Las Vegas Valley students find ways to let shows go on

The cast of Bishop Gorman High School’s production of “Guys and Dolls” had just stepped off the stage from a preview of their show when they learned that the performance they’d been rehearsing for for five months would be canceled due to COVID-19.

“They were so happy, and then someone came out and said, ‘That’s your show for the year,’” director Elena Ferrante-Martin said. “And I just watched them go from so happy to total disbelief.”

While students everywhere have lost out on the second half of their spring semester, performing arts students report that the losses of essential parts of their curriculum including performances, festivals and ensemble rehearsals particularly sting.

Still, in at least three schools throughout Las Vegas, students have determined that the show will go on, through virtual performances of theater arts, band and orchestra.

Bishop Gorman senior Logan Bolhouse said he and his peers spent up to four hours per day after school in rehearsals, with many students participating in multiple shows and festivals per year. Without this time commitment, he said he didn’t know what to do with himself at first, even if he understood the importance of closing schools to slow the spread of disease.

“How are we expected to do online school when there is no after-school for rehearsals and performances?” he said. “For us, that is school.”

Holding out hope

After schools closed, Ferrante-Martin said she felt she needed to do something to raise her students’ morale, so she held a virtual meeting for the cast to share memories from the show. At the end, the students broke into a rendition of the finale number that Ferrante-Martin’s husband recorded and synchronized.

Ferrante-Martin still hopes to reschedule the show for the summer.

Canceling a performance after tickets have been sold also could mean a dent in the program’s operating budget, as musicals can be expensive to put on, given the costs of building sets, sourcing costumes and buying rights, but Ferrante-Martin said her school is highly supportive of the performing arts.

“It’s creepy to walk around the theater when everything is done. Without the kids bringing it all to life, it’s meaningless,” she said.

At the Las Vegas Academy of Arts, a performance of some kind had been slated for two-thirds of the days of the year, according to Associate Director of Bands John Seaton.

His wind symphony students had just completed what Seaton described as their best performance of the year on March 12. Three days later, schools were closed indefinitely.

After seeing extracurricular activities canceled and schools across the country shutting down, senior Sol Del Risco said she was aware this performance would likely be her last in high school.

“I went in knowing, and I could enjoy it a different way,” she said.

During the second week of school closures, Seaton sent his students a new piece to learn and record individually to a click track. The symphony’s virtual performance of “Down a Country Lane” by Aaron Copland has drawn more than 6,000 views, Seaton said, but the students weren’t expecting the attention when they sat down to record.

“I was just imagining how good it would sound,” said sophomore Izaiah Montanez. “It just makes me super proud to be part of such an amazing program.”

‘We just opened the door’

Clark High School orchestra director Eric Maine said his students are adjusting well to virtual instruction, with learning opportunities for both students who have instruments at home and those who don’t, as well as enrichment opportunities such as free broadcasts of professional orchestras.

But what can’t be replaced is the chance to play together, he said.

“It’s definitely individually focused, which is all we can do right now. We can’t rehearse virtually with the lag of devices,” Maine said. “That ensemble and playing together is the key piece that’s missing.”

To replicate the atmosphere in some small way, a group of orchestra students this week also recorded a piece composed by Maine and edited the videos together themselves. They plan to do more in duets and trios, Maine said.

“We just opened the door,” Maine said. “But the kids took it and ran with it.”

Contact Aleksandra Appleton at 702-383-0218 or aappleton@reviewjournal.com. Follow @aleksappleton on Twitter.