When people attend a West High theater production, they can always expect the promise of a wonderful time. And the theater department’s 2023 fall musical “Changing Keys” certainly delivered. After auditions early in the school year, practices began with students rehearsing multiple times a week in one of three different kinds of rehearsals: vocals, dance, or blocking. Eventually, layering each piece upon the next provided a complex and beautifully put together show.
The show follows the main character Reagan, played by Joey Lewis (11), as she tries to navigate life as an aspiring musician and senior in highschool. After her breakup with Adam, played by Jeremy Born (11), who also happens to be a member of her band, the Pistols & Daisies, Reagan is down one crucial member and forced to turn to her sister for help. Rather quickly, the audience becomes absorbed in Reagan’s journey as they follow her struggles with friendship, staying true to herself, and figuring out who exactly that is. Mrs. Orabuena, the theater director, commented, “All relationships have bumps, no matter what type of relationship you’re in. They are all seen in a positive light. And the love that can come from those relationships is what we’re trying to showcase on stage.”
The story itself is an original, written by one of West High’s very own alumni, Sarah Geltz. With the music being a compilation of songs from all different genres, the ninety minute show is a jukebox musical. Not only that, but all music from the show was played live by an accompanying professional band as opposed to pre-recorded sets, bringing the show to life even more.
One of the special parts about going to see a play is that no matter who you are, there’s something for everyone, regardless of age, gender, etc. But a show about high schoolers in particular is able to showcase some of the things many current high school students and even adults struggle with as well. Identity, pressure, relationships; all of those are things that we can all relate to struggling with at some point or another. Some of the actors described the opportunity to step into their character’s shoes and learn about them as one that taught them a lot about themselves as well. Lewis described her experience of playing Joey and getting to bring her to life for the first time as an educational one, saying, “I think I’ve learned a lot from her in terms of really realizing that my friends are so much more important to me than I realized in the past.”
Sammie Johnson (11), who plays Sophie, a Pistols & Daisies band member with the pressure to live up to impossible expectations all around her, said that her experience bringing Sophie to life for the first time was also interesting, as they all got to “make [their] own discoveries about characters and build them from the start.”
