By Jacob Rivas

On May 5, 2017, Mrs. Markley took 22 of her Advanced Theatre Arts students to see a Broadway show at Segerstrom Center for Arts. The show was called “An American In Paris,” which Mrs. Markley described  as, “A colorful and fun take on comedic plays.”

She personally enjoys Broadway shows, so she took her Advanced Theatre Arts students to this high-class show so that they could get a small taste as to how Broadway shows are performed. Mrs. Markley hopes to keep raising funds through the plays they perform so that incoming drama students may experience this event annually.

When asked about the Broadway performance, Salma Ochoa and Nadia Xhiqi, said that it was a great show. There were many new things to take in—such as the ballet, the plotline, the songs, and the stage setup—and these things made it an overall good show. Both students also hope that this becomes an annual event so that students can experience shows like “Wicked” and “Phantom of the Opera” so that they may continue to learn and improve on their own acting. Nadia hopes to be able to improve on the wording of her lines and pronunciation, and Salma hopes to improve on the projection of her lines so that they can come out with more emotion when acting out specific scenes. With every performance, the students are able to tell stories with different perspectives, and discover a lot about themselves in the process.

Taking students to see a Broadway show was a very special thing that Mrs. Markley was able to do for her students—to make Tustin High’s drama department the best it can be. By giving students the opportunity to experience their very first Broadway play, she opened these young minds to the vast world of acting.