there were lots of eager audience members waiting for the house lights to dim and for the stage lights to rise.
“All in all, people really enjoyed it!’ said Meghan Salmon (10), the lead lighting technician for the show.
AIDA is one of the biggest shows Rising Stars has done. There are 42 students acting in the show and 47 students backstage, helping with the technical aspects of the production.
The show also marks several firsts for the Rising Stars Theatre Program. It is the first time an alumnus has returned. Nick Perez returned to be the Music Director after graduating in 2015.
It is also the first show that Rising Stars has repeated. The first production of AIDA was 11 years ago, in 2007. The majority of the student body back then were 9th and 10th graders as Heritage had recently opened.
Both Mr. Fallows, the director, and Ms. Pedrotti, the technical director, are proud of both productions and to see how the program has advanced to produce better shows.
The show is clearly a success, especially since the cast and crew are proud of the show.
“I think opening night was a pretty good representation of what our show is!” continued Marquez with excitement, “I think that with each show we get better and better. I consider opening night a nice hint of what we can really do.”
AIDA runs for one more weekend with shows on March 15th, 16th at 7 pm and March 17th at 1 pm. Tickets are $18 for adults and $12 for students.
