Some shows have 80’s music. Some shows have Greek gods. Some shows even have roller skating. But “Xanadu” — which Los Altos High School’s theater club Blue Broadway is set to put on — has all three.
Blue Broadway is a completely student run club, offering people of all experience levels roles in acting, directing, and tech. The club started last year to provide musical theater opportunities to students who didn’t have access to traditional school theater.
“Some of us went to the same elementary school where we had done ‘Xanadu’, so we thought it would be fun to do it again,” Blue Broadway President junior Avni Rajagopal said. “It’s also short, the music is catchy, and it’s just so over the top and funny.”
Last year, Blue Broadway faced a plethora of challenges, from trying to book the theater too late, to struggling to publicize their event. Going into the process the second time, the club applied lessons learned in their first year.
The process of creating the show began in the summer, when the musical was chosen.
“Xanadu” was first chosen by the leadership board because of its shorter length, and it’s fun and upbeat nature.
Throughout the process of creating the show, Blue Broadway faced many challenges.
“Because we are a student run organization we have to do everything from scratch,” actor and leadership member sophomore Mazie Reidy said. “Sometimes we have to be scrappy, and really do a lot to come up with money to finance the show.”
Money is vital to the club, which needs it for licensing the play. In order to put on a show, organizers must acquire the proper licensing to perform it, play the music, and for a security deposit, which can cost upwards of $1,700. Money is also needed for costumes, sets, and mics.
Last year, they were able to raise $600 in donations. They also raised money through the Holiday Fair and a Panda Express fundraiser, but received most of their money from a PTSA grant.
“Getting enough money is super essential, and we are so grateful for the generous PTSA grant,” Avni said. “It allowed us to buy things like extra light sets, an extra light projector, and all the materials to make our sets and props and costumes.”
Recruiting enough people to make up an ensemble was also another challenge. Despite putting up Instagram posts, posters around the school, and advertising in the morning announcements, less people signed up than they had hoped.
“We’ve worked with it, and the show is coming out well, but it was definitely hard getting people to be enthused,” Avni said. “It’s just a thing where, year after year, we have to wait, and hopefully the size of our cast will improve as more people hear about us, and this year we already have more members than last year”
Another question to address was where the performance was going to take place, and what equipment was needed. Avni had extensive conversations with theatre manager Myles Rowland and Broken Box advisor Lisa Battle about how Blue Broadway was going to use the theater, and to promise to keep everything in order.
Despite the massive amount of work needed to run a show from scratch, Blue Broadway members still think it is worth it.
“Theater is very unique in that you’ve got all these moving parts, and because of limited time you often can’t see it all at once,” junior vice president Sophie Yung said. “Seeing it all come together — actors, singing, dancing, and set — is just very cool to experience.”
“It’s just so rewarding to see, like in rehearsal, when a song goes well and I hear the harmonies, or when a dance sequence finally goes off perfectly, or when there’s a really cool moment in the blocking,” Avni said. “Getting to see the process and getting to see a musical come together because of the hard work of these amazing people is incredible to see”
The show will take place on Friday, January 24 at 7 p.m. in the Eagle Theatre. For more information, visit @bluebroadwaylahs on Instagram.
