Local students in San Luis Obispo had a big performance on Wednesday afternoon.
After months of planning and preparing independently, young performers and production staff members at Pacheco Elementary School finally performed under bright lights and completed their rendition of "Hamilton."
Twenty-eight students in all participated, with seven main actors.
KSBY spoke with two of the sixth-graders involved, who say they decided on "Hamilton" because of the variety of characters, which they believe would be more fun for everyone involved.
“It has been a lot of fun," said Daisy Banfield, the show's director. "I was definitely very stressed at the start because we didn't know exactly how everything was going to go and how to pull it off. But once we got that all figured out, it was a lot of fun.”
Fans in attendance enjoyed many of the same songs from the original, with performers noting there were some minor lyrical adjustments. Daisy said they started writing the scripts in January and began selecting the cast in March.
“I’ve learned that in Hamilton, be yourself," said Belen Sanchez, who played Aaron Burr. "I know some people, while we were making the show or the production, were getting stage fright. We had this fear of messing up. Our motto was improvising. When the lights go on, just be yourself.”
The preparation and performance were not part of a class or during school hours. The students did nearly everything on their own, including the lighting and sound.
"It's been really fun," said Belen. "We got to experience our failures, but also how we succeed in some of our play performances."
