Accolade co-copy editor junior Serenity Li auditioned in the first semester of the 2024-2025 school year to join the cast of the spring musical, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” and director Annie Pagano — theater teacher Christian Penuelas’ substitute director — cast Li as one of Joseph’s brothers’ wives. As a result of the Spirit of the MACY’s, an organization celebrating high school musicals, invitation to its award show and offer for the cast to perform at the ceremony, the junior is back to document her experience one last time of revisiting the musical with fellow members of the show. This is the last installment of the series; check out the A&E section to read her previous entries.

On Saturday, March 15, I finished my last show of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” The following weeks later I had only a sense of melancholy, as I could never have the same experience again.

But two months later, on Tuesday, May 6, I saw a post on the Google Classroom dedicated to our musical production saying the Thursday after, the cast would meet to discuss details about attending the Spirit of the MACY’s award ceremony, an even dedicated to celebrating high school musicals around the Orange Country area of California.

I felt ecstatic. After the closing night of our show, I kept missing the times I spent with all my friends, dancing, singing and acting. I knew that was the last time I could hang out with them again, as months later some would graduate or decide not to join another Lancer Theater Co. production as they might not like the future plays or musicals the year after or don’t even have time to perform.

So after I saw that posting, I knew I had to attend with my friends, not just to chase after that fun feeling I had performing “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” but to send off this amazing chain of shows and moments in a type of “grand finale” that would help me look back on this experience fondly.

On our opening night, the Spirit of the MACY’s board of directors came to judge our show. After we sang our last song, they came to talk to us and informed us we were invited to go to an event at the end of the school year for a chance to win an award named after their organization which would identify us as having the best high school musical that year. After they left, I turned to my friend, excited that for the first time, the Lancer Theater Co. would be able to attend this prestigious event alongside other extremely talented high school casts.

The day of the meeting, theater teacher Christian Penuelas informed us we would need to review our choreography for the second half of the “Go, Go, Go Joseph” so we could perform it, and according to the teacher, only what the judges thought were the best musicals would be able to perform during the ceremony and be eligible for the Performance of the Day Award. I felt pretty good about our chances, as Penuelas encouraged us on opening night that this was one of the only musicals he wasn’t nervous about in terms of our preparedness. Additionally, I knew the leads were very talented, having been in numerous plays and musicals before.

Fast forward to Sunday, June 1, where I arrived at the Cerritos Performing Arts Center in my best formal attire and met my fellow, similarly dressed cast members outside the entrance. We chattered in excitement about the possibility of winning an award and nervously reviewed the dance moves to our upcoming performance; I went up to my friend and asked which way to turn after we jumped and landed on our feet, then reviewed the chain of dance moves, slapping my hands on my knees and swinging my arms right, left and up. The ceremony cycled through schools performing a medley or a song from their musical, then distribution of awards.

Three performances before ours, a Cerritos crew member came up to the theater teacher to tell him we should go backstage to change into our costumes and get ready to go onstage. We filed out of our seats and through long winding hallways, down flights of stairs and out of different doors until we arrived at the dressing rooms. We hastily changed from our formal wear to our show shirts, which we received for performing during the spring semester.

A crew member then split us up depending on who needed to enter on stage right or left. We stood there in anticipation, listening to the Laguna Beach High School’s performance of a song of “9 to 5” as we repeatedly encouraged each other and reviewed the dance moves. Then all was silent and it was our turn to go.

I listened for my cue, my heart beating with every second. As soon as I heard it, my feet automatically rushed on stage and my muscle memory took over. At one point, I did panic as I had difficulty remembering to point at the main character instead of start jumping, a mistake I made in one of my previous performances but luckily could execute it well at the last second. Before I knew it, we sang the last note and posed for the audience, who cheered and clapped for our colorful performance.

After the 4-hour-long event, we unfortunately didn’t win the Performance of the Day Award, the Top Ten School Awards or Spirit of the MACY award, all of which celebrated the best musicals and made me feel both disappointed but amazed at the high school cast that did win, as their excellent acting talent in their performance indeed earned them the merit and also inspired me to work on honing in on my skill as well. However, I was glad that some of my friends won awards. For example, even those who weren’t in a leading role received a medal for their outstanding commitment to character or a celebration of their achievement during our musical.

Gallery • 2 Photos

Image used with permission from Caleb Van Hook

Recent Sunny Hills graduate Caleb Van Hook (left) receives a medal in the Cerritos Performing Arts Center theater on Sunday, June 1, for Highest Achievement regarding his portrayal of the titular role in the spring musical, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

Overall, the Spirit of the MACY’s event was the best way to end the year and the “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” musical and I’m excited to see if we’ll be eligible for the event next year!