St. Francis ready to raise the curtain on a High School Musical

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on March 28, 2023.

Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman Students run through a scene of their production of "High School Musical" set to open Thursday night at St. Francis Junior High.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

Students and staff at St. Francis Junior High School are getting ready to welcome members of the community to their school to enjoy their latest production of “High School Musical.”

Musical director, Dino Caputo said the school does a musical annually and this is the first time they have ever repeated one – they performed “High School Musical” 15 years ago and he also directed that one.

He said the musical is similar to a modern version of “Grease” where two people who meet in the summer somewhat fall in love with some trials and tribulations.

“We decided to go back to this. This is something that the students have actually pushed forward quite a bit. To be honest I was a little bit reluctant, but my colleagues wanted to push and try to do it, and I said ‘OK let’s do it this year. ‘So, we’re pretty excited, it’s different than what I remember but I’m not going to lie it does bring back some pretty cool memories of what happened 15 years ago,” said Caputo.

He added they decided to go back to “High School Musical” because how relatable it is to some audiences.

“You’ll have young girls in the audience that will want to be sharp, they’ll want to be Gabriella. You’ll have young boys that will see themselves as the captain of the basketball team, Troy Bolton, so I think that it’s very relatable. It’s in the now not in the ’50s or ’60s so that’s a big reason,” said Caputo.

More 100 students are involved in the production distributed among those on stage, backstage, lighting and other areas.

One of those students on stage is Kaitlyn Sawa who plays the lead role of Gabriella Montez.

“Gabriella Montez is this sweet girl that comes to this east high school in Albuquerque and when I play on the stage it’s kind of like a new experience. As a lead it’s just eye popping and just amazing,” said Sawa.

She said this was her first time in a lead role and she is excited to perform since she is in Grade 9 and this would be her last performance at the school.

Another student who is taking part of the production onstage is Cait Gibb who plays Kelsey Nelson, the person who plays the piano and who wrote the musical Gabriella and Troy are auditioning for.

“I like to get in there and make sure it looks good, but I don’t actually play the piano,” said Gibb.

She said even though she takes part on different sports and other extra curricular activities, there is nothing like the musical.

“It’s a big family and on opening night everyone gets together and it’s like everyone is different, but everyone is on the same boat, we’re all in the same boat and we’re all in this together. It’s like a big happy family and it’s great,” said Gibb.

Caputo said they have been working hard since September. The production started with auditions, then moved on to choreography with Kristen Mazzuca, and then music with music director Chris Hartman. After Christmas they started to put the whole thing together after they started rehearsals and now they have moved into the gymnasium which has been transformed into a theatre.

“One thing that’s special about this whole thing is the collaboration that goes on with the entire school, how much effort and work and collaboration with the community and the volunteers of parents that helped build this set and everything that goes on,” said Caputo.

 He said even though they take over the gymnasium for 12 days nobody misses a day of physical education.

 “We work closely with the phys-ed group, we work with all of them to make sure everyone’s taking care of and no one’s educational opportunity ruined. Our colleagues do a great job of keeping our students up because we do have matinees, so there is some school missed, so we do a tremendous job of community,” said Caputo.

The show opens Thursday evening and runs through April 5. Tickets are available at the door or in advance at sfjh.holyspirit.ab.ca

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