By Cameron Jackson, Strategic Communications & Information Student Intern
Last week, students from five different San Diego Unified high schools got the opportunity to see the new musical Working Girl at the prestigious La Jolla Playhouse. The theatrical adaptation of the 80s movie by the same name stars pop-star Jojo, with music by Cyndi Lauper. With all thesedraws, Working Girl seems to be the hottest ticket in town this holiday season. The nearly sold out tickets are costing regular theater-goers anywhere from $99-$150 a seat. I was one of the students who was lucky enough to see this new play for free at a student matinee.
As co-president of the Theater Club at our small school, I coordinated with my teacher to get 12 student-tickets for our club to attend, little did I know how many other same-district schools we would meet when we got there. Students in my club connected with old friends attending University City HS, made new friends from Clairemont and Canyon Hills high schools during intermission, and did our best to cheer louder than San Diego High (our similarly named but much larger counterpart). Though we started as strangers to nearly every other student, throughout the show we became a community all enthralled in the same riveting performance.
After the show, right when we were ready to walk out discussing our favorite musical number, countless chairs appeared on the stage and the cast came back for what’s referred to in the theater world as a ‘talk-back’. The actors, costume designers, and cosmetic artists spent another 30 minutes after the show answering all our lingering questions. From Who had the most quick changes? to How do you take care of your voices? we learned all the ins and outs of the hopefully Broadway-bound production. Upon being asked, students in the audience explained what 6-7 is to the cast, and the cast explained how to follow your dreams and break into the theater world to us. One performer even told us how refreshing it was having our authentic, unfiltered reactions flying at them from the audience compared to the usual subdued adult responses.
When the whole experience concluded, we all walked away from the Playhouse with a new gratefulness for the experiences given to us as students. We all got to see a piece of art normally inaccessible to the majority of us for no cost at all. We found new friends with shared interests. We got the best tips and tricks from actual Broadway stars. I encourage you all reading this, when you get the opportunity to see a student matinee, take it. You never know what you may discover.
About the author
Cameron Jackson is a senior at the San Diego Met High School, currently interning with the Strategic Communications and Information Office of the school district. Cameron is excited to write stories highlighting some of the great things occurring throughout our district. For any questions, contact Cameron at [email protected]