I step onto the stage. The lights are blinding to my eyes, the audience doesn’t exist. I am in a different world. This world is bright and colorful. Much practice has led up to this moment, and I am now ready to pretend
This describes what Colin Arriaga, a senior at RHS, experienced during Hello Dolly, a musical he performed in freshman year. The musical centers around four characters who go to New York and have an adventure. “I got to be Barnaby,” said Arriaga. “I remember walking into auditions, I was super nervous. I wasn’t sure if I would get in.” Hoping to at least land a spot in the ensemble, he had been assigned with being a lead in the play, a first for him.
Before his first performance, Arriaga was excited. “Near the beginning ofthe show, there was a scene where I had to get on the ground and with a rag, start mopping it on my knees. I remember feeling all the grains of dirt, and it was kind of gross,” he said. Eventually, he would have to get into a box with another member in the musical. “We spent half of [a] scene just in there, kind of miming to each other,” Arriaga said. “On closing night [during] that scene, we were … hyping ourselves up, like, ’Alright. This is the last one. One more time. You got this.’” In his final scene, Arriaga and some cast members, “… were goofing off behind the curtains.”
Though initially nervous, Arriaga was glad to be with his friends who he met in theater. “Getting a lead gave me a lot more confidence that I didn’t have before, and I was able to open up, and I ended up gaining a lot more friends and expanding my social circle,” Arriaga said. He feels that his experience was eased by the people he was directly working with who didn’t ,” shy away from the socially awkward kid.” He said ,”Before [Hello Dolly], I was really nervous. I wasn’t sure about myself as an actor. I wasn’t sure if I was too awkward to hold a real conversation.” Arriaga’s experience shaped who he is today. “… Theater is such a collaborative medium, so I definitely had to get over my social fears to collaborate with my double, who is now one of my best friends.”
Colin’s double was Roman Camber, a senior at RHS, who has also been shaped by a musical at the school. Camber was a lead character in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, which was primarily set in an office setting. “… It was the most lines and most songs I ever had to learn for any show ever,” he said.
The area Camber entered the stage through was tight. He had to wait 4 minutes until it was his turn to perform. During the four minutes of the, “music of dread,” he was panicking, telling himself to not mess up. “It was a horrifying, traumatic experience … I loved it,” Camber said. In a later scene, his stress took place on a ladder, where he was reading a book while miming wiping windows. “That stressed me out, because the ladder was not that big … so you have to worry about not falling off,” he said.
This show is a factor Camber cites as getting him interested in musical theater. He began performing in musicals outside of school, listening to their music, and learning about more shows and the history of the art. Through different performances, doubling for each other with smooth teamwork, both Arriaga and Camber arrived at a shared passion to perform professionally. Ultimately, these performances contribute to the character change that shapes who Arriaga and Camber are today.
“Don’t mess up”
Tristan Montano, a junior at RHS, creates his own music as a hobby. He works on projects that blend pop and rap, though he has never released one. “I’m a perfectionist when it comes to it so I have never actually finished a project all the way,” Montano said. Citing XXXTentacion and Eminem as inspirations, he tries to make his music emotional, incorporating elements such as catchy guitar riffs, heavy bass, and piano. Montano hopes to release an EP soon. “I want to become a consistent person at making [music] so I have to just let go of being a perfectionist. I just want to get a community that actually supports the music,” Montano said.
