Making It

Set in a high school for the performing arts, Making It! is about a group of students who have their hearts set on making it in the theatre world, and several who like to be in plays simply because it's fun. The author, Hindi Brooks, has written many plays and TV shows. She knows the hearts and dreams of young people. That's why the hopes, the frustrations and the conflicts of the high-school students in this play are so real and convincing. The three acts are entitled "Auditions," "Rehearsals" and "The Show." They symbolize the stages in a young person's life as he or she is growing up and stepping into the world. There's fun, excitement, jealousy, heartbreak and ecstasy for the one who makes it. Alex returns to his alma mater as a teaching and directing intern. His cast includes Chuck, a talented senior who is so sure that he has the ability to make it on Broadway that he spends all his money trying to get a New York agent to come to see the play. Buddy is also talented but troubled by parents who don't want him to "waste his time" acting. Lisa, the best actress at T. A., has been Alex's girlfriend since his student days at the high school. Lisa's little sister, Cindy, is determined to take away Lisa's boyfriend and her leading role in the play. Peg has a love for fun and clowning around that overpowers her desire to act. Carol is the talented dancer suffering from anorexia. Gwen is the pretty junior who is upset because her costume is ugly. Then there are the adults—Mr. Barnett, the school principal who loves the money a good show brings in; Ms. Nelson, the drama teacher, once a professional actress and Mrs. Potter, the parent who volunteers to help with costumes—to her daughter's chagrin. Making It! is a family play about teenage dreams and problems—like West Side Story and Our Town—for community and university theatres as well as for high schools. Professionally premiered by the Northside Theatre Co., San Jose, California, this play can be produced elaborately or inexpensively. The "play within a play" is Romeo and Juliet. Rather than using authentic Elizabethan costumes, the script suggests leotards with colorful accessories. The best features of Making It! are the fast-moving, suspenseful plot and the believable characters struggling with today's problems of growing up and preparing for the world "out there.