On April 5,6, and 13 I went and saw our school’s production of Moana Jr. The cast did wonders with the singing, acting, and dancing. They never missed a beat, their vocals were on point, and the acting was exceptionally great. The tech team did amazing as well with the lighting, music, and projections. The lighting never washed the characters out, and the projections and music were always on time. The most memorable scenes were “The Village”, “You’re Welcome”, “Shiny” and “Canoe at Sea, Near Te Ka”.
“The Village”’ was very memorable because actor Philip Spring who plays Chief Tui in Moana showed a lot of emotion when presenting his line “Don’t go beyond the reef”. He said his line with just as much anger as the Chief in the movie. The way the entire theatre reacted to the line shows just how good his delivery was.
“You’re Welcome” was an eye-catching scene because of the choreography and singing. It was also one of the only scenes where most of the cast was performing together on stage. The way everyone’s voices mixed during the song was astonishing. The younger actors danced and worked together, which was very adorable. Fabian Flores‘ Maui added a lot with his attitudes an expressions during the scene.
The “Shiny” scene was my favorite because of the determination and hard work put into the scene. All the props and decorations looked professional and very detailed. Haven Torres, Philip Spring, and Kade Ferguson worked together to be Tamatoa and were very coordinated. My favorite detail of the scene was when they brought out the diversion Heart of Te Fiti, a Scrub Daddy painted green with a smile on one side and a frown on the other.
“Canoe at Sea, Near Te Ka” was a favorite of mine because of how Moana, Ariana Estrada, performed the scene. It was jaw-dropping when she belted the line “I AM MOANA”. Her vocals and volume were like that of a Broadway actor. The whole audience began clapping after she delivered her line. Another aspect that made the scene amazing was Arianas and Diana Mancilla‘s chemistry; it felt and looked like a real grandma-to-granddaughter relationship.
In the end, all of these aspects made the musical a masterpiece. However, there is always room for improvement. Keeping in mind that this is spectacular for a high school production, I rate it a 4.5/5.