The Aliso Niguel Theatre Company (ANTC) hosted the annual Broadway Night on March 14 at 7 p.m., featuring a lineup of classical and contemporary musical theatre performances. The show was held in the school theatre, highlighting the talents of the students through a collection of solos, duets and ensemble numbers.
The show was hosted by the emcees, Joise Cook (12), Neka Jazaeri (11), Greg Kaloustian (10) and Mateen Mehradad (11), opening with Act One.
Among the performances, Josie Cook and April Simpson (12) opened the show with the song “What You Mean to Me” from “Finding Neverland,” while Olivia Irwin (12), sang an emotional rendition of “Requiem” from “Dear Evan Hansen.” From the play “Bat Boy,” Abby Manzella (10) and Sophie Padilla (10) performed “Three Bedroom Houses.” Cameron Wheaton (11) performed the song “When He Sees Me” from the play “Waitress.” From the play “Frozen,” Madison Austin (12) and Ariel Christensen (12) performed “First Time in Forever-Reprise.”
After the first few performances, the show commenced with the awarding ceremony for the Honor Thespians of the Aliso Niguel Theatre Company.
The show then continued with the Theatre Camp Number.
The song “Crazier Than You” from “Addams Family” was sung by Carson Adams (12) and Ashley Atkinson (12). Kiki Daly (11) performed the song “You’ll Be Back” from “Hamilton.” Freja Harrison (11) and Olivia Irwin performed “Wedding Song” from “Company.”
“What I Did For Love” from “Chorus Line” was sung by Madison Rodriguez (11). “End of the Line” from “Theory of Relativity” was sung by Neka Jazaeri and Gabby Tamaraz (11). Ariel Christensen performed “Crossing a Bridge” from “Anastasia.”
From the play “Cinderella,” the song “Stepsisters Lament” was sung by Alisa Kalanova (10) and Cameron Wheaton. The song “Maybe This Time” from the play “Cabaret” was sung by Kayana Coachman (12).
Gabby Tameraz says, “I would say my favourite part was the group numbers because it was a lot of fun performing with friends!”
After the 15 intermission, Act Two commenced with the start of the special numbers. Claire Fincher (12) performed “What Baking Can Do” from “Waitress.” Gia D’Amelio (11) and Olivia Irwin performed “Getting Married Today” from “Company.” From the play “Hadestown”, the song “When the Chips are Down” was performed by Carrie Collings (10), Freja Harrison and Abigail Kirkland (10).
The next part was the Spongebob number. Emma Esparza (10), Marina Miyata (10), Sara Phan (10) and Lucy Ramirez (10) performed “Schuyler Sisters” from “Hamilton.” Then from “Dear Evan Hansen”, Gabby Tamraz performed “Waving Through a Window.” From the play “Title of Show”, Roma Akbarzadeh (9), Benita Alirezaei (9) and Atosa Sarrami (9) performed “Secondary Characters.”
Afterwards, the Staff Number started with the song “Your Fault” from “Into the Woods”, performed by Sofia Bonfanti (9), Kathryn Greu Klaus (9), Nicole Philips (9), Kaylie Phung (9) and Olivia Tipaldi (9). “Goodbye” from “Catch Me if You Can” was sung by Neka Jazaeri and Gabby Tamraz.
Lastly, the Newcomer number came around and Gia D’Amelio and Madison Rodiguez performed “Who Will Love Me As I Am” from “Side Show.” Kayana Coachman and Claire Fincher performed “Good For You” from “Dear Evan Hansen.”
Claire (12) says, “I loved getting to sing with my best friend Kayana and I loved how committed everyone was to their performance!”
The production was led by stage manager Keilani Meyer (11), with assistant stage managers Shiley Moeinzadeh (10) and Nolan DeWee (10). Technical aspects were handled by Jackson Cravens (10) on lights, Milo Rios (11) on sound and Max Meyer (9) and Carina Leo (12) on spotlights. The running crew included Gab Polyapoy (10), Douglas Beaver (10), Isabella Betancourt (9), Kaitalan Fleschere (11) and Angie Donaldson (9).
To conclude the night, the company teased its upcoming spring musical, “The SpongeBob Musical”, set to run April 17-19 and 24-26 at 7 p.m., starring Carsen Adams as SpongeBob.
