In calendar order: Lompoc High School presents Matilda ; Dos Pueblos High School presents Shrek: The Musical; Laguna Blanca presents Guys and Dolls ; San Marcos High School takes on The Drowsy Chaperone ; and Otto Layman, longtime director of the theater program at Santa Barbara High School, takes his final bow with Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame: The Musical .
Each of these musicals falls into an auspicious category: shows that can be done in (or adapted for) school productions. So few West End, Broadway, or off-Broadway musicals are appropriate for high schools. More often than not, the themes are too mature, the language is too caustic, the characters are not appropriate for child actors, or the singing parts are too intense for nonprofessionals. It’s challenging to find a high school musical that stands the test of time (many now register as racist or sexist in the changing cultural scape), interests the students, and is reasonable in terms of needed performance and technical capabilities. This batch of shows is both entertaining (to audiences and students) and educational in the connections the students make between the production and their own lives.
The season kicks off with Matilda at Lompoc High School in North County. Matilda, which runs March 13-22, features Lauren Jansen and Delanie Valencia in the title role of a precocious child genius who thwarts her principal, the Trunchbull (a true Roald Dahl–style villain), in her attempts to bully teachers and students alike. Matilda’s intense brainpower gives her the special skill of telekinesis, which allows for plenty of stage magic throughout the show. Based on the Dahl’s novel of the same name, Matilda has a lot of moving parts, but the whimsical outlandishness of the story and music make it an ideal show for teenagers (and a delight for their parents, who undoubtedly read the novel as a child).
