Ashley Carreon

Editor-in-Chief

 

 

 

 The South El Monte Theater Arts and Design Academy (TADA) held their annual evening of One Acts on May 17th and 18th.

 

 Jen Nelson’s TADA class, or Drama 2, 3, and 4 classes, opened the night with the play “Arsenic and Old Lace,” with John Diaz playing the horrified nephew of two murdering elderly women (Daisy Ortiz and Ryan Valle.) In the play, Matthew Centeno had the role of a man who believed he was Teddy Roosevelt, burying yellow fever victims in Panama.

 

 Tyler Villi stole the show in the next play, “Sylvia.” She played an adorable dog adopted by a husband suffering from empty nest syndrome. The husband, Greg (played by Andrew Sermeño), ends up butting head with his wife, Kate (played by Jennifer Nguyen), over the decision to adopt Sylvia. Despite having two months less practice time than the other Acts, Director Savannah Ploenzke managed to pull her team together into a crowd-pleasing performance.

 

 “I’m immensely proud of this year’s Drama 234 Class. This is one of the best years of One Acts in the eight years I’ve been here. They have been the most technically challenging [acts] and have looked the best.” Commented TADA Teacher Jen Nelson.

 

 The last play of the night, “In the Heights,” starred Junior Michael Manzo as Dominican convenient-store owner with a voice of gold Usnavi. The play centers around the Dominican-American  neighborhood of Washington Heights in New York. Characters included Nina (played by Annette Chavez), who dropped out of her courses at Stanford, to Vanessa (played by Jordyn Chavez), a girl trying to follow her dreams while trying to make the rent.

 

 “All the directors did a fantastic job, and I’m immensely proud of the cast and crew. I can’t wait to see In the Heights as a full length production and what a great job students are going to do with In the Heights next year.”

Auditions for In the Heights in fall of 2012 open in late November.