For junior Mateo Serrano, stepping onto the stage is never the scary part. In fact, he’s let the spotlight shine on him since age four — turning performing into an integral part of his life from singing with Volare to leading Los Altos High School’s musical Singin’ in the Rain.

“It’s not every day that you encounter someone with that much natural talent,” choir teacher Lauren Diez said.

Hailing from a family of artists — his mom an actor, and his family running a music academy — Mateo’s journey to the stage was inevitable. Growing up, Mateo was surrounded by the fundamentals of music, from singing and acting to playing instruments. 

Alongside acting and theater, Mateo has sung in choir for five years. He joined a local community group, drawn by the trips they went on, but eventually found a community he felt a part of. This experience led him to join LAHS’ choir, performing in Chorale for two years and joining Volare — LAHS’ advanced choir — this year. 

“Choir has helped me with blending in with the ensemble while also keeping my part and not messing up,” Mateo said. 

This February, he took his first step onto the LAHS stage as Don Lockwood in Singin’ in the Rain. Despite his strong background in singing and acting, Mateo didn’t know about the musical and hadn’t planned on auditioning until Diez recommended it. He auditioned in October, and to his surprise, he got a lead role.

“I wasn’t really prepared at all for the makeup auditions,” Mateo said. “I decided to go because I had friends in the musical and it looked really fun.”

What began as a last-minute decision quickly turned into one of the most memorable events of his year. Mateo was one of around 80 students who performed in Singin’ in the Rain, which rehearsed from the end of October to the start of February and showed four times in February.

“Meeting all the people in both mine and the double cast was really fun,” Mateo said.

While rehearsals often ran until 9 p.m. for multiple days a week, Mateo stayed focused on improving his performance. 

“Whenever [director Lisa] Battle gave him corrections — even if it was tiny things — he would address them instantly,” sophomore Ahaan Basu said. “He was super focused.”

Despite it being Mateo’s first musical theater production at LAHS, he delivered a performance that kept audience members fully immersed in the show through his depth and skills.

“Mateo’s character was clearly very well thought out, and his singing and dancing were really impressive.” senior Anisha Kantawala said.

Ultimately, performance and musical theater have been an essential part of Mateo’s life, and he hopes to continue throughout college, whether through a club or local theater. 

“Performing has helped me with my speaking and confidence,” Mateo said. “It’s definitely something I want to pursue in the future.”