Production reigns behind the closed doors of MAST Academy as the Performing Arts club has begun collaboration in the making of the school musical, Anything Goes. Among those on board of the S.S. American, male lead of the musical, senior Daniel Badash-Campana, ventures out to shore with a mindset fueled by adventure and enthusiasm.

Badash decided to participate in the musical as a means of experiencing and becoming involved in an activity that he had begun years prior. Acting was introduced to him in early childhood. A core memory of his takes place in the gates of Key Biscayne where he performed in the Broadway production of Teen Beach Movie. Through the help of acting lessons and auditions in Coral Gables he was able to continue. Though there have been many pauses along the way his participation in acting has been ongoing.

Lack of participation in school musicals at MAST Academy, years prior, ranged from the imbalance of capacity and energy due to study, commitment to water polo, and the presence of varying jobs outside of school. Although sacrifices will be made at the moment in order to further his commitment to the musical, Badash stands by the idea that sports are crucial to maintain a well-balanced life.

“In my opinion, I think sports are crucial, like physical activity is crucial in order to actually get a functioning mind. Whenever I don’t do sports, I always feel so sluggish. When you get home and start working, you just feel so much more energized,” Badash said.

Commitment to diverse jobs continues among the whirl of rehearsals as the musical approaches. He has aligned his time after school with the management of interests including assistance in a dojo, a Community Church, a Farmer’s Market, as well as handling two internships in the medical field. Aiming high toward the future, he hopes to gain experience career-wise.

“I’m more into surgery. Surgery is more instant gratification. Though the person is in pain or they’re suffering, you can go and help them. It helps you feel much better about yourself because you can see the impact on the person, they leave smiling,” Badash stated.

While balancing the weight of these interests, extracurriculars, and study, Badash recalls the handling of these activities to be one of great achievements. Although time is not sufficient, resilience and determination lead him to continue alternating between his personal endeavors and steps upon the grand stage.

Behind the scenes, the cast embarks with their preparation of the musical through the continuous practice of lines, scenes, and numbers. Collaboration between the members has been prevalent. Female lead of the musical, Senior Julia Vega, expresses her excitement and expectations for the progression of the musical while working with the male lead.

“He’s very hands-on, very dedicated to this, which is surprising because he does have to balance a lot. We’ve been working on the [musical] for about a month and we’ve already progressed a lot,” Vega said.

As the musical is directed by the Performing Arts students themselves, maintaining good relations as well as memorizing lines and numbers are crucial. Sophomore Sara Ruiz-Meza, director for the musical, has seen the male lead’s progress scaling positively for the role of Billy Crocker. 

“Billy is a really hard role to play. We picked Daniel because he had typically one of the best auditions that we have seen from a male role in at least the past year or so,” Ruiz-Meza said. 

“His acting is excellent plus his vocals are much better than most people at a beginner’s level, which is pretty impressive to me. We just need to work on his characterization a bit. However, I think Daniel is going to fit into this role really well because he’s already done really well in rehearsals and he’s gotten along with most of the people. He’s really good with stage chemistry.”

“Performing Arts doesn’t essentially look for people who have immediate experience and talent. That’s not what Performing Arts here at MAST is for. But, we’re looking for people who are motivated to do performing arts. For the male lead, we were looking for the bare minimum, Daniel just went beyond our expectations and that’s why he was chosen for Billy.”

The stage awaits for the cast to showcase their performance coming soon.