The South Hills Drama Club experienced an influx of first-year students alongside a large number of departing seniors this year. Several members shared their thoughts on either beginning or concluding their theatrical journey.
First-Year Students
Among the incoming first-year students was Ashish Raj (9). Although Raj brought years of previous theatrical experience, his time at South Hills has proven to be uniquely memorable.
“I’ve never felt like I’ve been more welcomed. I feel like it’s my home now. One of my favorite memories was when I walked into the green room and everyone screamed my name and started complimenting me,” Raj said.
Raj balanced both swim and theatre during the second semester. He shared how he might change his schedule next year to be able to devote more time to theatre.
“Since I’m doing swim, I’ll probably mainly do the fall shows. I definitely want to be able to continue with theatre next year,” Raj said.
Charlie Barbosa (9) has worked backstage during the fall and spring shows this school year. She, like many freshmen, were nervous to arrive at their first rehearsal. She was not sure she would fit in.
“I was really nervous the first time I came to rehearsal, but everyone here is really nice and they have a lot of the same interests as me, so I felt really welcome here because everyone is just like me,” Barbosa said.
First-year student Micaela Garcia (9) reflected on her most memorable theatre moment.
“I really enjoyed tech week because this is when we really put the show together and it actually becomes its own thing,” Garcia said.
Garcia joined the spring musical’s ensemble. She shared how she felt welcomed and wishes to continue with theatre next school year.
“Everyone is just so welcoming and so friendly and I feel like I’ve already made lots of new friends. I like doing theatre, and it’s a really good hobby for me and it makes me more active with other people,” Garcia said.
Final Year Students
Since freshman year, Akhil Raj (12) has performed in all productions with the exceptions of “Mamma Mia” in spring 2023 and “She Kills Monsters” in fall 2024. Despite not acting in a few productions, Raj has worked crew for every show. His four-year journey at South Hills demonstrates exceptional commitment to theatre. He highlighted his most fulfilling accomplishments.
“I think watching the “Legally Blonde” set finally come together was one of the best moments this year. There were a lot of stressful moments but in the end I think I’m pretty proud of the way it turned out. One of my favorite shows though, was “Beauty and the Beast” because despite all the stress and stuff I think came together a lot better than I expected it to so that was really nice,” Raj said.
Raj also talked about what he’s learned from theatre and what advice he’d give to new students.
“Theatre is great, it’s an amazing source of self expression and an amazing source of things the rest of high school doesn’t give you. I think it’s definitely something you should stick with if you’re interested in it but at the same time I encourage you to branch out a little and try other things and try to make friends across other programs and not just in theatre, so that way you have a little bit more dimensionality to you,” Raj said.
Chris Garcia (12) joined theatre last year, and has only participated in four major productions. As soon as he joined, he knew it was going to become his new passion. He reflected on what made theatre most special for him.
“I love meeting all the lovely people in the community. They’ve been friends and now they’re family. What I liked about my final show is I think I had more experience and more familiarity with the people around me and it was overall a fun experience to do a musical and be better,” Garcia said.
Garcia thinks one of the most important things about theatre is building close bonds with people and taking risks.
“Don’t be afraid of how you interpret things. The best thing about theatre is expressing yourself and expressing your character, the freedom of it. Just be yourself. It’s a very special and unique place,” Garcia said.
