This year, the theater youth is turning out for the Santa Barbara high school musicals en masse, with three shows combined featuring more than 100 students in the casts and crews. Sweeney Todd (at San Marcos High School) is a dark, challenging musical with demanding vocals and heavy technical components. Santa Barbara High School turns Shakespeare favorite A Midsummer Night’s Dream into a nostalgic, music- and movement-based exploration. Dos Pueblos High School presents Curtains, a rousing murder mystery against a showbiz backdrop.
At San Marcos, theater program director Shannon Saleh chose Sondheim’s tale of murder and mayhem based on this year’s crop of students, whom she describes as “a strong cadre of singers” who can carry the show. “Sondheim is definitely a challenge,” says Saleh, “and we’re aware of the importance of coordinating vocal and instrumental music with scene work and the incredible timing that will require. We plan to spend most of April making those moments happen so we can story-tell with nuance and precision.”
Sweeney Todd is the story of the “demon barber of Fleet Street” on a tear through London to avenge his unlawful sentence to a penal colony and the subsequent death of his wife and disappearance of his daughter. There are more than 35 students involved in the show, including cast, crew, and student orchestra (conducted by Michael Kiyoi). Filling out the production is Eleni Pantages teaching vocal work, choreography by Christina McCarthy, set and lighting design by Jonathan Mitchell, and Hannah Chilton on costumes. The show runs April 30–May 9.
Program head Gioia Marchese at Santa Barbara High directs Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, saying, “It has a great ensemble cast that provides juicy parts for many of our great actors.” While Midsummer’s original text is not written as a musical, SBHS has done a “deep edit” to make room for musical moments. “Midsummer naturally lends itself to music and dance,” says Marchese. “With the rise in popularity of Ren Faire culture, we have created a Renaissance revival world with music from the late 1960s and early 1970s…. The whole event will be an invitation to the audience to step out of the ‘real world’ and spend time in this dream world with us.”
There are more than 40 students participating in the cast and crew of the production. Junior Dragon Aditya, who plays Oberon, says, “Our theater is really exploring the animal-ness of the fairies, walking and moving about very differently than how we move as humans.”
In addition, says Marchese, SBHS’s version of Midsummer features a latticework of gender reversal throughout the show. “I felt put off by some of the power dynamics in the relationships,” says Marchese. “They felt like well-worn territory that did not need to be retread. The gender reversals have brought new energy into the show’s relationships and have been an exciting and empowering exploration into gendered expectations on both sides, and how it might feel to lean into a different set of rules.” See the show April 24–May 3.
Emily Libera, director at Dos Pueblos, selected Curtains because of its requirements for “strong acting, dynamic ensemble work, and demanding musical theater performance into one show.” With music by Kander and Ebb, Libera says Curtains, a musical murder mystery, is rooted in the classic Broadway tradition. “The music blends jazzy Broadway sounds, big ensemble numbers, and character-driven songs that feel both theatrical and playful…. It’s a really fun and rewarding experience for both performers and audiences.”
Curtains was also an appealing choice for the program, says Libera, because “the show is a love letter to the theater itself…. It’s funny, theatrical, and full of larger-than-life characters.” Bambi Bernet (played by sophomore Abby Simonsen), for example, is an ensemble actor trying to prove her merit — especially since the producer of this show within a show is her mother, Carmen Bernstein. Bernstein is played by senior Nicola Bailey, who calls her character the “brassy producer” of the Broadway-hopeful musical called Robbin’ Hood of the Old West. “Curtains takes place during 1959,” says Bailey. “During that time, it was hard to be respected as a woman in a position of power — that defines a lot of who she is and the decisions she makes.”
“Curtains,” says Simonsen, “is a tribute to musical production and show business, as well as a celebration of the people who make it possible.” The show features a production team of almost 40 students and runs May 7-16.
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