Francis Senior Spotlight

Rhoslyn Kersten '24

What is your favorite memory from Masterman?

Definitely the musical. I think especially Pippin was really, really fun because some of my best friends were in the stage crew, and it was the first time we had the crew that we have today.

You lead the stage crew in creating the background for the musical, what inspired you to be a part of the stage crew?

Well I joined it in eighth grade because one of my friends wanted to join, so I also did and I really loved it. I love making art and so I kind of just fell into the role of art leader this year. I’ve gotten more interested in theater over the past few years and I like designing things/making art. I also designed the yearbook and so it kind of just felt like the right path for me to take, and hopefully really fun. I am also going into college for theater design so it just felt right.

What was the process behind creating the whole stage setup for the play?

Well, first I looked at all of these materials that the director, Allie, shared with us about Beauty and the Beast. They provided information on what period it is set in and what the cast is supposed to look like, and I combined that with some of my own research on the time period. It is set in the baroque period so I based the castle on ones from that period and combined all of the information in a way that fit the stage.

What is your favorite part about being in stage crew?

It’s just so nice to be in a community like that where everyone is working together for the same goal and you all just end up getting along because of that one common thing together. Also just making a big project with others brings people together.

Were there any struggles with this process?

Oh yeah, so many. At first we were trying to make a window that lit up for the rose stained glass on the wall out of plexiglass but that obviously did not happen. Actually the night before the first show, we had the fly bar (where the forest was originally supposed to hang from) inspected, and we were told that we couldn’t use it. So basically all of the work that we had put into the forest was gone. Instead we had to rush to make the forest that people just held in like two hours or something. It was not easy at any point.

What is your favorite class at Masterman?

I really liked AP US History, which Ms. Vecsi does a really good job of teaching. It got me really interested in history, almost to the point of being a history major in college. I thought it was just a really fun and interesting class.

How would you have changed your high school experience if you could go back?

I would say I definitely would have talked to more people. I’m not super good at reaching out to people I don’t already know, so I kind of fell into a friend group of people I knew really well and only interacted with them. There are just so many people in my grade that I wish that I had taken time to get to know more and become friends with.

Do you have any advice for underclassmen?

Talk to people in your grade, study, sleep eight hours a night if you are able to, join clubs, have fun, don’t feel a pressure to go to an Ivy League.