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A new production of “Freaky Friday: A New Musical” by the San Benito County Stage Company opened on Oct. 17 at the Granada Theater with a cast of 23 actors.
The play features a mother and daughter who switch bodies, played by Naomi Mejia and Serenity Welch. Director Aaron Hernandez described the play as different from the film versions many people might already know.
“It is a musical play this time,” he said. “The whole story kind of revolves around a wedding and the daughter wanting to go on a scavenger hunt.”
Hernandez said the production began in early August, and all rehearsals have been held in a rehearsal space rather than at the Granada Theater.
“I always tried hard as a director to rehearse somewhere that is not the stage where we’re going to perform,” he said. “It can be challenging—not necessarily a problem, but something they have to make do with.”
Hernandez said he particularly likes working with young actors in productions like this one.
“I enjoy building friendships and connections with them, and having fun at the rehearsals,” he said. “I think the audience is going to enjoy the music and performances, and we have a lot of talented kids.”
Mejia said the character she plays, Katherine Blake, the mother, is a bit of a perfectionist.
“She has a vision, and she wants things done in an exact way,” she said. “And so that contrasts her daughter’s role, who’s the complete opposite: not caring, super messy, and brash.”
Mejia said she immediately started crying when she found out she was going to play a lead character.
“This is my first big role,” she said. “Before this I’d done about four other shows, and I’ve been in an ensemble, so I was so happy to get this role. I was working really hard training my voice, and I’m just really glad that the directors saw that through my audition.”
Welch said her character, Ellie Blake, the daughter, is 16 years old and very rebellious. “Honestly, just an average teenager.” She added that she and Mejia rehearsed a lot to learn how to play the mother and daughter when they switched bodies.
“Naomi and I have known each other for a long time,” Welch said, “so we just worked on our chemistry with each other, how we would react to things when we were the parent and when we were the child.”
Mejia said that for most of the play, her character has switched places with the daughter, and she learns that being a teenager is really difficult.
“Ellie lost her dad and her mom’s moving on, but she’s not quite moving on yet,” Mejia said. “But then Ellie in turn learns that being a parent is extremely difficult and that she needs to be easier on her mom, even though she’s struggling on her own as well.”
Mejia said that she thinks people will really enjoy the show.
“It’s really great and so funny, but there’s also some really heartfelt emotional scenes,” she said. “So if you want some laughs, come see us. It’s a great show, and the cast is phenomenal.”
The remaining performances of “Freaky Friday: A New Musical” are on Oct. 24 at 1 p.m and 7 p.m., Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. Tickets are available online.
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