12 Angry Jurors!

As for the actors, I first interviewed Armando Mendez.

When asked about who would enjoy this show he said, “Somebody that enjoys arguing and debating will love this show!”

In terms of bringing the script to life he explained, “Putting yourself into the character’s shoes can be challenging about bringing this script to life.”

Armando was also asked to explain what he loves about his character, but also what’s challenging about the role. He replied saying, “I love how being Juror #3 is the complete opposite of me. I get to explore this completely other side of me that is not myself at all. What’s challenging about my character is that since he’s not me, I have to dig so deep to find that anger and bring him to life!”

The next cast member I interviewed is Symon Andriyevsky.

When asked about who would enjoy this show he said, “Anyone can enjoy this show, to be honest. I’ve had a couple of people tell me that they want to come to see the show again because of how good it was, and it’s run just by regular high school students!”

In terms of bringing the script to life they explained, “Having to pretend to be racist is extremely challenging about bringing this script to life.”

Symon was asked as well to explain what he loves about his character, but also what’s challenging about the role. He replied saying, “I love my character in the aspect that I get to play a bad guy. The most challenging thing about playing my character is putting myself in that headspace when I know I’m not that person at all.”

I got the chance to interview Sophia Nardone as well!

She got asked about who she thinks would be a huge fan of this show and said, “I think a person who loves murder mysteries and kinda getting to the bottom of something, while always staying engaged to the show, would love this play.”

In terms of bringing the script to life she explained, “I think definitely learning our lines took a while, but we brought the play to life by feeding off each other's energies and show.”

She enthusiastically explained why she loves her character, but also why it can also be difficult on her side to take on this role; she said, “I love that my character isn’t afraid of taking initiative and she takes her stance. She’s also just really proud of herself! What was challenging about being my character was her just being firm. Since I love all my castmates, I have trouble having to yell at all of them.”

Next I spoke with Sophia Carlevaro about her opinion on it all!

She was asked who she thinks should be there in the audience and said, “Anybody who likes true crime and anything like criminal minds or just crime shows, in general, will love this show!”

In terms of bringing the script to life she explained what was difficult, “What’s challenging about bringing it to life is that it’s so dated. It’s an old show that took place in the ‘50s, so a lot of the lingo and language is timed, especially with how we speak here in New York, it’s just very rural with how they speak in the show.”

She enthusiastically explains why she loves her character, but as well, why it can also be difficult on her side to take on this role; she said, “I love that my character is very confident and out there. She doesn’t take anything from anybody. What’s challenging about my character is that she’s literally so mean! Even though she’s confident, she just thinks she’s better than everybody else, and it really shows. So it’s kinda difficult since even though I can be mean, I literally have to shoulder check Eddie Cigna, his character, so she’s just mean."

I then found Eddie Cigna and interviewed him.

When asked about who would enjoy this show he said, “Truthfully, I think any sort of person would love this show. It pitches to a wide range of humanity because the show itself features kind of a slice of life. It features characters of all different backgrounds, all different everything pretty much, so that’s why I think it has a wide appeal.”

In terms of bringing the script to life he explained, “What’s challenging about bringing the script to life is that, at least for my character, he has to stay cool, calm, and collected pretty much the entire time which means it can be difficult to make sure the audience is catching the feeling I’m trying to portray. So that’s where you use the commas, the periods, and a lot of the pauses built into the script becomes almost the way you express that emotion rather than varying your tone of voice.”

Eddie was also asked to explain what he loves about his character, but also what’s challenging about the role. He replied saying, “I love that my character truly believes in finding the truth and doing what’s right, even if that’s not the popular decision. What makes portraying this character challenging is that, as I previously said, I have to stay cool, calm and collected as Juror #8, and so it makes it difficult, and there’s a balance between not being strong enough in speech, or coming off too strong. So it’s finding that sweet spot between weak and overly aggressive.”

Our last juror interview was Olivia Beltran.

Olivia was asked who she thinks she would enjoy this show especially and said, “I think someone who would enjoy this show would be interested in a lot of argumentative kinds of things.”

In terms of bringing the script to life she explained, “What’s challenging about bringing this script to life for my character is that she’s very soft-spoken and doesn’t really speak up for herself, so it’s difficult for me to really know what she’s thinking and what her personality is like when she doesn't speak that much.”

Olivia was asked to explain what she loves about his character, but also what’s challenging about the role. She replied saying, “I love my character’s opinions when she does speak and express her feelings. I like her point of view during the whole show. Specifically, what's challenging about my character is trying to pinpoint every time how her personality really is, and when it changes."

Last, but not least, Owen Cigna was interviewed. He especially has a difficult task since he’s supposed to always be ready to step in for anyone at any given moment.

When asked about who would enjoy this show he said, “I think someone who would love this show is anyone who is into courtroom dramas or would like to have a taste of the drama society, since I think it really showcases what we’re good at, outside of music.”

In terms of bringing the script to life they explained, “I think what was challenging about bringing this script to life was probably everyone being angry at each other because we’re all good friends.”

Owen was asked as well to explain what he loves about his character and in general, all the roles he has to take on, but also what’s challenging about the role. He replied saying, “What I love about playing the guard is that I feel like it binds the narrative together. And what I love about playing all the characters is that it’s really enjoyable to play such a wide range of personalities in the cast. What’s difficult about playing a wide range of characters is sometimes not fully playing into the character, since the people who got selected for these roles in the first place are really perfect for them, so you guys should really come for NRHS’s productions since they’re all great!”

I even got an interview with Evan Wasserman, a crew member, to know his point of view of the whole show!

Evan got asked who he thinks should be in the audience and who would enjoy this show and said, “In general it’s a great show, and we have a huge representation of all ages, and it’s very interesting. I personally enjoy it, so you might enjoy it too!”

Since I wanted to get his opinion on it all, I asked him what was challenging for this show and he said, “The most challenging part of this show from a crew perspective was the limited amount of work time. We were given 5 weeks, fewer than normal. This resulted in a big rush to get our work done at the end of the 5 weeks. For example, we were on the Saturday before our tech week, structuring and focusing lighting fixtures. Additionally, we continued building our set through tech week up until the Wednesday before opening night. But in the end, we got it done with time to spare!”