On February 25th, 2025, Sahuaro Band and Orchestra students traveled to Crowder Hall at the University of Arizona to watch a dress rehearsal of the UA Philharmonic and the UA Opera Theater in their production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. This show follows the fairy tale of Cinderella and includes music by Richard Rodgers and the book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein.
Since Sahuaro’s band director, Mr. Guzman, is an undergraduate student and a member of the UA Philharmonic, students were given the opportunity to get a preview of the show. He practiced around once a week for six weeks and played the bass clarinet in the show, learning an astounding 45 pieces.
His decision to bring students to the show was to not only see it, but see that, “…both band and orchestra and choir and theater, all of it, can all combine, and it shows you a whole different perspective of what you can do with music.” He also wanted to give his students a chance to see him playing and prove to them that if he could play the bass clarinet in a concert, so could everyone else.
“It was a cool experience that I think a lot of people will never get to see. Even people in the music world don’t have the chance to get to experience reading a book. You could be the biggest band or orchestra kid, and you’ll never get to touch a book or get to work with singers or an opera,” Mr. Guzman said.
The story is a classic Cinderella retelling with a musical twist that features three acts. It follows fun characters like Cinderella and her sisters Portia and Joy. Her journey to the ball is shown, especially the part when she meets her fairy Godmother and steps onto the stage in a stunning silver gown. She then arrives at the ball, and meets her love interest Christopher, aka the Prince, who is an enjoyable character, with a family just as fun, especially his dad, who made the audience laugh.
Senior Rebecca Martinez showed her love for the character by saying, “I love the prince, his name is Christopher; he has a very long last name – I cannot recite it by heart right now, but I will memorize it when I get home…he is my favorite character.”
Junior Ava Landeen, a violinist, said, “I really like the play – it was super fun. It was so cool, like seeing the orchestra, well the Philharmonic Orchestra, and the actors and the singers. They’re so bubbly and cute!”
Junior Emma Leyva recently played the trumpet in a pit orchestra for a local production of SpongeBob the Musical and has gained so much respect for musicians who play along with actors. She enjoyed the production, and said, “The strings were luscious.”
This enchanting night was filled with catchy melodies and beautiful songs. It allowed students to see a glimpse of what their future could entail.
