“Backstage” by Pat Cook

Colton High School (CHS) thespians brought out their inner stars at the Colton High School theatre Oct. 3. Thursday night, Colton High School thespians brought to life Pat Cook’s “Backstage,” a comedy depicting the life of actors by highlighting what goes on backstage while they’re off the spotlight. In this particular case, the actors backstage were faced with a dilemma when the one-time matinee idol, Burton Cavendish, suddenly dies an hour before the opening night of their anticipated successful show, “Don Juan in Cleveland.” It is then that the director of the show, Lou (played by Destiny Granados), decides that the understudy Ajax (played by Joey Garcia) fill in for Cavendish both onstage and offstage, and nobody can ever know. It would be Cavendish’s last greatest performance and Ajax’s greatest performance ever. “It’s humorous, and the kids are really good actors and actresses. I’m glad I came,” said Ardie Angell, a visitor to Colton and friend of a young Colton actor’s family. Carmen Acosta, Angell’s friend and grandma to Audrey Ibarra (playing Yolanda in “Backstage”) added, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I’m really happy [Audrey] is in it. It’s a really fun, cheerful play.” The young thespians had been excited to perform the comedy for their first time, but admitted the process to bringing the play to the stage was no easy task. The young actors had been preparing for the past two months. Throughout that time, the students worked diligently for two weeks to get into a good physical stance, and later focused on blocking and memorizing their lines and movements for the remaining time. “I think the auditions were probably more nerve-racking than tonight’s performance! Auditions are also when the director of our high school production is [judging you] on your acting skills, so that’s always scary,” freshman Joey Garcia (Ajax) said. The play ran Oct. 3 through Oct. 5. in the Colton High School Whitmer Auditorium.