Lights, camera, action!
Bergen County Academies returns to the stage with a new musical, Bring It On!, which is as exciting and fun as it sounds. If you know nothing of BCA performances, know this: the production is stellar. My sister and I have been fortunate to attend the last two plays, both of which we hold in high regard. The way we found out about the spring musical is actually through BCA’s head of sound, Wilber Callejas, a senior and a close friend of mine.
Bring It On is a wildly fun musical based on the movie, with a few tweaks. The musical’s plot focuses on a girl who through determination and hard work, becomes her Truman high school cheer team’s captain. That is, until, she is forced to change schools and doesn’t know how to cope, with her new environment being Jackson High. Befriending the captain of the dance squad, she convinces her to turn it into a cheer team but lies about the prize if they win the competition against Truman. It is a musical about acceptance and learning self growth with an amazing cast.
The actual play, as far as I was concerned, was incredibly good.
The drama club was split into two casts, Cast A and Cast B, and on my night, we saw Cast A. Due to reconstruction of the auditorium, the play took place in the gym with the bleachers being the seats. The cast also included the actual Bergen County Technical School’s cheer team, which did an incredible job during choreography for many of the songs! The backstage crew were also incredibly good at their job with no clashing voices over the speakers and minimal glitches happening throughout the show.
The leads, including Morgan Pallante as Campbell Davis, Addie Maddela as Danielle, and many more were all incredibly talented singers, able to go straight into song after song after song. They practically brought the show to life and were clearly dedicated to their craft. The freshmen were also especially talented in this production, as the comedy was astronomical between Leonardo Buitrago as Twig (a Lodi student!) and Zabelle Avanesyan as Bridget. I’m excited to see what they do in the future!
Their background sets were also creative as despite it being in the gym, they cut out and layered stretches of fabric and displayed different images and themes. I wish I had a picture to show everyone! It would make much more sense than what I’m saying. Despite it being in the gym, they were able to find creative ways to go on with the show like using minimal props and doubling them up for scene changes.
I cannot rave enough about the comedy as I think it is hard to land jokes if you’re not comfortable or if it’s not well timed but I heard several laughs from the audience throughout the entire night! There was a scene where it was a slow motion of Campbell Davis dancing in a leprechaun mascot costume and one of the male leads singing about how much he admired her–which is much more hilarious than I am describing it. I was laughing the whole night which I believe means the cast and crew really nailed it.
I should also note that the pit was amazing and able to create the mood flawlessly without being overwhelming. I was originally worried as my experience with playing in the gym with my flute has been less than stellar and we often experience a lot more echoing, but their pit was able to pull it off without any error. Stellar! I kept looking back to admire them, I must admit.
My friend, Safiya Mannon also had a great review about the show. “The girl playing Campbell is crazy good,” she said to me during intermission, “I mean, like, they even learned all the stunts and I think everyone plays their character really well. It all feels natural. I think it’s a hilarious musical with a great cast – I was a little weary about the choice of show and the venue but I’m honestly really enjoying it.” She thought about it a little more. “The musical was a good fit for the gym, y’know, cheerleader stunts and gym mats fit pretty well. The actual cheer squad is a great addition and a good strategic move to like, immerse us. Nice texture! Overall, I really liked it.”
Now, despite the fact that the showings are over, if you have the time next year, I definitely encourage you guys to see whatever plays and shows they have going on at BCA because who knows! You”ll be amazed at what they can pull off.
