Valley College Theater program prepares to perform the year’s last production

A final goodbye to the Horseshoe theater is honored with the play “Blue Bird.”

By Isabella Vodos, Staff Writer

Jason Beltran rehearses as the character Cat in Valley College's new play "The Blue Bird." (Adrien Ramirez/The Valley Star)

After spring break, a sense of magic and fairytale enchantment whistled through rehearsal for the play “Blue Bird” as over 30 Valley College students' vocals and dance numbers lit up the Main Stage Theater.

The entire cast will present an adaptation of “The Wizard of Oz,” a story about facing obstacles through adventure that leads to friendship and challenges. Much like the story of Oz, “Blue Bird” includes an ensemble of fairytale companions such as a fairy, a dog, a cat, bread, milk, fire, water, sugar and light found through the different settings as the siblings travel through time. In the play, two young siblings, Tyltyl and Mytyl, are ungrateful and selfish by nature. One night they come upon fairy Berylune who accompanies them on a journey to seek happiness by finding her lost bluebird. Throughout the journey, the audience learns an overall message that the power of happiness is giving.

Thirty-five cast members were present at Friday’s rehearsal and eight crew members worked on lighting and sound. The cast worked for over 3 hours during technical rehearsals. Rehearsal started at 5 p.m.

“It’s a really fun play because you get to see fantasy,” said director Chris Coddington. “There is a lot of music and dancing and a lot of things are quite funny. The approach is very interesting, as it asks the audience to use their imagination to see the characters and the places they go.”

Alexandrina Alonso, who plays Mytyl, will sing the closing song “Sun” and “In Between” with Orion Bohena, who plays Tytl, and will accompany Alonso with his tenor vocals.

“This song [Sun] represents finding hope and being together no matter how treacherous the journey is,” said Alonso.

In 2019, theater major Bohena prepped for the show Urinetown. The week before opening night, production abruptly ended while the whole school went into lockdown. He grieves the loss of the theater as it brings back memories.

“This theater has been here for so long with so many productions,” said Bohena. “This is going to be the last time in the Horseshoe Theater; it’s pretty heartbreaking that it all tumbled down.”

The Horseshoe Theater will be torn down in late summer or early fall of 2023 with the department planning to move into the Valley Academic and Cultural Center located next to parking lot B. The building is currently under construction.

The theater department is working with Dean Carmen Dominguez on fundraising. The next play is still under consideration, but the idea is a latin written play.

The average cost to attend is $10 and the box office income will be used for the next production. The tickets can be found on the college’s theater website. The play spans four days, from April 21- 24. On the first two nights, the performance will start at 7 p.m. and on the last two days there are two showtimes, one at 2 p.m. and at 7 p.m.