On January 28, 2025, Mayfair’s Theater presented "Mean Girls: The Musical" but with Mayfair’s Middle and High School teacher staff. It was a full house; all seats were sold. The director of the musical, Mr. Saunders, dressed in a Deadpool outfit. He was up on stage helping direct the teachers during the show, giving the show fourth wall breaking. It was definitely a blast to watch, due to comedic energy and silly events unfolding at every minute.
Faculty Follies started occurring during last year’s performance of Little Shop of Horrors. Its purpose is to raise money for senior scholarships. This year, according to Mr Saunders, about $1600 were raised that night! That alone shows just how many people came to witness their teachers make slight fools of themselves and come support the community.
Here are the thoughts of some of the teachers who were performing in Faculty Follies!
Question 1: What led you to join the Faculty Follies?
Mr. Fong: “Well first of all, I love this school, I love supporting the arts and I thought it would be fun to take part and also to raise money for scholarships.”
Mrs. Machado: "Mr. Saunders called me and told me I’d be the perfect Gretchen. Last year, my daughter really wanted me to participate in Faculty Follies so I did it kinda for them."
Mr. Bacani: "I always like doing musicals, I like acting, doing all that stuff so it's always- it's a part of me."
Mrs. Clinton: "Well, Mrs. Aguirre begged and pleaded that I was one of the Mean Girls with her, and because she's one of my besties at work, I decided to do it."
Mrs. Valenzuela: "Honestly, I love "Mean Girls", it's one of my favorite movies ever. When I found out we were doing a musical, I thought I have to be a part of it. I didn’t think I was gonna be Cady Heron, that's such a big part, but I was excited to be a part of it and then when he asked me to be a big part I was like: Sure! I love a challenge."
Ms. Campbell: I love being on stage, never get the opportunity anymore and I'm a part of this program as the music director so I can't be a part of the program and not participate in this amazing thing but also it's just so fun.
Question 2: How did it feel to be up on stage?
Mr. Fong: "It was the most frightening experience of my life."
Mrs. Machado: "Nerve-racking, scary, intimidating, but once you got going and everyone else was having fun it was easy to just have fun."
Mr. Bacani: "It’s exhilarating, it's like being- it's surreal cause you get to play somebody that you're not and it's just a lot of fun. It's just a gift to be up there."
Mrs. Clinton: "Very nerve-racking to be up on stage. But, like, we tell our students, you gotta do hard things."
Mrs. Valenzuela: "It's actually pretty terrifying in the beginning, pretty scary, but once you're up there for a couple of minutes and you realize you're just having so much fun, you just go with it. It just becomes something fun that you're doing with your coworkers. Honestly it was great. Once you were warmed up there, it was great.
Ms. Campbell: "There's so much energy, there's so much joy, laughter, confusion and all out chaos and it's like the best thing ever."
Question 3: Was the experience what you expected?
Mr. Fong: "It was and more. Once you get up there and get going, the crowd energizes you and you see your castmates doing their thing, all of a sudden the fear goes away and it’s just pure energy and excitement."
Mrs. Machado: "I kinda went into this thinking we would have a good time on stage and just have fun for senior scholarships and that's kinda what it was."
Mr. Bacani: "It was kinda fun cause a lot of it was improv. It seemed like things were gonna go wrong but in the end everything went right and it was more fun than stress."
Mrs. Clinton: "It was better than I expected."
Mrs. Valenzuela:"Yeah, actually a little bit better. I was a little nervous since we didn’t rehearse as much as I would have liked, but it turned out well and it was so much fun."
Mrs. Campbell: "Absolutely, that and more."
Question 4: Would you want to do it again?
Mr. Fong: "100% and I encourage everyone else to take part next year too."
Mrs. Machado: "I think I would. I had a lot of fun with my co-workers when we practiced together, we laughed a lot so I would totally do it again."
Mr. Bacani: "Of course. I did it last year, I did it this year, I would just really like to do it again."
Mrs. Clinton: "Absolutely, 100%."
Mrs. Valenzuela: "Yeah absolutely. Maybe not such a big role, but I would definitely want to do it again."
Mrs. Campbell: "Heck yes, anyday, anytime. Maybe after choir tour and competition though."
Question 5: Is there anything else you would like to say to those at school?
Mr. Fong: "I wanna thank everyone that came out and supported us. I wanna thank the directors obviously, Mr. Saunders, Mrs. Campbell for these performances and letting us be a part of it."
Mrs. Machado: "If you're thinking about doing faculty follies, take the leap just do it. It was totally worth the time, it was a lot of fun and it was a great experience."
Mr. Bacani: "We need more teachers to join."
Mrs. Clinton: "I wish more staff would be involved with the Faculty Follies. Next year can be super amazing if more people get involved."
Mrs. Valenzuela: "I think that Mean Girls has a really good message that you just need to be who you are, be confident in who that is and not try to fit in because everyone is special and has something unique to offer the world."
Mrs. Campbell: "Find out the things that you love, especially if it's in art. It will give you life like nothing else will."
Cast:
Mr. Saunders as Deadpool
Mrs. Valenzuela as Cady Heron
Mrs. Campbell as Janis Sarkisian
Mr. Fong as Damian Hubbard
Mrs. Aguirre as Regina George
Mrs. Machado as Gretchen Wieners
Mrs. Clinton as Karen Smith
Mr. Bacani as Aaron Samuels
Image Courtesy of Andrea Ramos.
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