Senior Elsie Groff catalogues performers’ costumes for Rock n’ Roll 53.

by Matilda Hawkins ‘27 and Paloma Illanes ‘25

The annual tradition Sherwood is so famously known for, Rock ‘n’ Roll, will be on stage next month for the 53rd year in a row. With so many different elements needed to put on the show, there’s an extensive number of students who work together as cast and crew in order to make a production full of singing, dancing, and intricate set designs. Here are four seniors who play an integral part in Rock ‘n’ Roll, and their journeys to get there.

Elsie Groff has been working behind the scenes of Rock ‘n’ Roll since her freshman year. Starting in ninth grade, Groff joined the tech crew for Rock ‘n’ Roll and decided to work in the costume department. This choice came with responsibilities such as becoming accustomed with different eras and vintage clothing available. After gaining more confidence and experience in her position through the years, Groff was asked by costume directors Donna Burnsky and Karen Kahn to do more serious tasks such as take notes during rehearsals to see what may need fixing, adjustments, or alterations to get them “show ready.” As a senior, she also is in charge of signing out every costume, ensuring that every valuable item of clothing is returned and accounted for.

Tech Crew hasn’t been just about the work for Groff; it’s allowed her to grow strong bonds with so many people, and the place where she’s met some of her closest friends. “Rock ‘n’ Roll has seen me throughout different parts of my life, both the positive and negative, but it has always been an escape for me,” Groff shared. She encourages anybody thinking about joining to put themselves out there, guaranteeing they won’t regret the opportunities it presents. “Every person who has been and is a part of Rock ‘n’ Roll is just as important as another. Without each background singer, spotlight operator, backstage pager, no matter the role, the show could not exist,” said Groff.

Amanda Kraft joined the dance part of Rock ‘n’ Roll her junior year. She had auditioned freshman year but did not make the highly competitive team and instead joined the Rock ‘n’ Roll cast as a background singer, where she “was a part of a few songs and was experiencing being in the show for the first time.” Not only was her role in the show different, but the experience in general was vastly different as a dancer. Being a background singer involves doing the backup vocals for around 3-4 songs in the show while also learning simple choreography for each song. This is very different from being a dancer, as the dancers do not sing unless they have a lead and have more complex choreography.

Being on the dance team entails practice almost every weekday for at least an hour, leaving not much room for outside activities. The dance team is in charge of learning 2-3 minute dances for almost half of the Rock ‘n’ Roll songs, which adds up to about 20 of them. They have about two months to get this done, while also finding costumes for each dance and remembering them all. Still, Kraft believes that performing the show makes all the hard work worth it. “Being on the dance team is a fun and exciting experience for Rock ‘n’ Roll,” said Kraft. “I love learning new dances and having fun with my friends. It definitely requires hard work, but performing in the shows makes it worth it.”

Menna Yacob is a very important asset to Rock ‘n’ Roll as a student director who oversees almost everything behind the scenes and relating to the production of the show. It wasn’t always like this for Yacob when it came to Rock ‘n’ Roll. She started her freshman year as a mic tech, which was an especially tedious job during COVID-19.  “On top of handing mics to leads, I would wipe down the background mics between each song,” she recounted. To this day, Yacob doesn’t know how she became student director. “One year, I was wiping mics and the next I was Assistant Student Director.”

Being the student director of a show as big as Rock ‘n’ Roll involves a lot of work. Yacob is in charge of organizing the inner workings of the show, and her job allows it to go smoothly. Yacob gives credit to the many individuals who helped her manage this, including her co-director Marianna Ona, as well as the rest of the Rock ‘n’ Roll cast. “The people I work with make my job easy, so I have it good.”

Scotty Puente’s position in Rock ‘n’ Roll is as a guitarist in the band, but it didn’t start out this way. In freshman year, he was really interested in the whole process of the show and production, but his apprehension toward auditioning stopped him from trying out. Instead, Puente worked on tech crew so he could still be involved. Then, his sophomore year, he auditioned for the band but did not make the cut. This setback didn’t stop him from auditioning again and getting a role.

“I really wanted to be a part of the community that had been built up for so many years and performing in front of such a large crowd was an enticing opportunity,” he said.

Now, as a senior guitarist, Puente feels like he’s taking on a lot more responsibility and contributing to more. Being a band member means having work as a team. “The first couple weeks are a little chaotic due to needing to get to know each other and build up a chemistry with one another,” said Puente. However, the experience of Rock ‘n’ Roll is worth every moment, as these four seniors’ experiences show.