Picture this: Driving in a car, someone turns on the radio. It’s the classic rock station and “Van Halen” is shaking the car. Energy is up and somebody’s dad is probably shouting the lyrics. Now take all of that and put it into a high school production. That’s Rock of Ages. The students spent months putting the show together to finally present it on November 14th, 15th, and 16th.
Teachers were raving about their favorite songs as teenagers, thinking back to a simpler time. This show brought them back to the time when all it was hairspray, acid wash jeans, and “Journey.”
“My favorite part of the show was seeing all the students on stage, singing 80’s music,” teacher Dana Boice said. “I love 80’s music, this was my era. I also saw this show professionally in Las Vegas, so I couldn’t wait to see it from the student perspective.”
Rock of Ages is definitely a departure from what the Utica Theatre department normally does. This year instead of the usual fall play, the producer, teacher Joel Kaczmarczyk, decided to do a one act, or part, musical instead.
“I was wondering if students would be receptive to doing a musical in the fall,” Kaczmarczyk said. “On the other hand, Rock of Ages was what was considered a youth edition. I was concerned that students might think less of me for choosing it. The original version was just not community friendly, so I was excited when the youth edition came out.”
It wasn’t just the producer that knew this show would be difficult to pull off. The director and assistant director both also knew what a challenge this would be.
“This is the first time we’ve ever done a musical in the fall, so it’s definitely a time crunch,” senior Carley Davis said. “Having so many people here is insane. I’m just happy I’ve met so many cool new people.”
Stage Managers have been right next to the director taking care of stuff that is literally behind the scenes. If it weren’t for these people, the auditorium could become a mosh pit.
“I’ve been making sure all of the tech people are organized especially during our Monday tech meetings,” sophomore Grace Tuffy said. “Amaya, the other stage manager, and I talk about what needs to be done during the week, who needs to be there, and if we need to talk to people individually than we do.”
Many students seemed to be taking new leadership roles in this show with the people who joined after COVID graduated. This new batch of students are ranging from freshman all the way to those graduating in 2025.
“Last year, I worked on lights and microphones and now I’m one of the people in charge of lights,” Isaac Hellebuyck said. “There definitely a shift in what I’m used to working on, it’s still fun though.”
From technical people to actors, everything seemed to just fall in place. The actors seemed to just jump right out from the script’s pages.
“It was awesome playing the lead role of Drew in the show,” sophomore Caiton Wilder said. “One thing I felt with Drew’s character was that awkwardness. I think we’ve all had awkward moments with people in the past, which I found really relatable.”
With all of these little connections attaching everyone to each other like a web, it’s very hard not to make friends in theatre. In theatre, most try to create a welcoming vibe to invite new people from all over the Utica school system.
“Everyone gets along very well here and we’re all very close,” Hellebuyck said. “We go places sometimes after rehearsal, but we already spend so much time after school together, we’re already hanging out a lot.”
There seemed to be many changes on the rise when this show began, creating a new atmosphere that Utica theatre had not seen in a long time.
“There were a lot of newbies that challenged the veterans to perform at a higher level,” Kaczmarczyk said. “They realized that some of these 9th or 10th graders were coming on board that showed so much talent which made the older ones want to up their game. The HHS Academy and pushing the middle school to get involved really created this new atmosphere.”
This show was one that would follow those involved for the rest of their lives. In the future, turning on the radio will be a simple reminder of the chaos and beauty that was Rock of Ages. Girl meets boy never felt so vintage. The future of Utica Theatre looks very bright.
