Los Gatos Weekly-Times

'Fame' cast members include (clockwise from left) Christine McClure, Rachel Williams, Jason Jurman, Joanna Rauh and Bryan Giese-Gardner.

LGHS's production of 'Fame' takes competition top honors

By John Pancharian

Los Gatos High School's production of Fame won first place in the American Musical Theater of San Jose's High School Honors Program, tying with St. Francis High School of Mountain View. Los Gatos senior Jason Jurman also won Best Performance by a Male Actor, standing out among more than 50 finalists.

"It was all worth it," LGHS junior Jordan Kaplan, or "Jose Vegas," said of the hours of preparation. "We had a longer practice time than usual, and we never slowed down," he said, explaining that cast members rehearsed 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, then came back in for four hours on Saturdays. All told, the cast worked about 16 hours a week for 12 weeks.

"And a lot of individual work was done, which was not counted in," added Rachel Williams, the LGHS senior who played Carmen Diaz.

The endless rehearsing paid off when AMT's jury of five judges showed up at the April 3 performance. The visit was supposed to be clandestine, but word got out and tension thickened backstage before the curtain went up.

The show challenged students to sing, dance and play instruments as well as the talented characters they portrayed. Diana Pleasant, the musical director, said the judges were particularly impressed with Gavin Johnson who, in addition to acting, sang, danced and played French horn and piano on stage. "They couldn't believe that none of it was dubbed," she said.

The challenge for Kaplan and Williams was finding a way to make their characters convincing, even though they were quite different from themselves.

"My role was exactly the opposite of my personality," Kaplan said of Jose Vegas. "I'm quiet, study hard and try to be friendly. My role was a womanizer, very forward with women; [Jose] thought he was the hottest thing in school."

There was even one song in the original score to be sung by the actor playing Vegas which was a bit too hot for high school. Titled "Can't Keep It Down," the song was quickly axed--which left Kaplan the challenge of writing his solo himself. Pleasant explained that the character sings the song for an exercise which requires him to use his own pain and insecurity to inspire him.

Fame ran in late March and early April and featured the talents of over 50 LGHS students onstage, backstage and in the orchestra. At that time, parent volunteer Dolly Johnson said, the LGHS production marked the first time Fame had been performed on the West Coast.

[ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ]