Damascus High School’s Drama Club presented a classic musical, “Guys and Dolls” which premiered March 13th through the 15th, with a running time of 2.5 hours. The show received a lot of attention due to the advertisement and the production quality. Mr. Kachidorian, the director of the show and a history teacher here at Damascus HS, has been involved with the drama program for a while now and is still putting on shows that bring the Damascus community together. Seniors who have been a part of the show since freshman year share how theatre has impacted them through the years.
It is amazing to see the relationships being built and the hard work of everyone in the drama department. However, there are a ton of people who went to see “Guys and Dolls” who would love to talk about their thoughts and experiences while watching the show. Emily McNicholus discussed what they thought of the production and overall review of the show. Emily has no theatre experience but was excited to experience the show. At first McNicholus was confused about the title of the show and what the show was about but she ended up loving it. McNicholus’s favorite scene was “the hotbox girls [bushel and a peck].” Emily also really “…liked that scene with KJ and that other guy sitting in that box.” If she were to change anything about the show, McNicholus would change the costumes because, even under the stage lights, they looked really hot and the costumes were really heavy looking.” Another DHS student named Jessica Lemus also has no theater experience but enjoyed watching the production. However, Lemus’ first impression of the production was that she ”thought it would be super long.” Nevertheless, after Lemus saw it, she had a change of opinion and ”thought it was really good, it was surprisingly well executed just because “I knew Kach and Mr. D had a lot going on.” She also loved “Luck be a Lady, that was the highlight of the show!” If she could change anything about the show it would be to change “the intro scene because it was kind of confusing, a lot of going back and forth.” Our final DHS student is named Madelyn Powell, who isn’t a stereotypical theatre kid, but Powell never misses out on a chance to see a musical! Powell is in digital art and when she was working on the poster for the show she was “was a little confused [on what the show was going to be about.]” Despite that “I thought it was great, the singing was amazing!” Powell also “really liked… Sue Me!” Again, the “Guys and Dolls” running time was 2.5 hours plus intermission, so Powell thought “they could cut some time off”
Drama is one of those special environments that not alot of other after school programs have. It is especially very important to all the seniors who have been a part of this for three or more years at DHS. Here we have Sujay Gunda to discuss his experience with “Guys and Dolls” and other DHS productions. Gunda expresses that “it was a fun show to do, it was kinda challenging at points. Especially…like the week before the show we were not in the best place but it was nice that everything came together because of all of the hard work everyone put in.” Gunda’s favorite musical numbers of the show were “the oldest establishment and sit down you’re rockin the boat.” Seniors have say in decisions but it truly lies with the director and his style of working with people. Gunda thinks for next year what the director could have done. “I wanted him to one day have an ensemble on stage and the leads in the back and he can work with them… instead of dancing for months.” Everyone has different experiences when it comes to looking at the cast list for the first time. There are positives and negatives when it comes to getting a role. Sujay Gunda’s reaction was that “It wasn’t the role I wanted but it was a role and it was a nice role to play so I am grateful for the opportunity.” Another part of theatre is finally being done with the senior show and moving on to new challenges and theatre experiences. Sujay Gunda felt “good but it is also kinda sad because it was the last big show and it was fun but it was also really exhausting, so it’s bittersweet.” about being done with the final show. However he “would like to do this in college.” Even though Sujay Gunda is leaving DHS to explore new opportunities, he gave advice to the rising theatre seniors of 2026 on how to run and work with drama. Gunda opened up by saying “just be nice and just try to include everyone, and I know you will be good leaders next year.”
A senior named Khushi Kapoor who played Sergeant Sarah Brown shared her experience with the show ending. Kapoor thought it was a “very bittersweet feeling because it’s the relief of ‘hey we finally did it’ but also the thing is it’s my final show.” However, it has been a month since the end and she has started her spring sport (tennis). She loves the team and the people that are a part of it but “just don’t feel that sense of community and belonging that I feel in drama.” However during the show Kapoor thought that putting on the show “was a lot because we had a lot of time but a lot of time was taken away because of all the snow days so like yes we did start earlier but at the end we were trying to pull it in a crunch and also as senior’s we try to keep everyone’s morals up when we were doing those late nights.”
Kapoor’s favorite song from the show was “If I were a Bell” because “I just let go… When I act on stage I am no longer myself. I am the character I am. It’s kinda liberating because I am leaving all the stresses and all the problems and all the issues that ‘Khushi’ has and I am not her, I am someone else [Sarah Brown.]” Alot of actors share their experiences with seeing their name on the cast list, Kapoor’s experience was when she “saw my name next to Sarah Brown I was shaking because what do you mean my name is first on the list… and in years prior I never got roles.” She also has never been confident with her singing so it gave her a sense of validation of “maybe I’m not that bad of a singer.” The validation grew stronger after the show with people coming up to her and giving her compliments. Also before Kapoor is going off to college, she wants to share some advice for the rising seniors of 2026. “When the freshmen come in, give them slack because this is their first time they are going to be on stage..you have to carry that sense of belonging and that sense of community that we try to create and not make the seniors very exclusive and that means making a reservation for 50 people. Those after cast dinners I felt were very meaningful. And the fact years prior was very exclusive and just try to carry on the fact that we are all one big family.”
While drama is very important to the upperclassmen, “Guys and Dolls” was some freshmans’ first show! Aubrey Kovatch wants to talk about their experience with their first ever show at Damascus. When Aubrey Kovatch first got into drama at DHS she thought it was “a lot more work and time and effort than in middle school” and the fact that high school drama is more serious and in middle school it was more for “the cast rather than like the people and the art we are performing for” Kovatch’s favorite part of being apart of the show was “opening night” because“ that’s when I really saw the cast kinda all come together…on opening night, we just all came together like one big family. It didn’t matter if you were a sophomore or junior… we were all in this together.” Kovatch’s favorite song to perform onstage was “Bushel and a Peck because it’s the first one we performed and new and the most practice with and the one I could perform by heart and there’s also something fun about just being cutesy and flirtatious.” Kovatch thinks that “Drama is a great place to meet new people especially from different grades.” and to have amazing senior role models like “Khushi so much because she is who I picture myself being or wanting to be as a senior!” Aubrey Kovatch would have “been more friendly and outgoing instead of being kept to himself, I would have made a better effort to make friends because there are so many great people in drama,” if she could reduce her freshman drama club experience.
Another Freshman named Sara Ghaznavi shares her experience with Damascus drama club. Ghaznavi expresses that “ it was a lot better than I expected, I really liked the seniors and the people are just really nice.” Ghaznavi’s favorite part of the drama was “just the people there, we connect a lot better you know?” Ghaznavi is really going to miss the seniors especially because “they are all so sweet!” Ghaznavi’s favorite song to perform was“ sit down you’re rockin the boat it was very quirky and the dance movements [were] beautiful.” On the other hand her favorite song to watch was “Sue Me, the performance was beautiful and Nick’s Luck be a Lady he ate that up and devoured.” We all have regrets and what we should have done, Sara Ghaznavi “would have auditioned for a role, I auditioned for ensemble because I was scared but honestly I shouldn’t have been scared because everyone here is so nice.”
Another actor named Jack Farmer who played ‘Nicely Nicely Johnson’ wants to share his sophomore experience. Since “Guys and Dolls” is over, Farmer experiences that “it’s kind of crazy being done, it’s insane to think I’m almost halfway done with high school and halfway done with this theatre program I love so much.” Farmers favorite part of putting on the show was “definitely doing vocal rehearsal, I had so much fun singing through the show and especially in the songs where I’d get to harmonize and have fun with my friends.” Farmer also wanted to add that he “absolutely loved the chemistry this cast had. I made a lot of friends who I’m excited to have for future productions, and I thought the show was a great choice. Thethe only thing I’d say I disliked was that therewas there was a lot of stress put on us at the lastus last minute to pull the show together” Looking back on what has changed since the show started brings up the question of ‘what you could have done differently?’ Farmer added that if he “could do it again, I would probably try to get to know more people better, especially some of the seniors leaving at the end of this year.” It’s always up to the director to decide what the show is, the actors don’t really have a say. However if they did, Farmer would pick “Putnam County Spelling Bee, I think this cast would’ve worked equally well with that show.” Since the drama club seniors are leaving in May it brings up a lot of emotions. Farmer points out that he’s “gonna miss all of them so much, their leadership provided a fun environment where I always felt safe and excited to come to drama!” And hopes that “next year’s seniors will continue their legacy.” When people move up a grade level they become more involved with drama. Farmer gave advice to the rising sophomores by saying “ have confidence for yourself! I gained a lot of experience during my first year and now that you know the Damascus drama experience you can learn to express yourself and truly understand theatre.”
There are a lot of actors who enjoyed the show, but we don’t really get to see the bits of what happens in a production. A sophomore named Carolynne Letendre who is a part of the running crew and tech crew. Letendre has been doing his drama”Since the beginning of 9th grade” and loves being backstage to help build and paint the sets of “Guys and Dolls.” Letendre is “kinda sad that it’s over but it was fun!” However, it was “a lot of work.” Letendre’s favorite part of building the sets was building the “church benches” for the amazing song “sit down you’re rockin the boat.” and her favorite song was “take back your mink.” Letendre’s favorite part of building the sets was building the “church benches” for the amazing song “sit down you’re rockin the boat.” When she first found out about the show she “did not know the plot of the show at all so everything was a bit of a surprise!” Doing drama is all fun and games but sometimes people need to step up and become a leader for others when no one is around to help. Yesterday, no one showed up for tech until like 3:15 so I just painted by myself.” People always start somewhere and grow from that point in their lives. Letendre did theater things over the summer and decided I should probably do it during the school year too so during orientation I got a flyer!” Letendre advice for rising sophomores is to “come in as much as you can and don’t be afraid to ask questions.”
Drama Club and the show “Guys and Dolls” brings people together that you would have never thought would be possible. The show overall was a hit to a lot of people, especially the seniors and freshmen who just joined the drama.
What’s your favorite song from “Guys and Dolls?”
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