New performing arts center raises the curtain on first Sobrato
stage production
Morgan Hill – Sobrato High students learned an important lesson of the stage as they embarked on the school’s first-ever drama production this week: No matter what, the show must go on.
The quintessential tragic love story by William Shakespeare will wrap tonight at the school’s recently completed Performing Arts Center at 8pm – ending its three-show run.
“We’ve been planning this for six months, and some of our students have been waiting for this since the beginning of last year,” said Mark Masoni, art and drama teacher at Sobrato. “It’s pretty nice to be up and running.”
Masoni probably feels relieved because late last week the pivotal role of Tybalt, who ultimately leads to Romeo’s exile and the climax of the play, needed a new actor. The original actor had to withdraw due to illness and a replacement quit because of time constraints, leaving Masoni with no where else to turn for the role of the second most critical Capulet.
“I took the role for one night, during dress rehearsal week, and it was great to be doing it with the kids,” Masoni said. “Then someone else took the role for a night, but she found she already had too much on her plate. I was ready to pick up the lines again, because the show must go on.”
Rescue finally came in the form of a new student, brought to Masoni’s attention by Joey Edgar, who plays the star-crossed lover Romeo.
“He told me he thought this guy, John Baker, could do it, could learn the lines by the next day and do a good job,” Masoni said. “The other kids knew John, too, and they rehearsed with him during breaks, at lunch, after school. And last night, he went on and was great.”
Problems with completing the theater itself – contractors unable to get the lighting control system installed, for example – pushed the opening of the play back almost on top of the school’s scheduled spring production of the musical “Grease.”
“The performance dates were rescheduled three times,” Masoni said. “It was just one thing after another.”
Opening night was worth it, he said, and he hopes the fun is just beginning.
