by Melissa A. Chadwick | Staff Writer
This story was corrected on March 6, 2008, from its original version.
It’s the music, the lyrics, the art, they say, that draws them to the stage.
Hundreds of high school students around the county will sing and dance their way through spring high school musicals in the next few months. The students on stage at Northwest High School’s ‘‘Les Miserables,” which opens this weekend, are an ambitious, energetic bunch, performing the opera with guts, even during pre- dress rehearsal practices last week.
‘‘I want to pack this house for them,” said drama director Sherion Cosby. ‘‘They deserve it. They sing too well. They perform too well.”
Two of the leads in the show, Germantown residents Justine Moral, 17, who plays Eponine, and Miguel Amaguana, 18, who plays Jean Valjean, have been drawn to performance since they were kids. Both were encouraged by their parents to pursue their vocal talents.
Moral, a junior, sang her first Whitney Houston song when she was 3, and became enamored with musicals watching them on video with her grandmother.
‘‘I just definitely fell in love with musical theater and how the music really gets to you,” she said last week.
At 10, she was opening for major Filipino artists who performed in the Washington, D.C., area. Her parents were born in the Philippines and she grew up speaking both English and Filipino.
Her work with Filipino stars paid off the year she graduated eighth grade when a producer heard her sing.
At 14, she spent the summer in the Philippines and, using the name ‘‘Icy,” recorded an album, ‘‘Dream Away” with Sony BMG Philippines.
‘‘I really wanted to come back here,” said Moral, who said she hopes to make a career of performing on Broadway. ‘‘Musical theater is my first love.”
Senior Miguel Amaguana says opera is his first love.
His mother, also a singer, encouraged him to sing in elementary school. His freshman year, Amaguana was cast in Northwest’s production of ‘‘Seussical.” The next year, he was cast as The Wiz in ‘‘The Wiz,” and last year he played Beast in ‘‘Beauty and The Beast.”
But opera is where it’s at, he said. ‘‘I love to sing and there’s the acting. But then there’s also the studying. I just love getting into the language and the history of the piece. Getting into the composer’s life,” Amaguana said. ‘‘Ah, there’s nothing hotter than opera!”
He honed his craft at summer institutes with ‘‘seasoned professionals,” including the Washington National Opera Institute for Young Singers and a program at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J.
Amaguana said he wants to pursue vocal performance in college and has been accepted to Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio and has auditioned for several other colleges, including Hartford School of Music in Connecticut.
He’s eager to get on stage this weekend.
‘‘Le Miserables, it’s the closest thing you can get to an opera in high school,” he said. ‘‘... I couldn’t think of a better musical to do to finish off my senior year.”
other Musicals
Gaithersburg High School, 314 S. Frederick Ave. ‘‘The Truth About Cinderella,” 7 p.m. April 24-26. Tickets $10 at the door; pre-sale $8 adults, $5 students. E-mail Melissa Spadin at Melissa_D_Spadin@mcpsmd.org.
Northwest High School, 13501 Richter Farm Road, Germantown. “Les Miserables“ at 7 p.m. March 7-9, 14-15, and 2 p.m. March 16. Reserved seats in advance, $12. Presale, groups of 10 or more, $11. General admission $10. Reserve tickets at NWHSTickets@yahoo.com.
Watkins Mill High School, 10301 Apple Ridge Road, Gaithersburg. ‘‘Annie” 7 p.m. April 18, 25, 26 and 2 p.m. April 19. Tickets: $8 students, $10 adults. E-mail Mary McCary at Mary_J_Mccary@mcpcmd.org.
Quince Orchard High School, 15800 Quince Orchard Road, Gaithersburg. ‘‘Grease” 7 p.m. April 4-5, 11-12 and 2:30 p.m. April 5. Tickets: $6 students, $8 adults. Call 301-840-4686.
