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Photograph by Patricia Garrovillo
Saratoga High School's performing arts department received six nominations in the American Musical Theater of San Jose's 2006 High School Honors Awards for its production of the musical 'Working' back in November. Danielle Coleman (front) received a nomination for one of the top honors, best performerfemale, for her role as Dolores Dante, a waitress.
'Working' a labor of love for Saratoga students
Now they're reaping benefits as nominees in awards ceremony
By Jennifer McBride
"And the Oscar goes to ... "
OK, so it's not the Oscars, but to the performing arts students at Saratoga High School, it may feel like it.
For the second year in a row, Saratoga High's drama students have swept the American Musical Theater of San Jose's High School Honors Awards nominations. This year, the school's production of Working, which was the first musical to debut at the new McAfee Performing Arts and Lecture Center in November, is up for six nominations, including the top honor, best musical. In addition, Saratoga High is nominated for best student orchestra and four students are nominated as "best of" in individual categories: Danielle Coleman for performer--female; Varun Sivaram for supporting performer--male; Rachel Balma for student hair/makeup design; and Emily Harter for student choreography.
Each year, schools around the Bay Area can submit a musical for consideration in the High School Honors Awards program. Judges attend a performance and meet with the students afterward to give comments and constructive criticism and to select a few of the students they thought "stood out" with outstanding performer awards.
In the spring, just before schools let out, an elaborate awards night is held. Six nominees are chosen for "best of" awards in 10 categories: musical, performer--female, performer--male, supporting performer--male, supporting performer--female, student costume design, student lighting design, student hair/makeup design, student choreography and student orchestra.
The San Jose Center for the Performing Arts will be set up on May 23 much like the Academy Awards to greet the students, their teachers and their friends and family. Kathleen Woods, the head of the performing arts department at Saratoga High, who directed the production of Working, about the lives of middle class workers, says the 2,700-seat auditorium typically fills up fast.
As one of the nominees, Saratoga will get to perform an excerpt from the show on stage during the awards. Woods chose the song-and-dance number, "Something to Point To," which is the show's finale and features all 46 members of the cast.
Junior Varun says he was stunned when he found out he had been nominated for his role as Roberto Nunez, a Mexican migrant worker. Varun was nominated last year for his role in the musical Oklahoma!
"It's exhilarating. I totally didn't expect it this time because my role is 10 times smaller than the other roles nominated," he says.
Varun says his role as Roberto meant something deeper to him than many of his other roles. He even struck up a friendship with Juan Morales, one of Saratoga High's custodians, to learn an authentic Mexican accent.
The role meant so much to him, it inspired him to participate in the demonstations over immigration policies in Boston recently, while he was there touring colleges. Varun says, as a child of foreign ancestry, he can identify with the character of Roberto, and if he wins this award, he will dedicate it to all the real-life immigrants just like him.
"The award wouldn't be for me, if I win. It would be for them," he says.
Emily, also a junior, says she can't remember a time when she wasn't dancing. Since she was a toddler, she has been studying dance at various studios, and only took a break once, to pursue competitive gymnastics for a while.
Emily has her own unique system for choreographing the school's musicals.
"First I get the CD and I listen to the songs over and over, to really get the lyrics. Then I try to convey the meaning of the lyrics into the movement, so it's also acting, not just dancing," she says.
Emily says her bedroom is her "studio" when she's working on moves, and she likes to enlist the help of the actors for ideas as well.
As her first nomination, Emily says she will definitely want to thank Woods in her acceptance speech if she wins.
"I'll thank [her] for putting up with my schedule, and for always being there for me when I would get frustrated," she says with a laugh. "She definitely saw me break down a few times."
Danielle, a graduating senior and veteran performer, knows what it's like to get a nod from the AMTSJ judges, but says that fact doesn't make it any less special. Danielle won special recognition for her solo dance as the character Dream Laurey in last year's Oklahoma! This year, she is nominated in the top female category, best performer. Danielle says she really enjoyed playing the role of waitress Dolores Dante.
"I loved getting to do some creative stuff with it," she says. "I liked getting to be a little sarcastic."
Danielle says her role differed slightly from the other "workers" in the show because Dolores actually likes her job. Where the others complain that they don't get enough recognition in their jobs, Danielle says Dolores is proud of what little she gets. Danielle got to sing a solo, "It's An Art," about what it's like to be a waitress, day in and day out.
Danielle says if she wins, "I'll cry. Then I'll try to say thank you to a bunch of people. Then, if I make it through all that, I'll cry again."
The win would certainly be bittersweet for Danielle, who will soon attend Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, where she will major in theater with an emphasis on acting, and minor in musical theater. She is considering a double minor and studying speech/language pathology as well.
Graduating senior Rachel has divided her four years in the performing arts department between acting and hair and makeup design. This is her second year in a row as a nominee for best student hair/makeup design; after her contributions in Oklahoma! wowed the judges last year, she is starting to realize she's pretty good at it.
"It just kind of came out of the blue," says Rachel of her foray into the hair and makeup world. Rachel says as assistant director for last year's fall play Metamorphoses, she got to try some very creative looks with her actors, such as exotic colors and jewels for the Greek gods and goddesses.
"It was a lot of fun," she says. After that, Rachel took some classes in the art and even volunteered on the set of an independent film with some USC film students.
With Working, Rachel enjoyed the challenge of trying to make many of the students look older, with graying hair and wrinkles.
"If I win, I'll definitely thank all of the faces of the Working cast, without which my makeup would have had nowhere to go," Rachel says. She plans to attend Marymount Manhattan College in New York City in the fall, and is considering theater, playwrighting and philosophy as possible courses of study.
Regardless of the outcome of this week's awards show, Woods says she couldn't be more proud of her students.
"Just to be finalists is a huge honor," she says. "There are so many schools [participating in the program], and so many students."
Even if the students don't win in their respective categories, they get commemorative medals for being finalists--so really, it's like they've already won.
Visit www.amtsj.org for more information and a complete list of the nominees and winners.
