Auditions, rehearsals, tech week, opening night — all of these were part of the exciting experience that was the fall musical “All Together Now.” From opening night on November 12 to closing night on November 14, students, teachers, friends and family all came out to the FSH theater to support and cheer for the cast and crew. The show, which was a collection of songs from popular musicals weaved together into one production, proved to be one of the most unique and unforgettable demonstrations of talent at Flintridge Sacred Heart. 

Although many people came to watch the show, they didn’t get to see all of the hard work and dedication that students and directors put into it. Below is an oral history of how “All Together Now” came to be, as recounted by members of the cast and crew. 

Ace Lillard ‘23, Cast

I prepared for my audition by memorizing my monologue first. The way I go about memorizing is to print the paper and write in interpretations, emotions or notes I wanted to keep in mind while doing the monologue. I also had to prepare a song, so I made a list of songs from musicals that I have learned and picked which song matched the style/characteristics of the number I was auditioning for.

I signed up for a time slot and got there early, then was told to sit in the theatre until called. When I was called, I walked into the theater room and was directed to stand in the middle of the room, facing the doors where Chambers [Stevens] and the stage managers were sitting. I went to talk to the music director first, and he had me do a scale to find my range. After, I was asked to slate, do my monologue, then sing. In that audition, I was recorded so they could watch my audition back. After finishing my song, I thanked them, and then I was asked to leave. 

I think [my audition] went pretty well. However, I remember leaving disappointed because I wanted to give that audition everything but just couldn’t seem to abandon the nerves I had. For me, there is always one thing that will bug me about an audition, and I remember that in this audition I nearly cracked on my high note. Thankfully, I didn’t, but it was scary to know that I was so close to it. The way I typically gauge how an audition goes is by walking in and walking out confident. I don’t let myself say anything negative until I can rationally take mental notes, to make my next audition better. 

Emma Peralta ‘23, Cast 

Before the cast list was released, we had callbacks for the songs that we were going to be chosen for. It’s not like a traditional musical where callbacks are for one specific role or the lead; the songs were going to be selected based on us, and the people who were going to sing the songs had to be selected as well. We had callbacks two weeks later I think, and that was super fun. I was nervous because we didn’t know which songs we were going to be called back for. It was really awesome because we got to see people singing different songs and performing in front of other people, and everyone was supportive and cheering after everyone went. 

Natalia Gonzalez ‘24, Cast

The cast list was sent to us over email. I was happy — I had received part of a solo in one of the songs, and I liked the songs I was in the ensemble for. I was mainly happy, a bit disappointed that I didn’t get a main solo, but I felt that with the circumstances, what I got was pretty cool. I was mainly proud of myself for auditioning in the first place. 

Sara Gutierrez ‘23, Stage Manager

We had rehearsals every day except Wednesdays and Sundays. They were after school from 3:30 to 5:20, and then on Saturdays, which were from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. I enjoyed them; it was fun seeing everyone practicing. I liked seeing everyone getting better and better as the process went on. 

Samantha Savage ‘23, Cast

We would get there, we would warm-up, with either a physical warm-up for dancing or a vocal warm-up for singing, and we would usually learn something new — a piece of choreography or music — and then we would rehearse and work on it and get technical direction. 

We started with music for the first couple weeks. Then we started doing one day for music, one day for dance and then eventually we started to integrate them and sing while we were dancing. Coming right up to the show, we focused on the technicalities of dancing and singing with the proper techniques.

Meadow Mota ‘24, Cast

At the beginning of October, an email went out to the cast, crew and parents, telling them about the transition of directors. I remember getting that email, but before that, during the rehearsal, Sister Celeste and another faculty member came in and told us that [Stevens] had left, and it was suspenseful. There was a solid minute of me internally freaking out, and then they said that Kazzy [the choreographer] was going to take over and that the show was going to continue. I felt relieved. 

The transition of directors was really smooth, surprisingly. Kazzy is great and we love her, and the way that she took what had been done and made it the way it should have been from the beginning was not only done really well but the way that she did it was really inspiring. 

Mia Murillo ‘23, Costume Crew

Tech week started the Sunday before the first show on Friday. We would come back from the boarding hall after we ate dinner, start at 5, and then rehearsals officially ended at 9, but depending on what you did, you might have had to stay after to help clean up.

I was on the costume crew, so we would get people into at least one of their costumes, and they would do either a run-through of the whole show or work on specific songs. By the last two days before the show opened, they had the full run-through with all the costumes. 

For me personally, the hardest part was quick changes, so planning all of those out, knowing when they would be and how to do them most efficiently, and having to talk with the actors beforehand to be like, “Okay, this is how we’re gonna do it.” So it just took a lot of time. 

Ella Minton ‘22, Lighting Board

I was in the booth managing the light board with two other girls. The play had a lot of different songs and over 100 different light cues that were lined up, and I would operate the buttons on the board to change the lighting. I listened to Maddie, the stage manager, and she cued me over the headset as to when to press each light cue to get the timing perfect. Julien, the lighting director, was supposed to help me and teach me how to do the lightboard, but his dog went to the hospital so I had to learn how to do it by myself. Some of the light cues weren’t completely ready yet, and they would be a little bit wrong or wouldn’t match up with Maddie’s stage directions, so it was a little bit stressful, but overall I think it went well. 

Olivia Ocon ‘22, Assistant Director

My role during tech week was to put out the fires. I shadowed the adult professionals, helped with costumes, found lost props, and always had a pencil and gaff tape on hand. I did whatever task needed to get done at any particular moment.

Tech week is always stressful because everyone wants to put on the best show possible. This show was particularly difficult as it was a non-stop performance, but I had an amazing time. 

Gabrielle Liegey ‘25, Projections Crew

On opening night, everyone was running around and we were trying to find people. Some people were getting costumed, and it was kind of hectic. I was a little nervous because I was late on some cues, but otherwise, I was okay.

Maddie Jerman ‘22, Stage Manager

We did a little bit of warming up, and from my end, I got the tech booth all ready and set up so everything I needed was there and easy to reach. I was actually the one who told Sara to tell Kazzy to go out, do her little speech and that we were all ready. 

Ava Barazza ‘24, Cast

Sara [Gutierrez] was yelling, “Five minutes to places!” So, we were all kind of on the sidelines of the stage. The New York song came on, we all stared at each other freaking out and then we got into our places. The curtain opened, and the show began.