'Now Us', an Original Student Musical Workshop, Set for March 5

February 18th 2021

Westover drama students will present a Zoom performance of their original musical revue, Now Us, on Friday, March 5. You can watch the performance below.

Now Us was developed as a Winter Musical Workshop to give students the opportunity to create original material that reflects the diversity of their voices, identities, and stories. Working in conjunction with Director of Drama Marla Truini, Musical Directors/Arrangers Lauren Tian (Art Department Chair) and Oswaldo Machado, and guest artist Michael Whitney Brown, students have created lyrics and music for 16 songs and have crafted brief monologues and scenes to connect the songs.

“By exploring contemporary American musical theatre and implementing collaborative theatre practice,” Marla said, “students have created a unique theatre experience so that they will be able to exemplify the potential of ‘hybrid’ theatre spaces in building community.”

The show opens with a song by sophomore Alexis Mays that “explores the stereotype of the ‘ingenue,’” Marla said, “and how these young women are redefining the traditional way that they are portrayed in musical theatre, expanding and enriching the limited and one-dimensional casting category.”

Junior JaMara Jean follows with her Perspectives of a Teenage Drama Queen, offering “a glimpse into what 2021 high school students might be experiencing,” Marla said.

The show then continues with songs composed by other cast members ranging from ballads to patter songs, solos, trios, and group numbers. “Most of the students in the class had never written a song before,” Marla noted, “so the workshop provided them with the opportunity to experiment and develop their musical ideas.”

The revue includes songs with verses in Swahili and South Korean.

In this three-month project, Marla said, students from grades 9 through 12 participated both remotely and on-site. Some are students who live in Connecticut and others from as far away as China and South Korea, who have connected via Zoom to a virtual rehearsal space.

In addition to Mays and Jean, cast members include seniors Madeline Abate and Joyce Yang; juniors Jillian Brown and Beldine Atieno Wasonga; sophomore Kyra Rook; and freshmen Amy Cheng, Sophia Kwak, Hannah O’Brien, and Vickie Sun.

The crew includes seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshmen: