The Brave News

by Brett Baligad, Senior Editor

Last weekend, the St. John Bosco Theater Company presented their first play of the year. With many new faces on opening night, there is a lot to look forward to for the theater department.

Directed by Mr. Martin Lang, this year’s fall production, Peter and the Starcatcher, is an origin story to the iconic 1953 Disney film, Peter Pan. The production follows the orphan boy in green played by senior Alex Palmer along with the infamous Black Stache played by senior Connor Sheehan.

The play is filled with plenty of British accents, pirates and magic to keep all ages on the edge of their seat. Although the play is not considered a musical, there is still an enjoyable amount of choreography and live singing. Throughout the production, the cast was complimented by a live percussionist and pianist.

What made the play’s opening weekend stand out the most were all of the new faces in the cast. This production saw six new male cast members to join the St. John Bosco Theater Company, leaving only lead roles Alex Palmer and Connor Sheehan with prior experience. However, these actors did not fall short in talent nor chemistry.

One headline actor was freshmen Kai Maldonado. Kai has years of experience acting, and it showed. As a freshman, Kai still had to acclimate to the acting culture at Bosco leading up to opening night.

“I’ve had a lot of fun getting to know the rest of the cast. The upperclassmen really helped me get to know what theater is all about here at Bosco,” said Kai.

New faces came in all ages, as there were a few new upperclassmen additions as well. Most notably, senior Jack Scalas as well as juniors Daniel Cedillo and Grant Hildalgo-Villanueva made their high school theater debuts this past weekend.

“I used to do theater in middle school. I have always liked doing it,” said Grant. “Since COVID-19, I kind of strayed away from it. However, I am thankful for Alex [Palmer] and Mr. Lang, as they were a big part in why I came back to performing in theater.”

Saint Joseph High School has and will continue to be a large part in Bosco’s biannual productions. The lead female role, Molly, is played by senior Eva Sadler. With Peter and the Starcatcher being her sixth production between St. John Bosco and St. Joseph, Eva is no stranger to Bosco’s crowd. However, there are always learning curves to new roles and personas played by the cast.

“My biggest challenge was learning the lines in which I am speaking “Norse Code” [a fictional nautical language]. Those difficult words really messed with my head,” Eva said.

Even with many new faces, the cast had an exciting and successful opening weekend for their performance of Peter and The Starcatcher. The cast will finish shows this weekend with productions tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday at 7:30pm and a closing Sunday show at 2:30pm.

The Bosco Theater Company will then take a much deserved break and pick it back up in the Spring. The Company invites you to get involved in the arts and try out next show.

“Try it out! Theater has been my absolute favorite experience throughout all of high school, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t also the hardest,” said Eva. “The work and dedication you put into a show will reward you on opening night. There’s no feeling like being on stage, especially when you adore the role you’re playing.”