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The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

Meet your teacher: Teachings of a thespian

Meet your teacher: Teachings of a thespian

by Jonathan Xue, HoH Co-Editor-in-Chief May 3, 2024

A scintillating soliloquy punctuates the stage, marking the ending number to a theatrical adaptation of Antigone. As the lights fade to black and the curtains draw close, a resounding applause fills the...

All aboard: Union Station wows locals and tourists alike

All aboard: Union Station wows locals and tourists alike

KANSAS CITY — With its century-old architecture and central location, Kansas City’s Union Station remains one of the city’s iconic sites, boasting bustling shops, restaurants and specialized attractions.  Harker...

Performers unveil work in the arts during Student Directed Showcase productions

by Sidak Sanghari, Hima Thota, Alison Yang, and Sally Zhu January 18, 2023

A misshapen blob of students, dressed in costumes ranging from floral shirts to ski boots to construction vests, gather onstage. Wrapping their arms around each other, they squat down, heads bowed in anticipation....

Benedick speaks about their marriage and love for Beatrice. In the swing cast, Benedick and Beatrice are played by Avayna Glass (9) and Sonya Apsey (10), respectively.

Students perform Fall Play ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ as first in-person performance in over a year

by Kinnera Mulam, Reporter November 3, 2021

Multicolored lights spin as hues of pink and purple dance across the stage in harmony to the soft instrumental music flowing from the speakers. Soldiers and women don elaborate masks with shimmering silver...

Seniors Ruya Ozveren, Alex Kumar, and Vaishnavi Murari sing in the closing scene of the spring musical "Les Misérables" with the entire cast on March 19. Unlike the format of the Fall Play and Student Directed Showcase (SDS), Performing Arts Director Laura Lang-Ree converted the musical into a movie, where multiple video angles are used and the audio is recorded beforehand.

It’s a wrap: “Les Miz” cast to release movie production of Spring Musical

by Aastha Mangla and Michelle Liu April 7, 2021

As the third theater performance following the start of the pandemic, "Les Misérables" hints at hope in a time of loss and revolution. To bring this story to life, the cast and crew of the Spring Musical...

Music Monday is a new installation featuring a different category of songs on a weekly basis.

Music Monday: Sing Broadway with Aquila

by Irene Yuan, Multimedia Editor January 18, 2021

Music Monday features a different category of songs on a weekly basis. Each Monday, Harker Aquila will release seven songs, one song for each day of the week. In tandem with this year's NYC Broadway Week,...

Peter Galen, played by Alex Kumar (11) in "Booby Trap" leans against a piece of wood as he ponders his fate and reflects upon his past. Another soldier, acted by Shray Alag (11), examines the area surrounding him.

Performing arts presents annual Student Directed Showcase

by Sriya Batchu and Lauren Liu January 14, 2020

After a semester of preparation and hours upon hours of rehearsals, the Student Directed Showcase (SDS), featuring four plays, took the stage last Friday and Saturday night. in the Rothschild Performing...

Sarina Sharma (11), playing Ginette, smiles as she rests her head on Nicky Kriplani's (11) shoulder in the prologue of the fall play. The play, "Almost, Maine," was performed between Oct. 24 and Oct. 26 by two casts of students in the Patil Theater.

Love, loss and some laughter in between: Two casts of students perform in fall play “Almost, Maine”

by Sally Zhu and Lauren Liu November 2, 2019

After weeks of preparation and a dress rehearsal on Oct. 23, two casts of students told tales of love and loss in their performances of the fall play, “Almost, Maine,'' between Oct. 24 and Oct. 26 in...

Joel Morel (12), Esha Deokar (‘19), Richard Wang (‘19), Anjali Sheth (12), and Katrina Ipser (‘19) participate in a theater workshop led by cast members of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival on last year’s trip. This year, 23 students and three teachers from the upper school traveled to Ashland to visit the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and see plays like “Macbeth,” “As You Like It,” “All’s Well That Ends Well” and “La Comedia of Errors.”

Students travel to Ashland to watch performances of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

by Nicole Tian, Winged Post Co-Lifestyle Editor September 29, 2019

Against a background of paper notes strung between colorful beams dappled with blue light, two men dressed in blazers and trousers wheel a third cast member wearing a gray waistcoat across the stage on...

Bobby Strong, played by Mathew Mammen (12), leads a team of rebels in the first act's finale number in the musical "Urinetown." The cast performed four shows from March 28 to March 30 in the Patil Theater.

“This is Urinetown”: Spring musical “Urinetown” delves into a drenched world

by Erica Cai, Esha Gohil, Sara Yen, and Gloria Zhang April 11, 2019

With the house lights in the Patil Theater dimmed, Performing Arts Director Laura Lang-Ree exclaims from the back row of the orchestra seats, “Alright, take it to the top of the show!” Hearing these...

Joel Morel (11) participates in an activity led by actors in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival company on Saturday morning. A group of upper school students, accompanied by four teacher chaperones, travelled to Ashland on an annual trip this past weekend.

Students travel to Shakespeare festival on annual trip

by Jessie Wang, Reporter September 25, 2018

A group of 28 Harker students, accompanied by four teachers, visited the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) in Ashland, Oregon over the weekend. The group left early Friday morning and will return later...

Theater teacher Jeffrey Draper in his classroom.

Meet your teacher: Theater teacher reflects on his performing arts career

by Kathy Fang, Photo Editor December 5, 2017

Beyond his work as a theater teacher and a director at the upper school, Jeffrey Draper also performs as four vastly different characters in Center REPertory Company’s annual production of Charles Dickens’...

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