Musical Theater and Hair with Mr. Fisher
Written by Annabelle H. ’27, Anneka M. ’27, and Ricardo L. ‘27
Annabelle’s Article:
Mr. Fisher is an alumnus of SJND and is currently teaching musical theater classes, as well as directing the spring musical Hair.
I am a student of Mr. Fisher’s and I have noticed a distinct difference in the atmosphere of his class vs. my other classes. There are many things we do in his class that are small but help me and my peers feel comfortable with each other.
We meditate at the beginning of class, which is very helpful for me. I had never taken meditation seriously before this class. At first, it was hard to get used to and I felt like it was taking a long time. Now I’m able to calm myself down and just be level after the ups and downs of the day.
“I have also noticed the benefits of meditation in my peers,” 9th grader Victoria Jauregui said. “The meditation makes me feel alive after long days and is just a way to begin a class calmly. I look forward to the calmness in his voice and the way he talks about anything or anyone it makes me feel calm and relaxed. My mind just wanders and I think about times from my past and I relive them.”
Another thing that we do in Musical Theater is sit in a circle. Ricardo Lieba, another 9th grader, said, “I find sitting in a circle greatly beneficial because it allows us to look and interact with all of our classmates better and we can see them instead of having some in front and behind us in regular classrooms. It helps me acknowledge my classmates more and also helps me to pay more attention when they are talking.” I agree with Ricardo because I have also found it easier to track the speaker and acknowledge each other’s presence. I don’t think this would work in every class but in Ms. Oram’s and Ms. Scotts’s class we sometimes have community circles to check-in.
The final thing we do in Musical Theater that I want to focus on is the word of the week. There is a new word each week that we have a brief discussion about and write in journals to reflect on. The word of the week this week is “honesty” and the question asked today to reflect on was “How can adults be more honest.” We went into a conversation where everyone was engaged. The conversations in Musical Theater have opened up my perspective on the topic we engage in and that having conversations and understanding people’s views on life is valuable. I do feel most connected with my peers in Musical Theater because of these conversations and also because we have to perform in front of each other. We are vulnerable in that class. But we are vulnerable without fear of judgment.
There are many things Mr. Fisher has taught us and implemented in our class structure that I think will very much help us in the future.
Mr. Fisher has also shared a lot on his journey to getting to where he is today. I wanted to ask him how he brings elements of himself and his creativity into the class.
He reflected, “A lot of the things I do in class are things I do in my regular life and so it’s like a mirror. The classes have a lot of things that stem from what I believe have worked on myself that I want to share with other people. Because it’s a Musical Theater class it’s really easy to bring creativity because it’s a central thing in it. Through song and being able to dance because of the subject matter that is at hand, a musical theater compasses a lot. Throughout the whole class can bring creativity because of the nature of what musical theater is.”
As you can see from this quote, Mr. Fisher uses how he meditates and acts in his regular life to his class. I think that is part of the reason why Musical Theater is so unique. You can’t dance in your normal theater classes, but you can incorporate more community building. Being able to be yourself and be vulnerable with your peers in any class is helpful. Knowing that you can make mistakes without fear of judgment from your peers is very important when it comes to learning.
Overall, I think we can strive to get to know our peers better and be able to be vulnerable with them. Mr. Fisher and Musical Theater have taught me how important that is. Also the value of carrying a bit of yourself and your morals into everything you do.
Anneka’s Article:
This year, our school’s spring musical is the American tribal love rock musical Hair! This musical is funny, empowering, and risky. Hair is unique because it takes HUGE risks in the word choices and certain scenes.
SJND is doing this musical for the funny and empowering points, as the musical takes place in 1967 during the Vietnam War. This is currently relevant to the theme of war, with everything going on in Gaza, Ukraine, and a whole bunch of other places. The musical will occur at the Malonga Casquelourd Center on Alice St. in downtown Oakland. The show is running from February 29th to March 3rd.
The musical follows the story of the “tribe” a group of activist hippies living in New York City and fighting against conscription during the Vietnam War. Hair is a fun and strong musical addressing things some people were too scared to discuss.
As I’m writing this article, the cast only has 29 days until opening night (AHH, scary), but the cast has blocked the entire show and is working on touch-ups on scenes and dances. This show has 37 songs within a 2-hour, 30-minute period, including a 15-minute-ish intermission.
The entire show is full of movement and comedic moments, but aside from the funny, happy-ish moments, there are lots of serious, sad moments that balance the musical out to make it perfect.
For a deeper dive into SJND’s production, none of this could have happened without Elijah Fisher (SJND class of ‘14). Fisher directs and helps choreograph the entire show, which takes so much to do, and we are all so grateful for this opportunity to put on this amazing show.
Being in the spring musical is dedication because we have rehearsals on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, almost every week. If you have a passion for performing and acting, you will make that dedication.
During rehearsals, you can see how the show is coming together and how everyone wants and is happy to be there. As we are coming closer and closer to opening night, we are putting all of the finishing touches into the show.
For a last note IF YOU ARE READING THIS YOU SHOULD COME TO SEE THE PERFORMANCE. IT’S AN AMAZING, AND GOOFY PRODUCTION COME SUPPORT THE SJND THEATER DEPARTMENT!!!!!
Ricardo’s Article
Get ready for the hair-raising hilarity of SJND’s 2024 comedy-drama musical, Hair from February 29th- March 3rd at the Malonga Casquelourd Center in downtown Oakland. Tryouts and theater practices for Hair have been going on for many months and are still going on as we speak. The people who have been working on this wonderful play have put so much effort into making the play into its true and best self. Today, some of the actors, ensemble, and director of Hair will be telling us today about what hair is about and the work they have to do to prepare.
The musical Hair could be taken in multiple different ways. It could be viewed as a play about young people in the 60s trying to find their identities during the times of the Vietnam War,or about people standing up for their community. When asked the question what would you say Hair is about, student Sean Kimbrew states, “It’s about community I would say, like these teens standing up for what is right.”
Hair is a wonderful allegory for many things that could enlighten our community in this day in age, even though it is set in the 60s. Youth in this day and age can also have struggles with finding identity and this play can show that they are not alone and can also find community with others. It can also represent some political events at the time. In the words of Elijah Fisher, the theater teacher and director of Hair, he states, “Hair is an anti-war peace protest at its core.”
This means the play has some wonderful encouragement to stand for what is right. The main cast and ensemble also have to do rehearsals to prepare for the upcoming performances they will have to do in the play. According to student Morgan McCroey, “We sing dance and act out scenes during practices. We practice dances 5–6 times per rehearsal.” This shows the amount of dedication that gets put into these performances. The amount of work for this play is similar to what is done in sports. “We use our bodies but we also working on our minds and our creative mind might get tired,” Mr. Fisher states about rehearsals being compared to sports. This show a lot of dedication and hard work put into the scenes.
In conclusion, the amount of work that is put into the play is immense. From the community and to the standing up for what is right to the immense amount of work that is put into the mind and soul to put this play together, Hair is going to be a play for the books. The play is at the Malonga Casquelourd Center in downtown Oakland so we hope you come and support our schools and our students hard work.
