By Tyler Petersen, Staff Writer
At El Camino from Oct. 29-31 and Nov. 5-7, the Little Women musical was performed by student actors, alongside musicians inside the orchestra pit playing the songs live.
The cast consisted of 16 students and two adults playing characters, and with students in charge of stage management and set construction, that number grew to as many as 35 people working on the musical. The musical will be directed by EC theater teacher Mike DiSalvo, who stated that it was nice to lead a story that is a classic book that people are familiar with.
“This was a nice opportunity to center a story around them and what their experience is, even though it was set so many years ago,” he said. “The music is really lovely, so it’s been nice to work on the score. And this is one of those ones where there aren’t as many moving pieces as other musicals, so it has been nice to keep it a little simpler and just focus on the storytelling and the acting.”
The pit orchestra consisted of various instruments like flutes, clarinets, trumpets, violins, violas and alto flutes. These students were located in the sunken orchestra pit that is below the center stage to give the actors room to perform. Gabriel Read is the pit orchestra director and has helped students learn the music for the musical and has formed a strong orchestra for the actors to sing alongside with.
“This is one of my favorite things that we do, because it requires such different preparation. Compared to just getting ready for a band concert, it’s much different because we have actors on stage that we have to kind of interact with, and it requires us to be a little bit more flexible,” he explained.
The Little Women musical is a more realistic musical which will leave more imagination towards the audience and help build a more open story. There will be two big numbers, the beginning of the first act and the beginning of the second act. Ryan Hood (‘28) who plays Professor Bhaer in the musical, stated that he believes that this musical is rooted in reality and has enjoyed bringing this show to life.
“I really enjoy the music, I really enjoy the singing, and even though it is kind of a timepiece, I hope people really enjoy it,” Hood said.
The pit orchestra is the background which brings the play to life. Ximena Moreno (‘27) is one of the pit orchestra members who plays clarinet and supports whoever she can during the musical. Moreno believes that the songs they have practiced are pretty good.
“I see the songs that we have done as of now, they are pretty good so far, but I do think that we should move on to other pieces and practice them,” Moreno mentioned.
The pit orchestra is made up of students from the band and anyone else who wants to try out. These people shine as performing artists and bring character to the musical. Ozzy Allas (‘28) is one of the band students that tried out for the musical and got a part as a clarinet and practices to make the musical shine.
“I think we just need to really focus on practicing individually, and then get together with the cast, and just do it over and over until it’s good,” Allas explained.
These students bring something that once was an idea into life and let talent shine for the audience to see. ECTC’s next production will be in the spring. Auditions for the next play will be held in February.
