Closing in on the third week after the final bow of Central and Oakland Catholic Masque’s performance of “In the Heights”, people are still buzzing about the huge success of the musical. Modern, up-beat songs and energetic dances had the audiences tapping their toes and bursting into applause from Graffiti Pete’s (Ben Desabato) first dance break, up until the very last company bow. Stellar performances by Tucker Helms, Tom Dougherty, Mary Katherine
Daigle, Johanna Loughran, and Maura Ward, along with an overload of talent coming from the supporting roles and ensemble had families, friends, and all audience members laughing and crying with each passing scene.

This modern musical tells the story of a couple of families trying to make it through a blistering hot summer, living paycheck to paycheck, in a lower class community in Washington Heights, New York, and deals with important issues such as racism, strained relationships, and family tragedies. These intense themes forced the cast to stretch themselves in their roles, and because “In the Heights” is not a traditional musical story-wise, or musically, everyone had to bring their best effort every rehearsal. Also it was necessary to stay very focused and passionate about the lyrics/lines in order to fully understand the story and to be able to successfully convey it to multiple audiences.

An exciting aspect of the annual spring show is the participation in the Gene Kelly Awards. In three budget categories, high schools from all around the Pittsburgh area compete for awards such as “Best Musical”, “Best Choreography”, “Best Lead Actor/Actress”, and many more. This year, the ceremony takes place on May 27th at the Benedum Center, and nominations for all of the awards will be announced around May 8th. Though Masque has won and been nominated for many awards in the past, none are automatically expected, and it is definitely not the motivation for success of the shows.

For some, this was our eighth and final show with Masque, but whether a person has been in every show since “Working”, or “In the Heights” was their Masque debut, nobody wanted this show to end. Emotions ran loose during the final week of practicing and performing, as a mixture of nostalgia, excitement, and love took over the cast and crew. Lin Manuel Miranda’s musical provided all of the students an enjoyable experience, but especially gave the seniors an incredible memory that will last a lifetime, and a perfect ending to our Masque careers.