Spring Musical: Cinderella

SPRING MUSICAL Cinderella Enchants!

The Drama Club brought live performances back to Notre Dame on April 28th–30th with its production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella; Enchanted Edition. With its theme of faith in possibility, the musical touched audience members young and old. During those many months of rehearsal, it brought music to our halls and joy to our school community as we edged out of the pandemic.

Top: The cast of Cinderella with directors Tyler Miclean and ND’s own Nicole Wakabayashi Middle Left: Cinderella, Karisma Garcia’22, is transformed by her Fairy Godmother, Hannah Delaney ‘22 Minddle Right: Cinderella, Karisma Garcia’22, and the Prince, Cristian Naranjo-Mosquera, Xavier ‘22, fall in love, with a little help from villager Amory Garcia ‘24 Bottom Left: The full cast takes a bow Bottom Right: The Queen, Nicole Nwako ‘23, and King, Thomas Gatto‘22

The show was directed by Music Teacher and Arts Department Chair Nicole Wakabayashi and her friend and colleague, New York actor Tyler Miclean. Tyler observes in the program’s end notes, “The emphasis of this version is our dreams and what we do with them…. Dreams, visions, passions, desires… they are demanding, unavoidable, and almost impossible to destroy, especially in ourselves…. Is true love the most daring dream of all?” Praising the cast and crew, he added, “The students have opened their hearts and minds to these questions and themes.”

Clearly, cast members were transformed by their participation in this magical play. Says Natalie Nguyen ‘23, who played the stepmother: ”Being involved with Cinderella has brought me immense joy. Throughout the five months of preparation, I’ve gotten close to each and every one of my castmates. Working with people who are charismatic, funny, and bold allowed me to be fully myself. Somehow, we never became tired of each other, even though we met for rehearsals every day. Even after hours, we'd hang around the city and get pizza and bubble tea. I have never experienced such a strong and incredible bond with a group of people before. I am forever grateful for the friendships this show has brought to me. Our last show was emotional, almost everybody was crying, but it felt amazing to entertain many marvelous audiences. We had a beautiful barbecue the day after our last performance, to celebrate our accomplishments and enjoy one of our last moments all together.”

Ensemble member Daniella Leonzo ’23 reflected on what being part of the show meant to her:

“Coming back to ND in-person every day was very exciting to me. Due to COVID many of us stayed home and missed out on a year and a half of high school. Transitioning back has been an amazing experience for me because I was able to join more clubs, manage the volleyball team, and I was able to create new friendships with girls I never spoke to during my freshman year. Opening up the first email about the Spring Musical, I was immediately interested and I ran down to Ms. Waka's office to write my name down to audition… In the beginning of January, when the first onstage rehearsals started, everyone immediately clicked…I have…found a place where I was able to be who I am and we've all begun a bond that I like to call my second family….The show has taught me so much about time management, responsibility, and love. I would like to thank Ms. Waka and Mr. Miclean for the opportunity to be a part of the show, and I can't wait till next year.”

Notre Dame is also deeply grateful to the band members, to ND’s Technology Coordinator, Alaric Lejano, and the tech team, and to all the students who helped manage the production and worked on props and costumes. Clearly, Cinderella was more than just an entertaining show for Notre Dame. The performances brought meaning, purpose, connections and belief in possibility. Stay tuned for an announcement of the musical choice for Spring 2023!