Patrick Forrester ‘27

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The theater programs at Strake Jesuit and St. Agnes knocked it out of the park in the fall semester; St. Agnes sold out every performance of their fall play A Murder Is Announced, and SJ left the crowd rolling every night with the hilarious Play On!. In the spring, the programs continued their excellence, with SJ performing the ambitious Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, while St. Agnes performed the popular musical The Drowsy Chaperone. 

At SJ, Mr. Sullivan returned to the director helm for Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, an ambitious experiment in which a group of actors attempts to perform 30 plays in just 60 minutes. The show utilizes an interactive audience that calls out numbers to tell the actors which plays to perform, all while a 60-minute timer onstage keeps everything moving in real time. The show originated in Chicago in 1988 and is still the longest running play in the city’s history. This production starred returning talent such as Connor Clinton ‘27, Nathan DeVries ‘27, Michael Rodriguez ‘26, and Zachary Torres ‘27, as well as some new talent.

Last year’s spring musical at St. Agnes, Aida, saw huge commercial and critical success. This year, the run of success was continued with The Drowsy Chaperone, a satirical homage to the classic vaudeville theater of the 1920’s. The show centers on a man, alone in his apartment, who greets the audience and invites them to listen to his favorite musical, The Drowsy Chaperone, on his record player. Along the way, he provides commentary and annotations about the history of the show while providing glimpses into his own life, all building to an epic finale. The show starred four SJ seniors performing in their final musical at St. Agnes: Declan Barbosa ‘25, David Calderon ‘25, Nico Puerto ‘25, and David Roman-Pavajeau ‘25. All four plan to pursue the performing arts in college. For these seniors, and for all those in the cast and crew, theatre has been an incredible community to be a part of. Just ask Declan Barbosa ‘25, who said that “the friends that were made during my time have been nothing short of excellent. I met brothers that will be at my wedding and will always be a part of my life.” As the department bids farewell to these seniors, they look to the future to continue fostering a place of community and excellence on the stage.

The schools will now begin to gear up for Student-Directed One-Act Plays, or SDOAPS, to close out the year. The shows will be directed by Nico Puerto ‘25, David Roman-Pavajeau ‘25, and Josh Torres ‘25.