Hillcrest students team up to present ‘Aida’

More than 250 Hillcrest High School students contributed to the school’s production of Elton John and Tim Rice’s “Aida.”

“This is truly an involvement of our entire school,” producer/director Paul Winkelman said about the show, which ran for four days in mid-November. “It’s a school-wide project, not just a fine arts production. We’ve had students who come by to help paint a prop or help with the program or a costume. It’s a part of many of our students, parents and faculty, and we couldn’t do it without their help.”

Winkelman said that through the production, students learn responsibility and teamwork. For example, the sculpture class created hats from wicker. Multimedia students designed posters and an international baccalaureate student researched to learn about the characterization and time period of the musical so the cast could better prepare their roles.

“When the whole school helps, from costumes to backdrops, it’s a student-driven, student production. No one here is turned away,” he said. “We use this more than a chance to teach singing, dancing and acting -- it’s a way to prepare for life and know what real work means and what commitment is. We don’t just produce a mediocre musical, we work 100 percent for a common goal and it takes a lot of sacrifice, but the end result becomes more meaningful to the students. The show was absolutely phenomenal; it’s the very best thing they’ve done.”

This production took a pioneering role in a new style of backdrops. Instead of the traditionally painted backdrops, the school worked with Canyons School District to finance a system to project backdrops onto a muslin fabric screen, which in the long run, Winkleman said, will save money and time.

“This is the direction all the Broadway shows are going and after this, we’ll share what we’ve learned with other schools to help them install it,” he said.

Acting director Joshua Long said that the new technology allowed students to gain experience with state-of-the-art technology and provided a great opportunity for drama students.

“The kids just nailed it,” he said. “The singing, dancing, backdrops worked so well. I can’t believe what they’ve accomplished. This is special; so much beyond high school performance expectations.”

Winkleman said he chose “Aida” since it was a more dramatic Disney-produced show, with a strong message that was different from recent musicals they’ve performed. He said the difficulty of the dance, music and production was one he felt Hillcrest students could meet. Winkelman said that since there were so many performers, the team created more opportunities for the cast to be in the show.

For senior Malia Morley, who played the lead character Aida, she appreciated students working together.

“We had people all over the school contributing, whether it was the dancers, the choir, the ceramic students, the graphic artists, the performers,” she said. “We came together and gave countless hours to make one moment beautiful that can’t be matched anywhere. These people are my heroes. They sacrificed lots to touch peoples’ lives.”

Besides Winkelman and Long, the production team included dance director Chelsea Lujan, vocal director RaNae Dalgleish, orchestra director Kristi Pehrson, vocal specialist Brian Bentley, set construction and designer Mindy Jamison, costume designer Paula Price, costume coordinators Kathy Larrson and Liz Graul, lighting director Cole Adams and videographer Dave Moon.