The holiday season picked up over the weekend with the Del Oro Theater department’s festive production of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Jr.
“The biggest challenge of doing a show in December is that it’s so close to our Fall play,” Jason McClain, Del Oro’s theater director, said. “We did it on a bare bones rehearsal schedule.”
Del Oro’s Mariachi group, Rayos de Oro, opened the evening with performances of “Jingle Bells” and “Silent Night,” providing a musical introduction to the event and warming up the audience before the start of the holiday musical.
Mariachi and theater students weren’t the only ones to take the stage. Members of Del Oro’s choir sat on the left and right sides of the stage as background singers for the actors.
“I was technically a director for a good portion of it,” said senior Marlene Ruiz, who played Mrs. Claus. “This was the first time we ever integrated choir into any of the plays.”
The musical told the story of Rudolph (played by sophomore Henry Rubalcado), a reindeer with a glowing nose, who is bullied by fellow reindeer and pushed away from his love interest, Clarice (sophomore Autumn Alvarez). The show ended with Rudolph guiding Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve. Along the way, Rudolph makes an assortment of new friends: There’s Hermey (sophomore Manuel Escobar), an elf who wants to be a dentist but is ridiculed by his peers for having a dream other than being one of Santa’s toymakers. They both meet Yukon Cornelius (senior Alberto Acevedo Hernandez), a prospector who helps them outsmart, and eventually befriend, Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster (junior Mason Ostorga Gonzalez). Santa Claus was played by senior Michael Martinez.
“The most valuable thing I have learned is no matter how bad of a day you’ve had, you don’t bring it on stage or let it affect you off stage,’ Acevedo said. “Having good energy is what makes a cast work so even if you absolutely hate someone or something, just keep it professional.”
The cast and audience maintained strong engagement throughout the performance. Narrator Sam the Snowman (senior Natalie Ruiz) guided the story and helped build anticipation for each scene. When the cast gathered on stage for group musical numbers, the audience responded with applause and cheers after each performance. Toward the end, the choir and some of the cast members went into the audience and sang a song with the audience.
“The part of theater that makes me feel at home would be that place itself,” Marlene Ruiz said. “Being able to do the plays and seeing the audience’s reactions is the part that makes it home the most because I get to see people’s smiles and see them be happy about the performance that we’re doing.”
