From Nov. 21-24, the Aragon Drama department hosted the fall musical “Sister Act” in the theater.
“Sister Act” follows a young female singer named Deloris Van Cartier, played by Alessandra Hernandez, who witnesses her mobster boyfriend Curtis, played by Andrew McColl, murder an undercover police agent. Eddie Souther, played by Macen Adams, the cop who vows to help her, takes her to hide in a convent led by Mother Superior, played by Samantha Green. Deloris has to navigate the ways of being a faithful nun, but slowly she brings change to the other nuns who had previously only seen one world, like Sister Mary Robert, played by Bridgette Martin.
“My favorite character was either the lead or [Sister Mary Robert] because I thought [Robert’s] character arc was interesting,” said junior V Galstan. “At the end, she did a 360 and was breaking the norm.”
Adams explains some challenges he faced in his role.
“Some of the challenges with my character was definitely [with] some of the singing,” Adams said. “It was supposed to be more of a gentle [mood], then rock, then gentle again, so switching between those genres of music and [the] change of tempo [was challenging]. The hardest song was Fabulous Baby Reprise because I kept going too quick or too slow. It was hard to find the right tempo.”
There are many different roles in a musical. Ensemble actors are on stage and specialize in keeping the fluidity of a scene.
“Ensemble can play many different parts,” said sophomore ensemble member Ellie Goldvekht. “They can be a mom, they can be a dad. [They] add to the story and help it to seem more natural.”
Stage crew is in charge of moving sets and props, making scenes flow together. Senior stage manager Dani Drobot describes her role in the musical.
“As the stage manager, you have to be there for all of the rehearsals,” Drobot said. “As it starts to get closer to the show, I have to organize all of the scene changes that happen and start to coordinate all the technical aspects so that everything works well together.”
There was lots of effort put into the cosmetics of both the set and costumes. For example, on set, there were three disco balls hanging above the stage, and near the end, there were colorful costume changes for the characters.
“I really like the end with all the sequin dresses and the holographics,” said junior Maeve Newsom. “It’s really fun and bright and colorful. [For] most of the show, they’re all just wearing black, and then when it switched to the end, it made me really happy and [feel] the energy that they were bringing and singing about.”
There was also a live band in the stage pit as performers sang along on stage.
“It makes it really engaging for people, instead of having an audio track,” said junior Briana Bernal. “It was really fun and it just made the experience of the musical feel a lot more real.”
With many scenes and songs, sophomore Jesus Avila shares his favorite scene in the show.
“I really liked near the end where all the nuns are being chased by the gangsters,” Avila said. “The nuns take them all down [then] the main villain is shot … It [was] pretty funny [and] that scene was pretty action-packed. I like how all the nuns use creative techniques to take down the thugs.”
Aragon Drama will be back to present their spring play, Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” starting March 20.
