The sound of music from all genres resonates throughout the theatre, choreographed dancing dazzles the audience, and nostalgia fills the minds of people in the auditorium. These are just a few aspects of the experience of watching the choir program’s upcoming Cabaret.

This year’s student-directed Cabaret showcase is dedicated to Bowie’s 30th birthday, so the directors decided to organize the show by dividing it into different time periods covering the past 30 years. According to senior Co-President  and director Angel Estrada, this year’s show is intended to stand out from all the rest.

“One act showcases the 80’s and the other showcases the 90’s and 2000’s,” Estrada said. “So it’s a little of everything, and there are some fun group numbers that come from all those different eras.”

When choosing his solo song for Cabaret, Estrada intentionally decided on a throwback from the 1990’s to compliment the theme of the performance.

“I chose X-Factor by Lauryn Hill because her album, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” is one of the best albums I’ve ever listened to,” Estrada said. “I really wanted to pay homage to the school, being it’s thirtieth class, with music showcasing a bunch of different eras.”

Even though Cabaret is a primarily student directed show, choir teacher Randy Cantu said he supports the cast in any way he can.

“Personally I think I have gained an appreciation of how our student leaders have kind of grown over the last couple of years,” Cantu said. “A lot of my role in this particular production is supporting the band that is going to be performing and helping them get ready along the way.”

Part of Estrada’s responsibilities as a president of the choir include him contributing to the majority of the production ideas of the cabaret show.

“My goal this year, as one of the directors, is to be as organized as possible,” Estrada said. “I’m very grateful to my co-directors; they’ve been very helpful, as well as a lot of fine arts teachers and student volunteers. It’s been really important that it’s a positive environment and that everyone is treated with kindness and respect and is having a good time.”

The student directors are making the big decisions and running the show how they envision it. One of the assistant directors, senior Katelyn McCain, looks forward to the outcome of the new improvements of the choir.

“In the past years, it hasn’t been too organized, but we’re all really trying to do our best with communication and planning,” McCain said. “We’ve added a boys and a girls ensemble, which has never happened before, it’s just been only soloists, so we wanted to incorporate as many people as possible and get as many people involved with it as we could.”

The students, according to Cantu, put a lot of their time and effort into ensuring the show exceeds expectations.

“What I really appreciate about this particular show is how much the student leaders have done in putting it together. In the past, there’s been a little bit more involvement from the teachers,” Cantu said. “This year, I would say that the student leaders had such a great plan and overall understanding of what their job was that they’ve really just kind of hit the ground running and they’re doing most of the work on their own, so that’s kinda cool.”

The cast expects this show to be different from others, not only because of the hands-on leadership from students, but also because of the songs that were selected.                                               

“People should really come see Cabaret because it’s a show that embraces nostalgia culture, with performances that include a lot of different genres and decades,” junior Kat Hill said. “It’s also really obvious to see all the hard work we’ve put into it and I think a lot of people would really enjoy it.”

In addition to the solo performances, there are also a few group numbers that the choral members are participating in.

“I love the teamwork that comes with Cabaret,” McCain said. “I’m leading groups of people to try new, silly things, like do a cute group number or learn a cheesy dance, and it’s just fun to see everyone having fun with it and laughing about it.”

Estrada’s passion for working with music sparked at a very young age for him.

“I’ve been singing since I was really little,” Estrada said. “I’ve always wanted to learn more about being a musician, and I started taking it seriously a couple years ago when I joined this program, and I’ve always loved singing.”

Estrada’s experience in the choir program has led him to discover his true passion, he said, which he wants to pursue for the rest of his life.

“I’m planning to study vocal performance, because this program has definitely rooted me in that direction,” Estrada said. “I want to continue creating a platform for myself whether that’s producing, writing, or directing, or just doing more things that involve the arts. I know I’ll be happy.”

Cantu stated that Estrada’s leadership, knowledge, and understanding of his peers makes him admirable and fun to work with on the production of the performances.

“He’s a wonderful person, like genuinely just a wonderful person, which makes him so much fun to work on a project with,” Cantu said. “Aside from the fact that he’s really smart, aside from the fact that he’s got a lot of talent as a vocalist, him just being a great individual makes this a lot of fun because it is extra. It’s not like a class, it’s an extracurricular activity, so him just being who he is in that way just makes things wonderful.”

Estrada believes that participating and leading in choir gave him life altering connections with others that made him the person he is today.

“The people that I met shaped me the most, and being about to compete and advocate for myself as a soloist and choir member, there’s a lot of responsibility that comes with this program; you definitely have to commit to it,” Estrada said. “Having to manage various aspects of choir has helped me manage my time and priorities outside of choir as well. It has shaped me into being more independent and trusting myself.”