Show gave entire cast a chance to shine

CHICAGO, from Page 18

“I was very excited for the audience to see the choreography for the song ‘Roxie,’” she said. “It was a very challenging number to learn and there were lots of really cool lifts that I got to be a part of while I was singing.”

Mia Sera, a 12th-grader, said she struggled with confidence in her role as Velma Kelly.

“Velma’s character is huge with her choreography and I was always scared to make it too big,” she said, noting that she got better during tech week rehearsals and nightly performances.

The entire cast’s efforts payed off during the live production, garnering praise for the group numbers' energy and synchronicity.

Also lauded was the black and white motif and lighting design that helped transport audiences into the world of “Chicago.”

“1 think when audiences see Chicago, they usually expect a certain motif, and we wanted to come in with a traditional approach to the musical, since this area hadn’t ever seen a high school perform the show,” Aguirre said.

He credited 9th-grade student Olivia Maynard with the lighting success, noting that she built her own ideas and personality into the directions he gave. He said he was thrilled with her work during the “Cell Block Tango” number, where a red backlit stage and single spotlight illuminated the murderous women and their silent victims.

Aguirre said Maynard’s work also helped him and the cast realize how good the show could be.

“There is always that moment in rehearsal where the show ‘clicks,’ especially for the actors. Sometimes it’s weeks before the performance, sometimes it’s the day before opening night,” he said. “For this show, it was probably at the beginning of our tech week, once we added the lights, mics and sound — you can always hear the excitement in the kids when they see a really cool lighting design for a particular scene, etc.”

The students of the Milton Area High School, under the direction of Steve Aguirre, are to be congratulated on their stylish, bold production of Kander and Ebb’s “Chicago” at Milton High School. With a chic, black and white color motif, augmented by the “razzle dazzle” of a hyper-colorful lighting design at just the right moments, this show featured some very strong young singers and actors tackling a less-common show with some mature themes.

Chicago first opened in 1975 and primarily tells a story of two women, Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, both accused of murder and seeking to use that fame to increase their celebrity status as entertainers in the 1920s jazz age. This production featured senior Chloe Russell as Roxie, and juniors Mia Sera and Ely Reitz as Velma and their lawyer Billy Flynn, respectively, all of whom gave impressive performances all around, supported by a strong ensemble cast of over 30 students. Also featured in the show were juniors Carley Braham as “Mama” Morton and Rafael Martinez II as Roxie’s husband, Amos, both of whom shone brightly in the spotlight