Page 198 - Yggdrasil 2021

Carrollton's Aladdin, better late than never
By Ellica Quintero '24
Committed to, "The show must go on,’ drama teacher Mrs. Rodriguez puts on Aladdin the Musical - almost tw o years in the making.
Auditions for Aladdin the Musical began in November, 2019 with a performance planned for March 26 and 27. However, with the C O V ID pandemic starting to take hold, on March 15 Carrollton went virtual and Aladdin was cancelled.
The 2020-2021 school year began virtually, but with
C D C recommended safety measures in place, Carrollton returned to in-school learning. Mrs. Rodriguez, the upper school performing arts teacher and director o f Aladdin, seeing the opportunity, asked the administration for permission to put on the play while following C O V ID guidelines. Carrollton agreed, and she jumped at the chance to put on the play. And so rehearsals began.
'The school was very supportive, however, the stipulation was the play had to be performed outdoors. Studies made it clear that singing indoors was not safe which is the reason we were unable to perform in the Convocation Center," wrote Mrs. Rodriguez. Despite this she was grateful, only 5 seniors from last year needed to be replaced. Mrs. Rodriguez continued, "The real challenge came when we started rehearsals this year and a number of current students dropped out of the show. Iwentfrom acastof33 to acastof21.1had 3 additional students who stepped up and took on the roles o f the guards. I also recast some roles, reworked the script, and adjusted the blocking and choreography to make up for the difference." Losing about 3 6 percent of her cast, Mrs. Rodriguez remained determined and did not let that dampen her spirit.
During rehearsals, C O V ID made setbacks unavoidable. Mrs. Rodriguez wrote, "I was very concerned about
the safety of the actors and the adults since we were working in close proximity to each other. The actors also had to sing and dance with masks on, which was not easy on them." Singers had to practice outside and backstage gatherings were omitted.
Kayla Novas '21, cast as Jafar, wrote, "O f course, we
had to distance, but I felt like everything was higher stakes. Everyone was more stressed, especially with a few cast members coming in close contact with COVID. Because the show was nearly finished when we stopped for quarantine last year, rehearsals this year were to
brush off the dust and reblock scenes to be outdoor- adapted. I loved being able to perform in Aladdin,
but after C O V ID , rehearsals lacked the spontaneity, excitement, and escape from stressful reality rehearsal once provided."
Mrs. Rodriguez continued, "There were a number of challenges. W here to put the stage and the audience was an issue. The stage was quite large so we ended
up having to block one o f the walkways which was not ideal. We had some special effects we were planning
for some o f the scenes that did not work outdoors and had to be scrapped. We also had to deal with sound challenges, and we were unable to use any lighting since rigging up lights was cost prohibitive. Thank God we got lucky with the weather, but that was stressful because that is the one thing we had absolutely no control over.
A positive was the play lent itselfto an outdoor setting so, in the end, it all turned out well."
Kennedy James '23, an audience member, shared, "I feel like the actors adjusted very well, they met the
C O V ID guidelines by not being close to each other for a long period oftime, they wore their masks, and still were able to perform an awesome show, probably one ofthe best."
"Giving the students the opportunity to finally perform the show was definitely a source o f joy for me. I am proud o f the collaborative effort Mrs. Tepavac, Mr. Poore, and I put forth to make it happen. It was truly
a monumental undertaking that I could not have done without them. I am also proud of the cast and dancers who stuck by this show and saw it through. I am proud to say we might actually be one of the few schools able to mount a full-scale production in the middle o f a pandemic," concluded Mrs. Rodriguez.
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