Wow.

It’s hard to believe its already done. It feels like it was last week I was auditioning for the first time, and now I’ve closed my senior musical. But this is what my article is for: to reflect and celebrate four years worth of great memories and experiences.

Freshman year: The senior class’ first Tri-School season. Oh, how time flies. Our shows for that year were “Looking Back/Moving Forward” and “Oklahoma!” In full honesty, I had no idea how “Looking Back/Moving Forward” was going to play out, but we stuck with it and our first musical was most definitely a memorable one. “Oklahoma” was next, and let me say that it was one of the wildest rides we ever went on. It was the show where many of the class had their first, but definitely not last experience with Mr. Marrone. And can we please talk about how cool the set was? And the dueling pianos?! That was an amazing way to close off senior year. On top of that, our thespian troupe was able to go to the annual California State Thespian Festival, as well as the MACY and JRAY award shows, which are extremely prestigious in the high school theater world.

Sophomore year: Oh boy, this one’s a doozy. We opened the season with “The Matchmaker,” which is the play on which “Hello, Dolly” is based. From my memory, I’d say the experience was fairly mellow, from auditions to the show weekend. Then comes the one that got away: “The Fantasticks.” Mr. Marrone’s vision for the show was incredible, but due to COVID, the season never got to have its close. Despite the early closure of the season, Tri-School entered the pandemic and emerged as Trinitas, ready to take on the obstacles that come with live theater.

Junior year: Here’s where things begin to get interesting. Not only did we need to navigate the new season with masks and COVID restrictions, but Trinitas had also added an additional show, so our traditional schedule of one show in the fall and one in spring made way for a production in the winter. That season included “On The Air,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and “Once Upon A Mattress.” Each production took place completely masked and socially distanced, as well as live-streamed on Zoom. But as we got closer to the end of the year, the social distancing regulations lifted slightly, and

by some grace of God, we were able to have our first in-person show in a year. Adding to that, the spring musical was held on the Rosary lawn, which was a first for both Rosary and Trinitas.

Senior year: The piece de resistance. We started our season off with “Front,” our winter show was “It Starts With A Dream,” and we closed off the year with The “Sound of Music.” This entire year was an incredible journey and in my opinion, an incredible way to close out our senior year, as well as our Trinitas journey.