BALTIMORE — Ever imagined what life was like in East Village, New York in 1990? The seniors at Baltimore School for the Arts bring this to life in their Spring Play titled "Rent."
Based on Puccini’s "La Boheme", Rent tells the story of one year in the life of friends living the Bohemian life in modern day East Village, New York City from 1989-1990.
Senior Samuel Greco is pulling all the strings behind the scenes to make sure the play goes off without a hitch.
His official title is stage manager, meaning he handles all of the technical elements of the show.
"What that is, is me working with the writing department, the sound department, my stage crew, and starting to write down and figure out exactly all moves the crew has to happen on set on the stage," Greco explained.
Students and staff all want the show to succeed, so there aren't many egos involved throughout the entire process.
Planning for this show started at the end of last year's school year. That's when when roles for the play were announced.
However, play selection dates all the way back to the summer of 2022. BSA holds a senior run production twice a year.
"In the theater department the fall and spring performances are just for the seniors, those fully produced shows, but the sophomores and juniors each have two to three smaller performances, whether they be collections of scenes, things they wrote, all to kind of practice being on stage," Greco said.
The play is set to open soon and Greco is excited.
"I'm excited. There's a lot that needs to come together. There's a lot of work to do over the next week... It's been it's been talked a lot about a lot in the school community," Greco said.
Although Greco's time at BSA is coming to an end, he feels they've put him in positions to succeed due to the real world experience students are given.
"If you're going to do nothing related to arts, the skills you learned in stage production, are just going to help you live your life," Greco said. "If you go in wanting to go into the arts or something related to the art, what this gives you is a community of people around you who all are looking at the arts, and all have this this mindset of creating and being in that community and fostering your creative self."
What's next for the senior you ask? Nothing official yet, but he has his eyes set on Carnegie Mellon University for their Bachelor of Engineering Studies and Arts Program.
"What I've really found through my time here at BSA is that I really love the STEM stuff that I did when I was in middle school. But I love how that interacts with the production and the theater," Greco added.
For more information on how to purchase a ticket or when to attend, click here.
