When class is in session, they're high school students, worrying about homework assignments, meeting college application deadlines, and keeping their grades up–typical teenage angst.
Everything changes when they find their spotlight. The cast of 36 students from around the Riverside Unified School District starred in the Honors Musical production of "Singing In the Rain." On stage, they become A-listers, commanding the audience's attention with magnetic performances.
In August of 2025, they were all strangers to one another, hoping to land a spot in the theater company. After months of rehearsals, commitment and countless hours of dancing, they became an ensemble of friends and collaborators.
Through the Honors Musical program, they have honed their skills on stage, while also amplifying life skills that go beyond the boards.
From left: Caden Schive, a junior at John W. North High School who plays Cosmo Brown, dancing as part of his solo in Act 1 of "Singing in the Rain", Hailey Baerenklau, a senior at Martin Luther King High School who plays Kathy Selden, right before she goes on stage. (David Fouts)
"It's a lot of fun to get into a different environment with people from different backgrounds," Hailey Baerenklau, a senior at Martin Luther King High School who played Kathy Selden, said. "It's a lot different than working continuously with the same people from your same school."
Collaboration is an important skill to have when entering the real world, said Caden Schive, a junior at John W. North High School who played Cosmo Brown.
"We're going to be working with people that we meet for the first time when we walk in the doors on the first day," he said. "I think it's really important that we do that [now]."
The Honors Musical program at RUSD started as a way to bring high school students together for a production and to develop partnerships with organizations within the city, said Annemarie Guzy, producer and founder of the program. One of the first collaborations that came to be was with the Fox Riverside Theater Foundation, a nonprofit with a mission to bring productions to underserved communities.
The first production took place at the Fox Theater, where students get to work side-by-side with professional stage hands at Live Nation, an entertainment company.
As students go through the process, they learn the ins and outs of a theater production, with the guidance of professionals. From stagehands and lighting designers to vocal coaches, members of the ensemble gain professional-level experience in their preferred trade. The intentions of the program have always been to develop students, while bringing out the best versions of them, Guzy said.
"Not just for the sake of collaboration, which is also super important," she added, "but also so that they can see that, maybe they're the best at their school but they start to see that their little bubble is getting wider and wider."
The program has led to students like Christopher Guzman, an RUSD graduate and former Honors Musical participant, to be hired by Live Nation.
"I actually started in middle school," Guzman, 18, said.
From his time at Matthew Gage Middle School to working with the Honors Musical program, he kept climbing the ladder, seeking to grow his skills and knowledge of lighting design.
"Soon I'll be an IATSE member," he added. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees is a union that represents stage hands.
From left: Christopher Guzman, an RUSD graduate and former Honors Musical participant, now working for Live Nation with RUSD to light this year's production of "Singing in the Rain", Dominque Araiza-Cauldwell, the director and choreographer for the production, poses for a portrait against a set backdrop. (David Fouts)
While working alongside his peers during the production, Guzman hopes he is setting an example that allows the students to dream of turning their high school theater aspirations into a working career.
"If you really want to do it, it's possible," he said.
As the production comes to a close and the post-show blues set in, the cast returns to their regular school schedules. This time they return with a new set of skills sharpened by balancing schoolwork and learning lines. The show must go on.
"It's hard, but it's also really rewarding because those are experiences I'll never get back," Schive said.
