MHS Debuts First Musical in More Than 40 Years This Week

"When I found out, personally, I flipped," said sophomore Jared Pati, of the moment he heard his school, Milpitas High, was finally going to get to do a musical.

"I really wanted to do a musical," he said. "I've always been a big fan of Broadway."

This week, will debut the school's first musical in more than 40 years, when its production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee takes the stage for three performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Nov. 17-19.

Kaila Schwartz, who teaches theater and English at MHS, is the show's director. Schwartz can't quite put her finger on exactly why the school hasn't put on a musical since the 1970s, but she said, up until recently, there wasn't a whole lot of interest amongst the students.

"I think the stigma was, the kids thought, musicals are something young kids do, and high school kids are meant to do stuff that's dramatic and serious," she said. "I tried to get a musical going about eight years ago, but only two or three boys showed up to the audition."

But recently, thanks to modern Broadway hits like the musical Wicked and popular TV shows like "Glee," the students of MHS - boys and girls alike - were eager to put on a musical of their own.

Schwartz said, choosing which musical to put on was the easy part.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee follows six overachieving, angst-ridden students as they vy for the top spot in their local spelling bee championship.

"I have wanted to do The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee since the first time I saw it," she said with a smile. "It’s funny, it has an important message, and I knew I had the cast for it."

Schwartz said, putting on a musical with the type of facilities MHS has isn't exactly an easy task - the theater has no orchestra pit, and the sound system is not very powerful - but this was one show she thought they could pull off without too much trouble.

"I knew this show could be done with very scaled-down instrumentation," she explained.

The student members of the cast and crew seem to love Schwartz's choice of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

"It’s really funny," said Danielle Williams, a junior, who plays the character of Olive's Mother. "I think this show is probably one of the funniest shows I’ve ever been in. It’s really fun and upbeat, and I really like that a lot, because I’m a really upbeat person."

Dan McQuigg, an English and choir teacher at MHS who serves as the show's musical director, said that fact is one of the reasons why he thinks the show is turning out so beautifully.

"The casting for this show just really fell into place," he said. "The personalities in the script really matched the kids in the cast, which we found really delightful. It some ways, this show has brought out essences of the students' personalities that weren’t there before."

McQuigg said, the show is turning out great, and everyone can't wait for opening night this Thursday, Nov. 17.

"This group - especially with it being the first musical - they’re doing a really tremendous job," he said. "So we're hoping for a great turnout [in the audience]."

Jared Pati added, working with his fellow students under the direction of Schwartz and McQuigg has been incredible, and really helped hone his performance skills.

"Everyone is so talented, and really energetic," he said. "They've really helped me a lot, as an actor."

Schwartz is proud of the show they will be presenting to audiences this weekend.

"It's been really great, to be able to give this experience to my students," she said.

Performances will take place in the MHS Theater on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Nov. 17-19, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $8 in advance or $10 at the door. Tickets can be purchased online here. For more information, call the school at 408-945-5500.