By: Meredith Y. '30 and Aarav M. '31
“Come on, Wildcats!” calls the Drum Major, as all the school’s cliques follow him, brimming with school pride. For this year’s musical, we exchanged our Buccaneer blue and white for the Wildcat red of High School Musical’s East High. Our cast of students brought to life East High’s various cliques and teachers with the help of directors Mrs. DeCosimo, Mr. Noelte, Shoshie C. ‘29, and a highly dedicated group of techies led by Aarav Gala ‘31 and Vivi Neal ‘29.
Though High School Musical was a perfect fit for this year’s musical, it wasn’t the only option. The directors gave the Bugle some insight on what inspired this choice. “High School Musical has always been a fun show that has been on my radar. I thought it would be a great production for all of Middle Division to see because it has such an important message for all of us to learn!” Mr. Noelte shared.
Each spring musical poses its own unique challenges. This year, however, there was an added element of stress: the date of the show was moved up, causing us to lose almost one month of rehearsals. Finn O. ‘30, who plays Troy says that this change is “making it harder to memorize lines because usually I have spring break to memorize, plus two months before that! It’s kind of crazy to think that our show is in four weeks [at time of interview]; it feels like we just started!” Mr. Noelte’s experience seems to have been different. “The shortened rehearsal hasn’t been too bad! Having such an incredible vocal director/choreographer in Mrs. DeCosimo, the rehearsal process has been very easy! Not to mention, we have a great cast that is so fun to work with!”
Shoshie C. ‘29 has been an exciting addition to the rehearsal. Her inclusion in the musical marks the first time the MD musical has had a student director since the production that took place during the 2023 -2024 school year. Despite not being in last year’s musical as an eighth grader, Shoshie thought she could bring unique experience to this production. “Last year I was president of our middle school theatre troupe,” she told the Bugle, adding that “High School Musical has been my favorite movie since I was a kid, and to work on it as a freshman and with such an amazing cast has been so fun.” Shoshie was there from the very beginning, helping Mrs. DeCosimo and Mr. Noelte with the casting process. She also worked with Mrs. DeCosimo to teach and create choreography.
Our charming pair of leads gave the Bugle some insight on what it’s like to be center stage. "My experience playing Troy has been very fun…the songs are really good from the musical that Lucille and I get to sing together!” comments Finn O. on playing Troy. “I have had such an amazing time playing the lead,” Lucille C, who played Gabriella, told the Bugle. “I am so grateful for this opportunity and the friendships that have come out of this. Finn has also been an amazing co-lead and is very talented and I am glad to be sharing this experience with him. With such natural chemistry, no wonder Troy and Gabriella’s relationship was so potent on stage.
All in all, this year’s musical was downright incredible. A hearty congratulations to the cast and crew for their hard work in making this story come alive!