Fiddler on the Roof inspires future Buffaloes

By LEONARDO MUNGUIA 
The Tower 

Manteca High School’s Theatre Program put on a performance of Fiddler on the Roof for Woodward Elementary School students. 

For the program, this performance was about encouraging incoming students to join theatre while also showing the students that they can reach their own goals by putting in effort and working hard. 

“I hope to inspire many of (the Woodward students) to take theatre or band when they get to MHS. I also hope seeing the discipline and skill of my students will inspire them to push themselves to be the best they can be in whatever interests them,” said Dawn Coyan, MHS theatre teacher. 

Putting in hard work and dedication to this performance, the cast of Fiddler on the Roof had to put in a lot of time and effort to perfect the performance, working tirelessly throughout the past few months. 

“The cast has been very consistent and worked hard. We've had rehearsals after school pretty much every day since the beginning of January,” said Coyan. 

Though Coyan worried about whether the students from Woodward would connect to the play – Fiddler on the Roof was first performed on Broadway in 1964 – those concerns went away as soon as Wednesday’s performance began. 

“The first major problem to overcome is that this show is not well-known by teenagers generally, so at first the students weren’t very excited by it,” Coyan said. “Now I think we’ve all fallen in love with the characters and with the themes of love and tradition and change.” 

With nothing but love from the cast and audience, some Woodward students said the performance was “10/10” or even a silly comment “Awesome sauce,” showing that the audience was engaged and enjoyed the performance. 

The elementary students with an interest in theatre recognized the talent and effort the cast had to put into the performance. 

“I think (the performance) helps me kind of understand how much work goes into a more professional play and how much after schoolwork goes into it,” said one Woodward student. 

Coyan believes the performance helped guide students towards the theatre program at Manteca High School. Students from Woodward recognize how much work goes into putting on a show and even encourage them to do theatre in the future. 

“I think it’s really amazing and encourages me to do theatre in the future,” said one Woodward student. 

While inspiring students, the theatre program successfully put on a show for the Woodward students, reaching the goals they had envisioned for the experience they provided. Showing students that they can reach their goals when they set their mind to it and put in effort and even garnering attention for future high school students to hopefully sign up for the theatre program at Manteca High School.