Hunter Geary playing Benny (left) and Nikau Grace Chater playing Nina Rosario. Photo / Kelly Makiha
Hunter Geary playing Benny (left) and Nikau Grace Chater playing Nina Rosario. Photo / Kelly Makiha
Hold up. Remind me where we are again?
Are we actually sitting in a Rotorua school hall listening to high school students? Because I swear I was in a big city theatre watching professional adults.
Rotorua Boys' High School presents In The Heights in conjunction with Rotorua Girls' High School until August 6 and if you haven't got your tickets yet, what are you waiting for?
The students' performances will blow your mind and I don't mind saying the tears of pride that our city has produced such talent were streaming down my face - several times.
In The Heights is a musical directed by Kararaina Walker that explores characters' lives in the New York City Latino neighbourhood of Washington Heights.
Featuring salsa, hip hop and soul music it features a forbidden love story, a strong message and a happy ending.
For this year's production, the school has selected two alternating casts playing the four main roles (is this because the talent pool is just too strong?). I attended opening night on Friday when the incredible Mathieu Boynton-Rata played Usnavi.
I've seen this youngster in several school productions and this year was his time to shine in a lead role. How on earth did he remember the words of rap after rap? It must have been hours of practice.
Vanessa was played by Steffany Da Silva Delautour who owned the role and had a face and stage presence that mesmerised the audience.
Crowd favourite Hunter Geary played Benny. Geary has been "warming the bench" in previous productions but this year he proved he is truly outstanding with an incredible voice and ease on stage that makes you melt.
No stranger to the stage Nikau Grace Chater played the role of Nina and she was responsible for my first bunch of tears when she sang her first solo.
The love story between her role and Geary's was divine and their pair's voices together in duet items were captivating.
Adrian Hurihanganui playing Sonny (left) and Igor Da Silva playing Graffiti Pete. Photo / Kelly Makiha
Much credit must be given to Year 9 student Adrian Hurihanganui who scored one of the main roles, playing Sonny, in his first year of secondary school.
I've seen this student come through the ranks as a top vocalist from Rotorua Intermediate School and his humour on stage made him a perfect casting choice.
There were three standout performers in the other main roles, including the mind-blowing operatic voice of Apanui Ngamoki-Ngaheu playing Piragua Guy. He made my head spin and second guess how a voice like that came from a Year 12 student.
Tiana Hunter, who stars in the alternate cast in the role of Nina, was put into opening night to play Camila - the mother of Nina - presumably due to a student absence. In my view, her acting skills were the best of the night. How incredible considering she was just filling in.
Elyanna (Max) Tuballa playing Abuela Claudio. Photo / Kelly Makiha
A crowd favourite was Elyanna (Max) Tuballa playing the role of the 80-year-old nana Abuela. She commanded a presence and everyone fell in love with her, erupting into applause after all her solos.
Two company favourites were Charlie Roigard and Teiringatahi (Ngatahi) Webster-Tarei. Roigard has starred in four school productions. His caterpillar dance was a wow moment. Whenever Webster-Tarei was on stage dancing, your eyes never leave her and it's clear outside of school she is a superstar dancer in her own right.
A couple of tips. I would like to see either the main vocal microphones lifted in volume slightly or the volume of the band reduced a notch. Also, in some scenes, a spotlight on the faces wouldn't go amiss.
While we are on the topic of the band, how incredible is it to see a school band of this standard with just a sprinkle of teachers - a credit to musical director Cameron Hay. Percussion player AJ Smalley-Huch was my favourite.
Credit must be given to vocal director Elisha Hulton who has once again taught the students to nail the tricky harmonies in the complex songs as well as coached the performers to sing most of their lines.
I'm quite convinced the other nights featuring the alternate main cast of Rohm Dixon, Alyssa Webster, Paretoroa Webster-Tarei and Tiana Hunter would have been just as incredible.
My only hope is that Rotorua gets out and supports these kids who have put hours of their own time into making In The Heights one of the best productions yet.
Tickets: Available at www.rbhs.school.nz, $20 adult, $10 child, $50 family pass (2x adults and 2x students), online tickets can be collected from reception or on the door the night of your chosen show.
