When Tony Award-winning high school theater director Jason Zembuch Young and his students reached out to local community leaders asking if they would be willing to take the stage in support of arts in education, the answer was a resounding “yes!”
In May, the theater program at Dr. Joaquín García High School, known as the García Theatre Company, will be producing their first-ever musical: Disney’s High School Musical. Making their García Stage debuts with the company will be school board members Virginia Savietto and Marcia Andrews, Palm Beach County Mayor Maria Marino and Florida State Rep. Anne Gerwig. Additional guest performers will include teachers and staff from Dr. Joaquín García High School, as well as several faculty members from local feeder schools Discovery Key Elementary School and Woodlands Middle School.
Depending on guest performer preferences, roles will include everything from a simple cross on stage, without dialogue, to participating in a scene or two and joining the cast in some choreography.
Sabrina DeSantis, a parent volunteer and the mother of Gabriella DeSantis, the young lady playing the infamous Sharpay in the show, describes having such notable public figures participating in the production as, “A great way to shine a light on the importance of the arts in education, and more specifically, theater arts in education. Theater teaches these kids so much more than how to put on a show. It teaches them about dedication and accountability. It instills in them a work ethic that will serve them well into college and throughout life. My own daughter’s school experience has been completely transformed by being involved in this program. Where she would often call home with stomach aches or headaches, asking to come home early, she is now fully engaged in school because she has found a purpose.”
As Dr. Joaquín García High School has a large number of students that come from Spanish-only speaking homes, in addition to hosting guest performers for the upcoming production of High School Musical, the García Theatre Company, in collaboration with the school’s Latinos in Action program, will also be providing live simultaneous Spanish voiceovers for Spanish-only speaking audience members at every show through the use of assistive listening devices.
High School Musical runs May 1, 2, 3, 9, 10 at 7 p.m. and on Sunday, May 11 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door, and can be purchased online by visiting GoFan and searching for Dr. Joaquín García High School.
