As he prepares himself to open the document, Maanas relives the audition in his head. He’s confident that he was impressive and that there’s no possible way his name wouldn’t be on this list. He knew he’d be there somewhere, but he speculated under which category it might fall. As he clicks on the page, his hopes are delightfully affirmed. He welcomes the good news, ready for the adventure that awaits.

“I was an okay dancer, but not a great singer, so I was excited when I found out I was gonna be able to participate in this awesome show,” said sophomore theatre student Maanas Gokhale.

This year’s student musical is Cinderella, and it will be performed in late January. The cast list was announced this past Saturday, putting faces to over 60 performing roles, not including the additional technical staff

“I felt like since I had already signed up for crew as well, I knew I would be part of the musical anyway. I was excited to learn I’d get to act,” said Gokhale.

Excitement is flowing through the halls as students prepare to continue working hard as musical participants.

“Receiving the cast list can be a little nerve racking, but the feeling when you open the results and you see your name, it’s so exciting to know that all of your hard work from the last couple months of preparation was worth it,” said sophomore choir student Brighton Harris.

This kind of show is one that needs all hands on deck. A performance of such scale wouldn’t be possible without the commitment of many students. 

“The musical is something everybody can be a part of, so people who aren’t necessarily in a theatre class can still participate in musical arts if it’s something they want to do,” said Harris.

But it’s not just going to be a large performance, this production is going to be a spectacle. Everybody already knows the story of Cinderella, so the amazing technical staff plans to help keep things fresh.

“Cinderella is somewhat cliche and played out, so the department is trying to add intrigue,” said Gokhale.

It will be exciting to see how the performance plays out in January, especially with such aspirations. We’ll see how the newly formed cast and crew handle their roles, both onstage and off.

“We’re [going to] be doing some new interesting things in terms of tech,” elaborated Gokhale, “so it’ll be fun to see how the final product is presented and how the audience responds.”

For now though, all that can be done is anticipate and remain excited; there’s a new development every day.

“The musical is something you should look forward to,” said Harris, “because not only will it probably have people you know in it, but it’s also engaging and has a lot of moving parts.”

And look forward to it we shall, seeing as the energy this development has generated seems to do nothing but grow.