Center Stage Trip: Miss You Like Hell
Today the students took a trip to Center Stage theater for the student matinee showing of the musical “Miss You Like Hell”. This is the first stage show of several that the students will attend at Center Stage this year, to accompany a weekly acting workshop Center Stage is providing for TCS this fall. The show “Miss You Like Hell” brings the audience along on a cross country road trip with a mother, Beatriz, and a daughter, Olivia. What might typically be a fun bonding experience is complex in this production, as the mother and daughter have been separated for four years- the fallout of a tough custody battle. Olivia starts to feel connected to her mother again, until she learns that Beatriz had an ulterior motive- she needed Olivia to come on the trip to be a witness in a deportation hearing. The show touches on themes of family, conflict, identity, and parenting.
Stage productions like “Miss You Like Hell” are a great way for the students to be exposed to experiences and narratives that may not be common in American media. Plays and musicals are a unique form of storytelling that can be very personal. For Freshman Jayla, today’s show was the first play she has ever seen. Jayla reflected, “I really liked it. It was my first time seeing a play, so it was different, but it has a lot of emotion. At first I didn’t really understand what was going on. As it went on, I put myself in Olivia’s shoes because I’m adopted so I can kind of see myself in that situation. It was kind of difficult, but it was good.”
Salma, a Junior, connected with the show because of the immigration themes. “Personally, I could see myself as Olivia. When I see the mom too, I can see her as my mom. It was touching because if my mom was ever deported, I would have felt the same way. I also liked it because they used a lot of culture, like the food – they talked about tamales, and the dancing, and they spoke some Spanish,” Salma said.
The next play the students are scheduled to see at Center Stage is “Thoughts of a Colored Man”. We are grateful to Center Stage for giving us the opportunity to attend the play with special thanks to Center Stage staff Michael Ross, Adena Varner and Dani Turner. What an exciting way to hear different people’s stories and perspectives!