After months of practice, members of the Alliance High Musical Cast were finally able to display their talents for the public. “We’ve been practicing since early January,” said senior Roger Bunnell. “So it feels good to finally get out and perform it for an audience.” Roger played Riff, a member of the Jets gang, who was the leader of the crew once Tony (Collin Cox) left the gang. Junior Collin Cox played Tony, while the role of Maria went to Brianna Ridenour. Andeas Volland played Bernado, and the four talented singers led the performance all night.

The musical displayed the talents that many students at AHS possess, from singing and dancing, to acting, the students gave their all to the performance. Led by first year director Karena Soriano, there were some changes to this years’ production. “There was a new director, so there was a different take on rehearsals, and a whole new experience,” said AHS Senior Brianna Ridenour,  “the changes were interesting, but I liked them.”

This year definitely took a different turn on Musicals put on by Alliance High School, turning away from bright comedies such as “Once Upon A Mattress,” to the dark setting of “Westside Story” gave the students a different experience which they liked. “This is definitely my favorite musical that I’ve been a part of,” said Bunnell, “in the past we’ve done a bunch of Disney musical cute things, this is more edgy, with more racy comments, death, and violence, I like the more serious plays, so it has really stood out to me.”

Another new idea that was introduced to this years production was the involvement of adults in the Musical. Apperances by AHS Choir teacher Mike Garcia, who played Doc, AHS Algebra teacher Nate Lanik played Officer Krupke, while Dan Marquez was the role of Lt. Schrank. William Graham played Glad hand. The student actors enjoyed having teachers be involved. “It’s not only kids trying to be adults, but actual adults playing the roles so it adds a cool edge,” said Junior Collin Cox.

“It brings in the community, it’s not just a high school musical anymore, it’s a community musical, said Ridenour, “it’s awesome because Coach Lanik is not only a basketball coach, but also a professional police officer.”

The cast came together to put a complete musical down to the light cues, along with accompaniment by Linda Vollweiler, Kevin Wilkinson, Renee Kollars, Amie Claire Peters, and Elore Bleisch. 7th Street Dance Studio teacher Kathy Lybarger did Coerography, while Crissy Kloch helped with vocals.

Cast:

Collin Cox, Brianna Ridenour, Roger Bunnell, Andreas Volland, Trajan Garcia, Megan Buskirk, William Grant, Daniel Slais, David Beckett, Austin Stephenson, Austin McGhyhy, Jaden Thacker, Jacob Long, Sariah Grant, Angus Frisch, Lorena Lopez, Peyton Stoike, Victoria Redecker, Lauren Block, Monique Wing, Christa Horn, Jazmin Pruneda, Mary Weingart, Marina Frisch, Jazlyn Garza, Mike Garcia, Nate Lanik, Daniel Marquez, William Grant