Cast and crew speak out
Jay Gatsby, the larger-than-life main character in one of the most widely read books in high school comes to life at EHS.
You can see the classic novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald performed by the Englewood Theatre Company on Friday, November 10, and Saturday, November 11 in the black box theatre.
After months of work on sets, costumes, props, and more the thespian troupe is excited to put on their annual fall play with the title character, Jay Gatsby, played by Aztlan Bonilla Medina, and the other lead Daisy Buchanan, played by Juniper Alexander.
Medina is a senior and says this is his second lead in the last two weeks, "I like the idea of being able to play someone who is mysterious because you can really play with that character in what aspects he's mysterious in which excites me, primarily because I get to interact with each and every character differently. And I don't necessarily have to treat everyone with the same kind of respect as that character."
He says despite a rocky start to the theater season, he says now it feels good, "I'm proud of what everyone's accomplished. Everyone's working together. It feels like a family. I'm proud of everyone who has stepped up because we've had a lot of positions that have had many holes in them. But it does feel like we're gonna have a tight cast and crew this year and moving forward. It's really exciting to see."
Next year, it looks like more acting for Medina, "I've been accepted to four colleges so far for acting. So I'm gonna continue this career either at Chicago, Seton Hall, University of Colorado, or Southern California."
The theatre department has gone through a lot in the past couple of years including the lack of a sponsor and director. A lot of actors at EHS were left thinking there would be no play this year. It also left everyone who participated in theatre worried about the future of the club.
The current sponsor is also the school psychologist, Patrick Mashka. He took on the role of director and sponsor after hearing about the lack of a teacher or staff member willing to take on the task, “I’m glad I'm available and I'm somebody who loves this. So I was happy to step in.”
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