Aragon presented the fall musical, “9 To 5,” from Nov. 15 to 19. The show is about three women, Violet Newstead, Doralee Rhodes and Judy Bernly, who work at Consolidated and struggle to receive respect and justice from their “sexist, egotistical, lying hypocritical bigot” boss, Franklin Hart Jr. When the three ladies have had enough, they each fantasize about killing him, and plot their revenge.
Madison Bishop as Doralee Rhodes
Can you tell me a little about your character?
I play Doralee, who is basically the girl that the boss wants to get with. The character feels misjudged because everyone treats her [poorly] based on her looks. She wants to prove that she is intelligent and genuine, unlike the Barbie girl everyone views her as. Something special about my character would be that she’s Southern and she has crazy blond hair.
Is this your first performance?
No, actually I’ve been classically trained in singing all my life, but this is my third performance. My first performance was in middle school in “Princess and the Pea.” My parents were very enthusiastic and supportive, but my mom was more into it than I was. When I look back at my pictures I feel super embarrassed because I was a huge dork.
Why do you enjoy performing?
I enjoy performing because I get to showcase my talents, and my favorite part would be making people laugh. I love to see the smile or emotions on people’s faces. I also love the rush of adrenaline it gives you. I feel nervous usually before a performance, and after, I usually feel very satisfied and tired.
Kate Fitzgerald as Violet Newstead
Who is your character in the musical?
I play Violet Newstead. She is one of the three main ladies. She is the one who wants to be the boss, but can’t because she is a woman. She struggles because she is a widow and she can’t get the promotion she wants. We are both very ambitious. My character wants to be promoted, and she eventually gets to be CEO. I’m also ambitious in that I try to succeed at many things, like school and the musical.
Do you plan on performing when you’re older?
No, I want to become an event planner. Performing is just an extracurricular [that] I enjoy, but I don’t see a career in it. I was in Leadership my sophomore and junior year, and I have always enjoyed planning different events like dances and parties, so I could see myself doing that in the future. Other than school, I’ve planned family parties like Christmas or Thanksgiving.
What do you like about performing?
I love being on stage and performing in front of people. My favorite part of performing would be the energy given. I love the energy of a live audience. During rehearsals you practice all the scenes and dances, but when you first perform in front of an audience, their applause and laughter makes it really fun.
Ariana Grace as Judy Bernly
Who do you play in the musical?
I play Judy Bernly — she is the newest employee at Consolidated and she was just left by her husband of 20 years, so it’s kinda sad and I have to do things on my own for the first time. She deals with a lot of loss and this feeling of being independent, and I have to find a way of doing it on my own. I am new to this school this year — I’m a transfer student — and so I had to find my way around kind of by myself. I dealt with a lot of loss in my personal life, and so I relate to her struggle to just be successful, and I feel like she can do it without the help.
Who has inspired you to go into theater?
I think my main inspiration has been my mom. She has this wonderful, beautiful voice, and she did not get the opportunity to pursue her dreams and run away to New York. So although it is all completely my dream, I feel like I’m also carrying on her dream and my whole family. My grandparents come from Puerto Rico, I speak fluent Spanish and they became the Colonels in the army and they opened up their own medical practices, and they’ve become successful despite their disadvantages. So that has always pushed me to follow my dreams and just be successful in whatever I do.
If you’re not in theater, what else are you doing?
Outside of theatre, I’m in choir and I’m also in Jazz Ensemble, so I’m a very musical person. I also produce a lot of my own music, so my whole life is very centered around music. I’ve also done cheerleading and I’ve also been in competitive swim, but my life is very centered around music and theatre, as it’s what I want to do with my life.
