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woman: Actors on stage, we're doing "What The Hell!"
man: I'm gonna tell you what I'm looking for and what I didn't get last night,
so I want to make sure I get it this night.
It's literally tempo.
Tempo, tempo, tempo, tempo, tempo.
(playing intense accompaniment)
♪ What the hell, what the hell what the hell ♪
But you see how the "hell" doesn't actually line up with the piano?
student: What are the actual notes?
-(playing note) -David Taylor Gomes: Uh, boys?
(playing)
Altos.
(playing different key)
That key change there has to be rhythmically precise.
Let's run it!
(playing)
♪ What the hell what the hell ♪
♪ What the hell is going on here? ♪
♪ What the hell what the hell ♪
♪ What the hell is going on here? ♪
♪ I work hard ♪
♪ I work so damn hard ♪
♪ But what's it for ♪
♪ When it all falls apart? ♪
David: Kyle and I wanted to write a musical
for the students at Granite Bay High School.
We said, if we do a show that centers around students in high school,
what do they care about?
And at Granite Bay, they really care
about their grades, almost to a fault.
♪ What the hell what the hell ♪
♪ What the hell is going on here? ♪
Kyle Holmes: Students truly believe that their class rank,
and where they'll go to college, is gonna determine everything.
student: This whole week, you've been the one that's...
Maya: 4.0 isn't enough anymore,
which is funny because that used to be perfect.
But now it's all about being better than perfect.
♪ What the hell what the hell ♪
♪ What the hell is going on here? ♪
♪ What the hell what the hell ♪
Kyle: There is like a level of gamesmanship to get into college.
Many students are paying for college coaches,
SAT tutoring and prep.
A lot of amazing students
don't have the financial means to be a part of it.
That inequity played a huge role in us writing "Ranked."
(cheering and applause)
Sid, I can't get ahold of mom and dad.
Lex isn't returning my calls. Where have you been?
Kyle: There's a character in our story
whose main plot line is his parents were paying for his grades
without him knowing.
In our early read-throughs from our friends,
a lot of the feedback was, "Eh, seems like a bit of a stretch.
How could he not know and how could he--"
And we just felt really adamant, we have to leave this in.
We think this is really important, you're not going to talk us out of this.
And then the story broke.
reporter: The largest ever college admissions cheating scam.
Fifty people arrested.
Most of them wealthy parents,
all accused of trying to do the same thing:
getting their kids into some of the most elite schools in the country.
woman: Rick Singer, years ago,
he actually worked with students at Granite Bay High School.
He ran an office here.
A lot of our students used to work with him.
reporter: We had a pretty strange case of life imitating art,
a show that explored life in high school,
one often driven by grades, tests,
and this immense pressure to get into top colleges.
David: Oh, we're really onto something.
Everyone is waiting to talk about this, and now they get to.
And see a musical. (chuckles)
Ryan, have you been paying for your grades or not?
-Ryan: Lex, look, I can explain. -student: You were the one paying for your class rank.
What are we supposed to tell colleges?
That we don't have ranks anymore because you cheated?
Look at yourselves, tearing each other apart, over what, a number?
(murmuring)
Kyle: Holy shit.
That's our story.
I wrote that a year ago.
And now we're seeing it play out.
students: ♪ Why is this happening? ♪
♪ What the hell ♪
♪ Is going on? ♪
(dramatic finale playing)
student: I therefore am...
(dramatic piano chords playing)
Kyle: Okay!
Lots of work to do.
David: Here we go.
Kyle: At a school like Granite Bay,
everyone kind of knows where everyone is,
rank-wise, all the time.
They can log in on an app and see what their grades are.
They can see how their rank changes.
Technology has made it so accessible
and so prevalent in their lives.
Kids are oftentimes finding themselves
very miserable, and very unhappy.
Jack: There's a huge pressure.
Everyone's like, "I need to get an A in this class."
"I need to keep up my 4.5 GPA while balancing drama
and being on a sports team and the National Honor Society."
Anvita: My parents and I have butt heads so many times.
They tell me like if you like theater, that's great,
but your AP scores need to be in check first,
and your SATs need to be in check first.
(crowd applauding on video)
Kyle: We had a student a few years ago
give the valedictorian speech
and talk about how they just played a game.
4.63.
This three-digit number is the reason I stand before you today.
GPA has become like currency in a game of Monopoly,
in which the players who chance upon the right tiles
or construct the right schedules earn more,
while others inevitably end up with less.
No matter what, someone wins the game,
while the rest stand defeated.
Kyle: It went viral.
I think over six million views on YouTube.
It's pretty indicative of the culture.
Right when you're trying to figure out who you are,
the school, and your peers,
and your teachers,
and sometimes even your parents,
will come to you and say,
"Here's what you are, you're this number."
And it is so easy to just take that number,
because it's so much easier than
trying to acknowledge the fact that you don't know who you are.
Kyle: In June of 2018,
we sat down with our students.
We said, "Tell us everything that is going on in your life
that you've not said to your parent."
In writing the musical "Ranked,"
we wanted to amplify everything our students were saying to us.
(intense rock music playing)
♪ Hey, welcome to high school ♪
♪ Welcome to my school ♪
♪ Where you must excel at everything ♪
♪ Think I'm being dramatic? ♪
♪ It's just simple mathematics ♪
♪ We can't all be winners ♪
Kyle: "Ranked" is set in the not-too-distant future.
It's supposed to be a little bit dystopian.
It's a world where your class rank
determines everything about your life.
student: Hey, how'd this morning go?
I can't do this. I'm going to fail.
I'm gonna fall below the average.
I can't spend the rest of my life...
like that.
Kyle: We have above the average students
and below the average students.
If you are above the average, then your life is set
and you are on the path to college
and a successful life and a successful career.
If you are below the average, then you don't have any of those things.
♪ When does this feeling go away? ♪
♪ This tightness in my chest ♪
♪ When will I see through all this grey? ♪
♪ Why am I always second best? ♪
♪ And, God, what will my parents say ♪
♪ If I fail another test? ♪
♪ Has it always been this way? ♪
♪ Can you tell me something different isn't better? ♪
David: There's this feeling of suffocation and drowning
that comes with the pressure of everyone trying to tell you
you have to be the absolute best.
♪ It's time to come up for air... ♪
♪ These waves keep crashing down ♪
♪ But we're still there ♪
♪ So push me down and spit me out ♪
♪ I found my ground ♪
♪ I'm not about to throw it all away ♪
♪ Because life isn't fair ♪
♪ I'm gonna come up for air ♪
Maya: Most parents come out of it
and go, "Oh, that's crazy.
That's wild! That's never happened."
You know, but a lot of the students that I talk to
after seeing it look at me and go, "Oh, my gosh, that's how I feel.
That is our life."
(pensive music playing)
♪ Everything changes ♪
Maya: Parents don't know.
And so I think this show kind of started conversations.
♪ Everything changes ♪
♪ When will this change? ♪
David: Because this show was specifically written
for our students at Granite Bay High School,
we didn't ever expect it to go past Granite Bay High School.
But we had schools all over the country reaching out to us
wanting to license and perform the show,
from California, to West Virginia, to New York,
to Michigan, Maryland, Rhode Island,
Ohio, Illinois, Colorado, Minnesota, New Jersey.
We even heard from schools in England, Malaysia, China and Japan.
-(audience applauding) -Kyle: It was so encouraging
to see other schools reaching out to us saying,
"Hey, these are our kids' stories too,
and how can we work with you to tell that?"
(piano playing coda)
(students chatting indistinctly)
All right, ladies and gentlemen, guys, gals, and nonbinary pals.
-Please get on the stage. -Let me hear it.
♪ What the hell what the hell ♪
And remember, how are we saying "what the hell"?
-student 1: Strong! -student 2: "What the hell?!"
Can we do an interp on "What the hell is going on here"?
♪ ♪
Ojas: My peers at Cupertino High School
would probably define success
as getting into top tier schools.
It's this sort of snowball effect thinking that,
"I get into Stanford, I get a good job offer.
I get to buy a big house, I get to live happily."
I created a Twitter account just so I could follow the admissions officers
to see when they're releasing it.
My only Twitter account is following colleges.
Yeah, we don't use Twitter for anything else.
Anastasia: People see success here
as getting a job in computer science or bioengineering.
(laughing) Everything that has math in it.
It's a math city.
Like, we have
an Apple campus right there.
Kami Tomberlain: Cupertino is definitely
suburban Silicon Valley.
Facebook, Google, Twitter, Pinterest.
Everybody's here, one form or another.
Arcadia Conrad: It is a community made up
of first- and second-generation immigrants,
most of whom are united
by the desire to see their children
do very, very well in life.
So, a lot of people move here for the schools.
teacher: Growing up in Silicon Valley,
is that forming your identity?
student: Everyone is out to, like, be their very best
and to get that perfect 1600 or that perfect score.
teacher: Do you imagine we're a little skewed
into what "pass" is?
You could all pass this class with a C.
Wouldn't that feel fine?
(nervous laughter)
Senih: In Cupertino,
like, almost everyone's parents
did amazing in their countries
that they immigrated from.
You have all these parents
who were top of their class telling their kids,
"Why can't you be the top of your class?"
But there's only one top of class.
Arcadia: All righty datty dooly.
This is our first stumble-through
of act I, scene I.
I want some peas and carrots. But I want it in edu-speak.
So, fragments of words that we say at school.
A.P.
-Integral. -Uh-huh, lovely. Okay, yes?
-Derivative. -Arcadia: Love it. What else?
-Calculus. -Arcadia: Calculus, uh-huh.
-Antiderivatives. -Arcadia: Antiderivative?
Okay, so now give yourselves a point of view
with regard to those words,
and create a word salad for me about what it's like to study
with the intention of getting a better grade.
(intense piano music playing}
(indistinct chatter)
♪ Hey, welcome to high school, welcome to my school ♪
♪ Where you must excel at everything ♪
♪ Think I'm being dramatic? ♪
♪ It's just simple mathematics ♪
♪ We can't all be winners ♪
Ruri: I relate to my character a lot,
especially the part of, like,
doing well and not letting other people down.
♪ You just breathe, you'll be fine ♪
There's a lyric "just breathe, you'll be fine."
No one ever really says that.
It's always like, "Keep pushing forward, go, go, go!"
♪ I can't take another year of this ♪
♪ I'm sick of hearing this ♪
♪ Everyone's telling me who I'm supposed to be ♪
♪ They want commitment and they've got priorities ♪
♪ What do you want from me? ♪
♪ Just let the final bell ring ♪
Arcadia: Pause, please! Pause!
So on this, "I can't take another year of this, I'm sick of hearing this,"
we need to see faces.
And where are these emotions coming from?
When you say these words,
where in your body are these emotions coming from?
Yeah, this is your truth-teller.
If this is not vibrating, you are not telling the truth.
Now your character needs to tell the truth,
and I want you to say, "I can't take another year of this."
students: I can't take another year of this,
I'm sick of hearing this.
Everyone's telling me who I'm supposed to be.
They want commitment and they've got priorities.
What do you want from me?
Anastasia: I'm only 17.
Arcadia: That was better.
Anastasia: I didn't speak English when I just moved here.
I had one best friend who spoke Russian and English.
She would tell me what people think of me
by the classes I take.
I wasn't even talking to anyone,
and they already thought about me something.
That was just really weird for me.
My idea of American Dream is,
I wanna leave something after myself.
I wanna leave a mark.
But I've been working for past two years,
and so many people coming from Apple to get their coffee
and then they're talking about work.
I'm just thinking, is that, like, what I'm supposed to do?
Thinking about doing theater as a profession,
it gives me just a hope.
But I always have this concern, is it possible?
Only the thought of me just
sitting at the desk all my life,
doing computer stuff, it's really freaking me out.
(playing ascending chords)
♪ You know my dad! ♪
♪ He used to tell me ♪
♪ What life was like before ranked redemption-- ♪
♪ Well, of course they had ranks back then ♪
♪ Just not like this ♪
♪ School was fun ♪
♪ There were dances ♪
♪ Could you imagine a world ♪
♪ Where I could talk to a cute girl ♪
♪ And ranks never came up once? ♪
Senih: I would consider myself an actor,
an entertainer of sorts.
I'd say I'm just the guy at school
that puts a smile on your face.
(quirky piano music playing)
We're all in this together.
Senih: I'm not the best of students.
I mean, I'm getting Bs and Cs and a couple As,
but compared to everyone else around me in Cupertino,
I'm not really in a position where I can see myself
getting into the same colleges as everyone else around me.
It's a weird feeling of... of kind of being left out.
Senih, those are not that important.
(chuckles) It's the windows, get the windows.
Senih: I feel like I'm trying as hard as I can,
but my dad would disagree.
My dad would be like, "Oh, you're not really trying as hard as you can.
If you were, you know, you'd be doing better."
So, why were you this late, though?
I told you, like, if you come in earlier, like three or four.
I had to take the SAT.
Oh, that's right.
How did it go?
(Senih sighs)
Like, you know,
you'd think after doing it four times, you'd improve.
Yeah.
And then you don't improve.
And it's just a waste of time.
Well, were you expecting to improve?
-Yeah. -What did you change?
What was different this time?
I got it done faster, it's just...
Okay.
Senih: I didn't get a better score.
So you made no progress?
I wouldn't-- okay, but I wouldn't say no progress.
Like I still... (sighs)
What makes you think you made progress?
Just, I don't like hearing "no progress."
Well, I know you don't like it,
but that's the truth, right?
Senih: My dad immigrated from Turkey.
He was really lucky, you know, one of the brightest people.
He went to the best college, got a job here.
He really holds us to this high standard, like,
"Why can't you just get all As? Why can't you just be a good student?"
And I, I just wish there was a way to tell him
that it's not as easy as he thinks it is.
I don't think my dad realizes how much his approval means to me.
My older brother plays football, and, you know,
my dad always goes to his games.
I don't think he really notices that he doesn't reciprocate
the same feelings for when I do theater.
I can invite 80, 90 friends to a musical
and have them all tell me I did great,
but it's not going to be the same as if my dad
just for a second was like, "Hey, that was pretty good."
That would mean so much more to me.
(rhythmic clapping)
Okay, starting on my left,
we're just gonna say one word or phrase
that accurately describes how we're feeling today about,
uh, the fact that we have, what, three weeks till we open or something like that.
-(excited murmuring) -Harmonies.
-Yeet. -Uh-huh.
(coughs)
-Exhaustion. -Some.
Arcadia: There's a really interesting attitude about theater,
that it's a waste of time.
All right, now we're gonna go this way and I'm gonna be like "ready anyway,"
and you're gonna be like "ready anyway," yeah?
And then you're gonna turn to the person next to you. Yes!
-Ready anyway. Ready anyway? -Ready anyway.
-Ready anyway? -Ready anyway.
Ready anyway. Ready anyway?
Ready anyway. Ready wheny-way?
(laughing)
Arcadia: These students have been told
that school is their job.
But if you allow someone to sit in theater for several years,
it will fundamentally change who they are.
Okay, now let's play bippity-bibbity-bop.
Bibbity-bibbity-bop, oh, goodbye!
-Wow, Senih! -Bibbity-bibbity-bop!
Bibbity-bibbity-bop!
both: Bop!
Arcadia: It will change how they express themselves,
it will change how comfortable they are with other people,
how they can find and cultivate their own authority,
how they can connect to others.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten-- ding!
Arcadia: And yet we have to constantly
make that argument that it's okay to just
be in an environment and see what happens.
(pensive music playing)
♪ What could I say ♪
♪ If it turned out I failed? ♪
♪ What would you do ♪
♪ When the water you've bailed ♪
♪ Comes rushing back in? ♪
♪ You know you can't win ♪
♪ You're drowning, you're drowning ♪
♪ You're drowning, you're drowning... ♪
♪ Better learn how to swim ♪
Arcadia: There's a depression-anxiety combo
that you see in a lot of students,
where it just knocks kids down
further than it has in the past.
And you're always demanding this level of logistical rigor
from kids all day long.
You know, kids will crack.
Kami: In the last ten years, 56% more adolescents,
ages 10 to 17, are having serious thoughts of suicide.
Which is massive.
Now there's so much pressure to get into the best schools,
and feeling like they have to do
everything possible to get in.
Chris Hickey: The issue of suicide and self-injury
comes up in my office every single day.
I hear from students often that the first question they hear
when they go home is, "How'd you do on the math test?"
Not "How'd you feel at school today? What was school like for you?"
student 1: ♪ Why do I always feel so forgotten? ♪
student 2: ♪ Shouldn't someone be watching out for me? ♪
David: I think this show is a bit of a wake-up call.
We ask ourselves, why do students kill themselves?
Baby boomers will look and say,
"It's cell phones, it's the internet."
It's also the way we treat young people.
♪ Just breathe, you'll be fine ♪
David: Our show does not talk about suicide,
but our show is a zoom-in on the environment
that breeds all of those things.
(crickets chirping)
(pastoral string music playing)
Carolyn Rader: Ripley has everything that a family would want.
We have a love of our God,
of our families, of our country.
We really like to be known
as one of the most patriotic cities in America.
The largest employer in Jackson County is an aluminum plant.
We do have retail such as Walmart.
Jackson County schools is the second largest employer.
(crowd cheering)
Christina Iman: People really support
the students of Ripley High School.
Touchdown!
Christina: Friday nights during football season,
that stadium is packed.
Beverly Shatto: In addition to doing what we do for education...
we also are trying to meet as many other needs as we can.
It's not unrealistic for us to have students
who come here because they get meals here.
Barri Faucett: There are a lot of wonderful things about West Virginia.
However, we have several deficits as well.
The most daunting is our substance misuse epidemic.
Christina: We have a lot of students
being raised by their grandparents.
But for the most part, Ripley people look out for each other
and when someone's hurting,
people rally and support each other.
The school is the heart of the community.
(somber music playing)
(music fades)
-(rhythmic piano playing) -Aaah. (giggles)
Christina: Whenever you're ready.
♪ I could have a mansion on a hill ♪
♪ I could lease a villa in Seville, but... ♪
Christina: "Ranked" popped out at me
when I first saw it online.
I thought, "Wow, that sounds like
some of the issues that we've had."
♪ Hey there, Mr. Chaplin ♪
♪ Well, your act deserves applause ♪
Christina: These kids can't have even one bad grade,
because it's just gonna ruin everything.
It is time, my lord!
What shall I do with the others?
Shall I slay them?
Christina: For a lot of them,
it's not about being number one.
Okay, I can't sing well, so the crown will distract from that.
Christina: But they know that they have to be top 10%
because college is expensive.
There's a lot of money on the line.
♪ Everyone's pushing, everyone's fighting ♪
♪ Storms are approaching, there's nowhere to hide ♪
Christina: They have to do whatever they can
to try to boost themselves
and make themselves appear as a better candidate,
you know, than someone else,
when the time comes to choose who gets what.
♪ Dear Theodosia, what to say to you ♪
student: Opportunities are not evenly given out in this world.
College can be pretty costly to go out of state
if you don't have a crazy scholarship.
People in our own school, they're just amazingly academically talented,
but they don't have the wealth or connections
to go off somewhere crazy like Stanford.
♪ A merry-go-round spiraling down ♪
I don't know how important
grades actually are when it comes to like real life.
All I know is that you have to have acceptable grades
for whatever college that you're gonna go to.
You can get, like, C averages and be fine with your life
if that's what you want to do.
That's it, that's all I had.
man: Have you ever thought about going to an Ivy League college?
That is-- what is that? (laughs)
I honestly don't know what it is.
(piano playing rhythmic intro)
teacher: This is my intro that I have.
-(intro continues) -This is it.
And then eventually I land here.
-(intro continues) -And you just...
♪ I know your world is crashing down ♪
♪ And as you hit the ground ♪
♪ Nobody hears a sound ♪
♪ Sometimes you've got to make a mess ♪
♪ You've got to scream and shout ♪
♪ It's time to pound your chest ♪
(clears throat)
♪ Or be polite if you dare ♪
♪ Just sit tight and braid your hair ♪
♪ Take a seat right over there ♪
♪ And I'll give you a lesson ♪
♪ Someone always bleeds ♪
teacher: I like what you did with that.
Ooh, that gave me... Ah, it makes me like shake.
You gave me chills, girl! Chills!
Anne: I think most people get stressed about
who they want to be when they get older.
The schools now, they really pressure you on, "Who are you gonna be?
What college do you wanna go to?"
I have no clue.
(dog barking)
(indistinct chatter)
Look! I got a ginger snap for you.
No, it's for Donna.
(grunting)
Anne: I see myself just being
successful in something,
but I don't want to be tied down to a job that isn't fun.
I was really set on becoming an elementary teacher,
but I'm not sure about that.
Recently, I've been talking to my parents a lot about special effects
as, possibly, a career.
But we're in West Virginia. There's, like, no schools that have the arts.
I think about, would I be successful
going to, like, a big city trying to do something?
I definitely feel like I'm stereotyped
because I'm from West Virginia.
Like, people just assume
that everyone's just like country hicks
and that we don't know anything.
But I also can't overthink that
'cause I don't know what's gonna happen.
(quirky music playing)
Christina: So we're gonna spend a little time
looking at what our characters actually want.
There's always something else,
something a little bit beneath the surface of what the text says.
So it's up to us to kind of dig in a little bit
and figure out, what is it that your character wants?
I play, uh, Jenner, Taysia, and Liz, so it's like three characters.
Christina: We're probably gonna have to break that up, but...
They, they kinda care about their grades a lot,
and whenever they find out Ryan's cheating,
they're kinda like, "This guy's the reason why I can't get into college."
So, they definitely put their grades over, you know, Ryan.
-Christina: The friendship. Right. -Yeah.
I am aware of class rank, but...
I don't care about it. (chuckles)
Kids worrying about their class rank,
it can be pretty detrimental to, like, their mental health,
and, well, their physical health is too
because you see them staying up till like midnight.
That, I couldn't imagine doing that personally,
'cause I, I gotta go to bed at ten o'clock. Like, I'm done, you know?
It's like, if I have work, then that's tomorrow me's problem.
After high school, I'm planning on going to an art school
that has an animation program.
I love, you know, characters, I love drawing,
I love animating, I love all that kind of stuff.
But money is like the biggest thing.
You have to get so much scholarships,
but you have to have good grades to get scholarships.
And you have to do really good on the ACT.
I just took the ACT for the first time,
and I can tell you I did horrible.
I didn't bring a calculator, like. (laughs)
It kind of makes me feel stuck.
It's really hard for me to get out of West Virginia.
But if I can get into that industry,
that'd be a perfect, you know, job for me.
'Cause I'm doing something that I love.
Christina: Okay, are we ready?
student: You wanna be my Lily?
-I'll be your Lily. Let's go. -Okay.
-Do you want me to sing it? -woman: Yes.
-Christina: Can you? -Yes.
-Christina: I know Evan is not going to be singing back to you.
-I'll speak it. -(laughter)
-I'll speak it. -You can speak it.
And when I do ♪ Ahh-ahh ♪
-just repeat me, okay? -Okay.
♪ I see you there ♪
♪ Sitting across from me ♪
♪ You care ♪
♪ Only about what I think ♪
♪ But where are all the other parts of you ♪
♪ Supposed to fit in? ♪
-My head is spinning. -(cast laughing)
♪ Just take a minute to breathe ♪
♪ Ahh-ahh ♪
♪ When do we come up for air? ♪
♪ These waves keep crashing down without a care ♪
♪ They'll push you down and spit you out ♪
♪ You'll come around and still have doubt ♪
♪ But treading water doesn't get you anywhere ♪
♪ When do we come up for air? ♪
Oh, my God, Taylor.
Taylor: I'm always trying to push myself to do harder
and, like, work to be
the best I can be so I don't feel stuck.
My parents want me to go to a community college,
where it's free, I can get the same education that I want.
But I'm wanting to go to this other college
because I, I feel like
I would be the only person to stay home.
You know, all of my friends, they're going off to these schools,
some of them even like out of the state.
So if I were to stay home and in Ripley,
I would feel stuck.
(pensive music playing)
Evan: The idea of not leaving West Virginia,
it's very deeply seated.
I mean, the hills, um, in the first place,
when there weren't, like, good roads,
it was physically difficult to leave this place.
And then, the state isn't doing well economically.
Nor is it doing well with our good old drug epidemic, so...
it's difficult for a lot of people
to leave for a lot of different reasons.
You can't do much in creativity here.
I mean you can't do anything
except fast food, retail, and working at a plant.
But if you can leave West Virginia,
which I'd say about 5% of the people who live here do,
uh, there are jobs out there,
and I just don't think teachers
expect us to leave the state.
It almost feels like a pipe dream to some people.
It's like, "Hey, I'm gonna go rent a unicorn for the weekend,
I'm gonna go move to Pittsburgh," you know.
(laughs) Those two are about on the same level to some people.
♪ ♪
-student: Whoo-hoo! -David: Here we go.
Ready? Here we go.
One, two, three...
♪ Ooo, ooo ♪
♪ Hey, hey... ♪
David: Kyle is a full-time public theater teacher.
I'm a composer and I work primarily in musical theater,
but when we wrote, we had... I was like,
"Okay, we're going to write this musical,
but it needs to be good enough to be a Broadway musical."
I'm not going to lower my expectations
because we're writing this in Granite Bay.
We're going to write a Broadway musical.
Kyle: We knew that we didn't necessarily have the clout
or the funds on our own
to drive something to New York City
and we would need help.
So our strategy from the very beginning was,
"Let's put together a studio recording of some music from the show
and then let's license it
to as many schools as possible."
David: But then Mindy Cooper,
who's a Broadway performer and choreographer, said,
"Take it to New York and do a reading,"
and I was like, "What?" Like, "We can just do that?"
And she says, "Yeah, let's workshop the show
and then take it to New York and pitch it to producers."
(upbeat piano music playing)
David: The plan is to just get some investors on board
so we can hopefully do an off-Broadway production.
Kyle: We're gonna work with a casting director,
and we're gonna go out and hire a bunch of
working Broadway actors to be in our show.
Has much to work on...
-woman: Ghalangi! -Ghalangi: Hello.
-Kyle: Ghalangi. -David: Hello!
Mindy Cooper: Thanks for being here.
-We'll have you sing first. -Ghalangi: All right.
(piano plays intro)
♪ You know my dad ♪
♪ He used to tell me ♪
♪ What life was like before rank redemption ♪
♪ Well, of course they had ranks back then but not like this ♪
♪ School was fun, there were dances ♪
♪ Can you imagine a world ♪
♪ Where I could talk with a cute girl ♪
♪ And ranks never came up once? ♪
♪ Don't think so much ♪
♪ It's not a big deal ♪
♪ Sometimes life sucks ♪
♪ It's rarely ideal ♪
♪ Don't think so much ♪
♪ I tell myself not to freak out ♪
♪ 'Cause you know that totally always works ♪
♪ "Just breathe, you'll be fine" ♪
♪ That's nice but it's not really helping ♪
♪ Although I don't wanna do this ♪
♪ I know the only way out is to go through this ♪
♪ Why does it feel so wrong? ♪
♪ I don't know where I belong ♪
♪ I just know where I'm not meant to be ♪
♪ I don't want to hurry up and wait ♪
♪ To then find out that I'm still too late ♪
♪ I keep yelling, "This is not my fate!" ♪
♪ To work harder ♪
♪ Work smarter ♪
♪ Is this my fate? ♪
♪ To work harder ♪
(sighs)
♪ ♪
♪ Just breathe, you'll be fine ♪
-(indistinct comments) -(laughter)
Does this show sort of, do you find resonant...?
-Whooo! Do I? -(laughter)
Um... I feel like this show was literally
written about my high school experience.
I hated high school.
I would wake up feeling, every day,
just feeling like, this is not my place.
I went to a high school and ended up leaving,
actually, for my senior year,
to do theater school in a different state
'cause the academia world was insane.
Mindy: People have flown in from all over the country,
as we've been learning over the last day or so,
and that's exciting and wonderful.
-I live in San Diego. -Did you fly in for us?
-Yes. -Oh, wow.
Of course, no, I was super happy to be here.
-Maryland? -Uh, I'm in Baltimore. Yep.
My flight goes back to Birmingham tonight at nine o'clock.
-Um... -David: If you're 18
and you flew all the way across the country
for an audition in New York,
that's a huge sacrifice.
To know that they went through all of that
just because they cared about it a lot,
and they connect with the material.
(piano playing)
(sighs)
♪ I know your world is crashing down ♪
♪ And as you hit the ground ♪
♪ Nobody hears a sound ♪
♪ When someone has to lose ♪
♪ Take a guess at who gets screwed ♪
♪ You need it clearer ♪
♪ You need a mirror ♪
♪ Someone always bleeds ♪
♪ Today it's me ♪
-♪ Tomorrow it's you ♪ -(singer turning pages)
♪ Second view ♪ (laughs)
♪ Get a better view ♪
♪ Maybe we're all pawns ♪
♪ Maybe we got played ♪
♪ When you're drowning in textbooks ♪
♪ You can't see that your grade ♪
♪ Is a part of the game ♪
-I'm s-- -Kyle: No, don't apologize for anything.
Don't apologize. We're all theater people.
-singer: All right, cool. -No shame.
Thank you, thank you, guys.
-Thank you. -David: Thank you.
Mindy: I've been running auditions for 30 years.
I've never cried in the room.
-David: You're getting soft. -It's just so potent.
They're so young, and...
That's true! We're getting very, very young.
-Yeah. -And it's just so unfettered.
Kyle: Mm-hmm.
-That's what we need though. -Yeah.
David: This has been my dream for my whole life,
to have a musical produced in New York.
It's starting to happen
and that feels really, really cool.
(soft string music playing)
(music fades)
(distant siren wailing)
(indistinct chatter)
-(laughter) -student: Me too.
My life with a Clorox wipe.
Kami: Last week, we got word
from the county public health department
that they were recommending some pretty restrictive changes
to how schools were operating.
It's unprecedented in our lifetime,
what's happening right now.
There have been other contagions.
They have not spread this quickly
to as many places on the planet.
We are scheduled for six live performances
and none of those are gonna happen.
We are hoping to do one show that is filmed,
so that the kids get to perform it on stage,
but that instead of an audience,
we have a video camera.
woman: Why not just cancel the play?
Why put it on for no audience?
Well, because of the kids.
You don't just cancel a play.
That's, like, unthinkable.
Theater has existed in, like,
the worst places all over the world.
It existed during the plague
and it exists in refugee camps.
It existed in concentration camps.
It exists. It's the...
the deck chairs on the Titanic, you're just gonna,
just gonna to do it... until you can't, you know.
Kami: (over loudspeaker) Good morning, Cupertino.
This is Ms. Tomberlain. I'm sorry to interrupt class.
I want you to know this is not an emergency.
Beginning Monday,
Cupertino High School will be closed
in response to the COVID-19 virus.
So, right now, we're looking at three weeks, schools closed,
online education.
Um, we want to keep everybody safe and everybody healthy.
Thank you very much,
and I will be sending out more information shortly.
-Hi. -student: Hello.
This is the day we didn't want to have to have.
Um...
I think that Megan and I would like to go over to the theater
so that we can all put our show
into a state of suspended animation.
(somber music playing)
Every time I get to spend time in a circle like this,
I realize how lucky I am.
We were lucky to have been here, we were lucky to have cared.
So...
we don't know what's gonna happen now.
Except for the next thing we're gonna do is clap and we'll jump,
and something will happen then.
One, two, three.
That's settled.
Christina: Obviously, we need to talk about, um,
things getting shut down on us today. Okay?
So first we got the announcement
that it was just after-school activities
that would be closed until April 10th,
which was the weekend we were going to perform.
Um, and then it came that the governor
totally shut down schools for the state.
-So, let's hope this gets over within a month. -I really hope so.
Christina: I'm hoping we're back after spring break,
but I'm also not holding my breath.
Evan: This feels pretty damn real.
The school's closing down, and I don't know when it's coming back.
Everything else is closing too.
It's crazy. It's crazy right now.
Jane: I'm disappointed that the musical got canceled
because that's like, that's my moment where I shine.
It's like the sports kids, they don't get to finish their season,
they don't get to be like the senior all-star athlete.
This is as close as we come to being an all-star athlete.
Kyle: David and I were having conversations
with each other about the coronavirus,
really wondering, are we gonna
be able to get to New York
and do our reading and get out
before this happens?
Two days before we were supposed to get on a plane to New York,
the NBA season cancels.
reporter: ...concerns have prompted the NBA
to scrap its entire remaining season.
Kyle: We wake up Thursday morning,
and that's when Broadway closes.
reporter: At 5 p.m. Thursday,
Broadway officially went dark.
Kyle: Broadway was closing for the first time since September 11th.
David: It was an "oh shit" moment,
where your stomach sort of turns over a little bit,
and everyone felt that in the entire world.
Um, we were just two more people who felt that.
(pensive music playing)
♪ Everybody's angry ♪
♪ Everybody's screamin' ♪
♪ They want someone to blame ♪
♪ But what's the real reason? ♪
♪ I tried to heed your advice ♪
♪ Just keep my eye on the prize ♪
♪ Now take a breath and be fine ♪
♪ Do what it takes to survive ♪
♪ Till we run out of time ♪
♪ Tell me this is a dream ♪
♪ It's not as bad as it seems ♪
♪ Still what I don't understand ♪
♪ Is how this got so out of hand ♪
♪ So someone's cheating ♪
♪ Someone's always cheating ♪
♪ Always lying, always fighting ♪
♪ Always crying ♪
♪ Make it go away ♪
♪ Will this go ♪
♪ Away? ♪
♪ It's about time that I ♪
♪ Found peace of mind ♪
♪ After all, I followed where I was led ♪
♪ I've been told that once I get older ♪
♪ I'll be fine ♪
♪ I'll see it was all in my head ♪
♪ It's not all in my head ♪
So, I've been self-quarantining for about a week now.
I believe it's day...
day 12 or...
12, I think, of, of quarantine.
This is the first time I've ever had to do
any form of online school.
And it feels weird.
Okay, I have not gone outside ever
in these two weeks.
I haven't even stepped foot outside my door.
Not this door, like outside my front door.
Ojas: It's day 36 of quarantine.
I'm noticing that I'm sort of forgetting
how to have a conversation with other humans.
Could be a Tuesday, could be a Wednesday.
I'm pretty sure neither of those are correct though.
I think, and I hope that this will be over
in a month or two, maybe?
I've heard that we're not getting, like, a vaccine for a year.
God, that sounds terrible.
Senih: My sleep schedule is now completely flipped.
I will sleep at around 4 a.m.,
and I'll wake up at around 4 p.m. or 5 p.m.
It's not very healthy for me.
We found out that someone just down the road
was positive for the virus.
And that's very unnerving.
Of course I can Facetime my friends,
but it's not, it's not the same,
and...
I don't think it's really good for anyone's mental health.
Purvi: I'm feeling really confused
and just sort of disoriented,
and I'm not really sure what to do at the moment.
Barbara: I'm really uncertain
with how my grades are gonna turn out
and how that's gonna affect my college admissions
and which college I choose.
I don't think I can do this for another five weeks.
(laughs)
I'll try, I have to, but...
It's boring, dude.
It sucks.
I hate it. I want to go back to school.
Kyle: Theaters aren't meant to be empty.
There's 500 seats here. Like, people are supposed to be in them.
Christina: For a lot of kids,
theater is where they find the place where they belong.
The arts is what's getting cut out.
You really can't do theater very well with a mask on your face.
Arcadia: There really hasn't been a time in my life
where I haven't been backstage,
on stage, around stage.
Not knowing what it's going to look like to move forward
is the part that is the hardest.
What the fuck do we do now?
Even if this dies down over summer
and we get all of our ducks in a row and we're back in New York in July
because we can be, is there even gonna be a market for theater then?
David: After the descent into despair,
the Broadway dream being on pause...
brought us back to why we wrote the show in the first place.
We wrote the show for the students.
(playing introduction to "Hamilton")
♪ How does a bastard orphan... ♪
Kyle: And then theater started happening online.
♪ Oh, oh, oh, you can't stop today... ♪
-♪ No! ♪ -♪ As it comes speeding round the tracks ♪
-♪ Oo-oo-ooh! ♪ -♪ Child, yesterday is history... ♪
-♪ Be gone! ♪ -♪ And it's never comin' back! ♪
-(frenetic drums beating) -Kyle: We started to see
these professionals get a little innovative and creative.
We realized there was no reason
"Ranked" couldn't also be adapted for that venue.
♪ Why do I always feel so... ♪
♪ Why do I always feel so forgotten? ♪
♪ Just breathe, you'll be fine ♪
♪ You're drowning, you're drowning, you're drowning ♪
Kyle: We really pivoted our efforts to getting "Ranked"
to more high schools.
Welcome to today's episode of the "Average Update."
-We're coming to you live. -Live!
For the special midterm edition of the class rank update.
-I'm Nate Huge. -And I'm Kelly Stewart!
Midterms are over, and it's time to see how the cards, or ranks, fell!
Yay!
-That is so good! -That was literally amazing!
It's just so special to us that students
get to be the ones to bring "Ranked" to New York
for its debut.
We're just so appreciative that y'all are able to give this
some New York life.
(string quartet playing)
Linda Key: In the Bronx, many students are just hungry,
hungry to succeed.
A lot of the kids come from single-parent homes.
We have students who might have to stay at home
to take care of siblings because
both parents are working.
The reality for a lot of my kids is
they're in a smaller apartment with lots of family members.
Many of their parents
are working triple shifts.
College represents
a way for them to raise
their economic state.
I mean, that's a huge thing.
For our communities, education is your... your key to success.
Something that we're constantly communicating to students
is what it means to be above average.
Like, if you want to get into the top school,
you have to be above average.
Welcome to today's episode of the "Average Update."
We're coming to you live with a new--
Ooh, with a special.
I'm Nate Huge!
Or like, a little... I'm Nate Huge!
Something like that, I gotta put my little coolness in it.
Linda: In many ways, the arts is our glue
during this pandemic.
♪ You're number one ♪
♪ Now you're 30, now down to... ♪
Isiah: The streets are empty, there's nobody outside.
Even when I'm inside, it's like I can play the game,
I can watch TV, I can practice lines,
but after I do those things, what is there for me to do?
Like a repeating cycle,
like every day doing the same thing.
♪ We need to come up for air ♪
♪ Take a look around ♪
♪ You're almost there ♪
Nahiely: Everybody's struggling right now.
It sucks that I can't be in class with my friends.
The pandemic made everything turn upside down,
and it isn't just a pandemic happening.
protestors: I can't breathe! I can't breathe!
reporter: Demonstrations continue today
as people took to the streets to protest the death of George Floyd.
-protestors: George Floyd! -leader: Say his name!
-George Floyd! George Floyd! -Say his name!
Isiah: It's scary to see how the world really is.
I'm no different from George Floyd.
The same thing that they did to him,
that could have been me out there,
and I wouldn't wish that on anybody.
protestors: I can't breathe! I can't breathe!
Nahiely: I have friends that look like George Floyd.
My dad looks like George Floyd, so it's...
just really emotional for me.
-Say his name! -George Floyd!
Say his name!
Michael: I have a very hard time
with the George Floyd incident.
That along with, you know,
Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Emmett Till.
You know, the situations, right,
that we were experiencing centuries ago
are still happening, present day.
It's really hard for me to...
to put into words what I'm feeling...
Yeah.
protestors: No justice, no peace!
Michael: Our students are growing up
in a world where, unfortunately,
because of the color of their skin,
they're experiencing racism, oppression.
Nahiely: We're still drowning.
We haven't gotten much change.
We just keep seeing situations like this happen,
over and over and over again.
We haven't come up for air, yet.
We still have a long way to go before we can breathe.
♪ It's time to come up for air ♪
♪ These waves keep crashing down ♪
♪ But we're still there ♪
♪ So push me down and spit me out ♪
♪ I found my ground ♪
♪ I'm not about to throw it all away ♪
♪ Because life won't play fair ♪
♪ I'm gonna come up for air ♪
-(horn honks) -Lakin: At the time of me recording this,
we are going through the tragic events
surrounding George Floyd and his murder.
I am in high school.
I don't have a big following.
I try to do what I can by, like,
posting on social media to help educate people,
but it just really makes me feel powerless sometimes, you know,
when something huge like this goes on,
and you really, really wanna help.
(horn honks)
No hate in my holler!
Leo: The objective of today is kind of
just to educate and inform people.
Because, I mean, this is Ripley.
Like, it's a white prominent town.
So you have a lot of people saying, "all lives matter,"
and things that are really racist.
Being in a small town is no excuse for ignorance.
man: We do have several armed counter-demonstrators
with signs saying they're backing the blue.
woman: We see a lot of second amendment folks here.
And they're saying they're here to keep it peaceful. Now, what do you make of that?
Do you think that that's their intentions? What's going on?
I think it's an intimidation factor. I think they're trying, yeah...
I think they're trying to, ya know, make us go away.
So you're, you're telling me that Black lives matter.
Okay, I agree with you. Do not all lives matter?
-Okay, so... -Do not all lives matter?
Leo: Can I explain it? So yeah, all lives do matter.
But the thing is that Black lives are,
they're going through a racial injustice within this country right now,
and we're trying to bring attention to their lives.
-Okay, wow. -(woman speaking):
-No. -Please? You're really close to me.
man: Okay, that's good. Did I offend you?
And you're over here, right in this lady's face with no mask on.
-That just shows you the kind of person you are. -Son!
-For one thing, you're as close to her-- -I got a mask on.
So what? So what?
Leo: And she didn't ask him to back off.
Taylor: It honestly really made me upset
that you have a bunch of middle-aged white men
walking down the street with,
you know, AR-15s on their backs
to try to scare these kids, you know, protesting
for something that actually means something.
Take it to the streets, 'cause he can't breathe.
No justice, no peace!
Take it to the streets, 'cause he can't breathe.
No justice, no peace!
Take it to the streets, 'cause he can't breathe. No justice, no peace!
emcee: Dalton Meyers, going to Ben Franklin to be an electrician.
-(scattered applause) -(indistinct chatter)
(laughs) I love you.
-I love you too, baby. -We love you.
I like your pins. I didn't even put mine on.
student: Dude, we match!
-Like, one of these? -Oh, yeah.
Get the sun out of it.
I would've rather had that traditional graduation,
but, I mean, this is cool too.
We have a parade, instead of, like, just a Zoom meeting.
-woman: Go, Anastasia! -emcee: Way to go, Class of 2020!
-woman: Good job, good job! -Anastasia, congratulations!
Anastasia: I pictured everything
differently than it actually is.
I'm gonna talk to my kids in really far future, being like,
"Yeah, I was the class who graduated during quarantine."
Barbara: I'm super relieved that
I actually have my diploma now,
even though the ceremony
was not like it should have been.
I feel super great. It's about the achievement.
emcee: Added the sunroof!
Ojas: It feels weird that everything is in a drive-through fashion.
emcee: Congratulations, Ojas!
I never really got to say a proper thank you
and goodbye to my teachers.
student: Whoo-hoo!
Ojas: I'm not really sure what my future looks like.
I don't know what's going to happen.
We're taking it one day at a time.
(distant siren wailing)
(horn honks)
student: ♪ 5, 6, 7, 8, work ♪
students: (in singsong) ♪ And me and my friends hold on, work ♪
♪ Walk in, walk out and go to work ♪
♪ Hey, walk it out, walk it out ♪
♪ Work, okay, oh, cha, cha cha, cha, work ♪
-Nahiely: (laughing) We should do that. -Jolimar: Yeah, we should.
(laughing)
Linda: We're gonna be doing the Nate and Kelly scene.
They're like a mix between
like cheerleaders and...
Like the morning announcement people.
So chipper, professional, best student ever.
student: Mm-hmm.
"Welcome to today's episode of the 'Average Update.'
We're coming to you live with a special midterm edition of the class rank updates."
-I'm Nate Huge! -"And I'm Kelly Stewart. It's Friday, October 15th."
"You have a few extra days until these essays boom or bust your rank,
so take the weekend and celebrate."
So, can you show me some crazy high-school way to celebrate?
Like, celebrate, waah! Give me something there! Okay?
-Fantastic, Zaya, that's great. -Good job, good job.
All right, we are act I, scene II, page 21.
Putting on a virtual play is one thing.
Putting on a virtual musical
is a whole different ball game.
And then you're gonna take your right hand
and pull on this side of your face so maybe...
Hayley Wright: We have the kids
that have opted in for in-person learning
while we have the majority of our cast still remote.
♪ The tiniest lifeboat... ♪
Linda: We did all of the auditions remotely.
♪ Feels like I might spend the whole year... ♪
Linda: I have a lot of students doing their whole school day,
often in the bathroom, or I had one student
who found a little corner of the closet.
A lot of students don't have another room
where they can have quiet.
(indistinct chatter)
We bought green screens.
We have a sound recording studio.
It's gonna be like a mix between a movie musical, Zoom,
and an actual movie.
Hayley: My hope for how we will premiere "Ranked"
is to have a big day
where everyone was in the auditorium,
was watching on our big screen.
♪ I've always been the good little sister ♪
♪ Never even tried to speak my mind ♪
♪ Just keep my lips on lock ♪
♪ Don't take the chance to talk ♪
♪ But the thoughts in my head still scream and shout ♪
Excellent, excellent work, honey!
We just took everything another bunch of steps.
Jolimar: I was born and raised in the Dominican Republic.
I moved to New York at the age of 9.
My mom thought that in New York City
we were able to seek a better life, a better future.
I made a vow to myself when I came here, I was like,
when I finally learn English,
I'll make sure that I'm the best student that I can.
Maybe not get like Salutatorian and, and Valedictorian.
But maybe the best student as I can.
I've always wanted to go to college,
but being able to pay for college is a big factor
into my college application process.
Not being able to pay for the college of your dreams,
it breaks your heart.
You have the potential,
but just because you can't afford it, you're not able to go,
and somebody else can because they are,
and it's kind of unfair, but that's just the way the world is.
I live with my mom and my sister.
I used to live with my aunts and uncles
and cousins in the same apartment.
You know, you come from the bottom
and have to work your way up.
My mom, she has done so much for us
in order to have what we have now.
The most important for me is my daughters.
(speaking Spanish)
Oooh, five more minutes.
I'm nervous!
I always wanted to go to college
to pursue my dream as an actor.
Also, like, learn other skills.
Like, be a entrepreneur.
It would really mean a lot.
My mom, she didn't have the chance to go,
my brother didn't get a chance to go,
so being that I'm getting a chance to go,
I want to take advantage of this opportunity.
There've been things in my life that pushed me back
and made me feel like I couldn't do it,
but like getting there and going to college
would just make me feel like I could do anything.
(computer chimes)
Hello.
Well, welcome to the audition, sir.
Um, thank you, first of all, for auditioning for us.
So, what monologues will you be doing
for me today, Mr. Sampson?
Today, I will be performing Twilight
from the play "Twilight: Los Angeles 1992."
So, a lot of the times when I brought up the idea to my homeboys,
they say, "Twilight.
That's before your time, that's something you can't do now."
When I talked about the truce back in 1988,
that was something they'd consider before it's time.
Yet in 1992, we made it realistic.
So, to me it's like I'm stuck in a limbo,
like the sun is stuck between night and day
in the twilight hours, you know?
You're nervous, aren't you?
Just a little bit.
'Cause your energy right now is sort of like
"Ahhh!"
and you do not need to be.
I want you to sort of... "I'm gonna own it.
I'm gonna own everything..."
Isiah: I know, like, this college application process
is competitive and, just, financially,
I'm just scared I will have to go with probably my second choice
or my third choice, just being that
I wouldn't be able to afford my top choice.
Your little skinny self should have went over there.
Michqwelyn: Isiah is the driven one, like,
he has that drive, that ambition.
Like, he just, he goes for it.
And this acting career that he is going after,
he really wants it.
Like a whole other time, it was a major disaster.
When I brought up the ideas to my homeboys,
they say, "Twilight..."
Oft, I have picked up dead men from the grave
and set them upright at their dead friend's door.
-I felt that. That was dope. -Isiah: Thank you.
-Zay, why do you have so many tabs open? -Dope.
'Cause I'm applying to college right now.
Michqwelyn: I want them to have a better life than me.
Not saying my life is bad,
but I just want them to be... don't have to struggle,
like, it's, it's hard out here.
So I just want them to...
be what they want to be when they grow up.
Isiah's like his dad.
When he wants something, he goes for it.
And he won't stop until he gets it.
Isiah has that drive, just like Rob.
That's how Rob was.
Isiah: My dad, he passed away freshman year.
I lost myself, in a way.
It set me back a lot, like with grades.
But I realized that he would want me to pursue my dream as an actor.
Now, I'm in the National Honor Society.
My grades is good, I'm doing good in all my classes.
I'm on top of my stuff.
I know he's probably looking down at me right now, in this moment, and like,
he's probably proud of me, and I just want to continue to make him proud.
This is, like, my good luck charm.
Um, it's hung over my bed right now, um...
I don't know, I'm gettin' emotional right now.
I actually kiss up to my dad every night, um...
Just knowing that he's not here and he can't like,
really, like, experience the things that I'm experiencing,
be proud of me, be happy for his son,
tell his son that... he loves him.
And even me telling my dad that I love him.
It just hurts me every day.
So, I'm gonna make sure that,
um...
I might give back in a way, um, you know.
Everything he gave to me, I'm gonna give back, I promise.
One, two, ready, play!
(drums beating)
-(cheering) -(whistle blows)
announcer: It's the pride of Jackson County,
the Ripley High School Fighting Marching Band!
-(bells clanging) -(students cheering)
Leo: Our first football game,
even with like COVID and everything.
Tonight is senior night.
They'll be calling my name out.
announcer: Band member for eight years
and has plans to major in animation in college.
(applause)
Leo: My mom is in Tennessee,
so I've been living alone here in Ripley.
My stepdad got a job down there
so she goes back to Tennessee like every other week.
And she knows that I'm fine up here.
I do everything. I do all the cleaning.
I do all the cooking and the laundry and all that.
Like, I feel like I'm already ready to be living on my own.
I've been applying to a couple different schools.
And a lot of this stuff is, like, money. It's just like...
whether or not I can get in is a whole other thing,
but like, even if I do get in, can I pay for it?
I applied for so many scholarships already.
I mean, I've heard nothing back.
A lot of these scholarships, it's like you have to be like super, super smart.
You have to be making like a 4.0, maybe like more.
I'm trying to save up for college.
The American Dream, like, it's the idea
that if you work hard enough, you can get a good education,
you can get a good job.
I mean, obviously, that's just like not always true.
At this point, it's like,
can I get into these colleges and can I pay for it?
So that's kinda like what I'm worried about right now.
Maisie, up!
Right now life is a lot slower
than what I'd like it to be.
I'm going to West Virginia University
at Parkersburg
and my major is Business Administration.
It's been weird transitioning
from high school to college
without being in college.
Constant surveillance to literally none,
not even like a classroom to have a teacher,
like, look me in the eyes and tell me what to do.
I am feeling isolated right now.
I did buy a ring light for college.
Most people would think, "Oh, you bought it
so the lighting is better so maybe the teacher can see you."
No, there's a cute girl in my business class,
and I wanted to look good for her on the Zoom meeting!
Hello.
I think students are coming to their senses
about how much college is really worth
versus how much you're spending on it.
A more basic college degree,
it's getting you the same education,
but you're saving tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars
in student debt down the road.
(dog barking)
Anne: With the virus going on, I'm not sure how, like,
my future plans are gonna work out.
It's kinda nerve-wracking.
I decided I didn't want to be a teacher.
And I really think the virus has a big thing to play with that.
I'm not sure
I would be strong enough
to do that for years.
I've really been thinking about special effects more.
I've been practicing a little bit.
I looked up special effects schools,
and I realized, maybe I can do the arts.
How in the world did you go from,
"I wanna teach little kids and help them grow"
to, "I want to, um,
make people look like they've been in a car accident"?
I feel like teaching is more
like a hardcore job, kinda like your basic job
that you hear about, like the lawyers, doctors.
I feel like teaching kind of goes into that category,
and I don't want to be normal.
I can't let the virus stop me
from really becoming who I wanna become.
I still have to live my dreams.
And if it doesn't work out, that's okay, it was fun!
It's better to say, "Hey, I almost became a special effects artist"
than say I didn't try.
(distant siren wailing)
-Linda: Ba, ba, ba. -Jolimar: Ba, ba, ba.
-Pa, pa, pa. -Pa, pa, pa.
I started acting when I was in middle school.
Ms. Key has pushed me into being the best actress,
creative artist as I can.
I really want to become professional.
Let's go through what's coming up for you
in terms of your auditions.
Jolimar: I'm applying to like 13 schools in total.
I don't have a dream school.
I don't really want to get attached to one and get sad because I didn't get in.
teacher: Hi, Jolimar!
Bernard Cummings: Hi, Jolimar!
Thank you so much for auditioning for us.
Um, we know what a really strange
and crazy process this is.
The stage is all yours.
Yes.
You promised me my life, but you lied.
And by your wanting to take them away from me
or from any human creature,
I know that your counsel is of the devil
and that mine is of God!
You took on "Saint Joan" by Shaw.
And you personalized it and made it your own,
which is something that I love about it.
I want you to do the whole "Saint Joan" in Spanish.
Okay. (laughs)
Let's say you are an immigrant.
You're down here at the Texas border.
They've yanked your child from you.
You're in a cage.
Some right-wing politician comes
and wants to look through the cage
and ask you how you feel.
(in Spanish)
Thank you.
Wow, I'm sorry, you got me emotional
with that monologue.
There's a real energy out of you,
and it, it's just absolutely wonderful.
So walk into any and every audition
you have coming up with great confidence.
-Bye, thank you so much! -Bye.
(shrieks)
I don't know how to feel!
♪ I've always been the good little sister ♪
(laughs)
♪ Just keep my lips on lock ♪
♪ Don't take the chance to talk ♪
Oh, my gosh, that was the audition of my life, ah!
Wow. Okay.
Senih: I got a job, started making money.
Got a car, all that fun stuff.
I guess I was very scared of the idea that
I would just stay home and do nothing
and be completely satisfied with that.
-Hey, how're you guys doing? -Hi, good. How are you?
-Senih: Good, good. -Thank you.
There you go. And I'll give you that.
-I'll be right back with some water for you guys. -That'd be great.
Senih: I do expect more out of me now than I would a year ago.
I know myself better than I did,
and I think that kind of motivates me to do more.
I've been able to kind of be my own person.
Because of my grades, I didn't feel like I was in a position
where I got to really be too picky with where I went to college.
...and the basic burger is pretty big.
I applied to a bunch of different schools.
I'm planning on going as far away as I can from home,
you know, New York, hopefully.
I've never really lived
outside of my parents' sphere of influence,
so it's gonna be nice to make my own choices.
You know, the opportunity to learn how to live by myself.
That's what I think of when I think of college.
Where is it? Sign in, there we go.
Okay.
Oh, this is scary!
Ah!
Okay, three, two, one...
(perky music playing)
Holy...
Okay, so I got waitlisted.
-Waiting list isn't bad. -Yeah.
-It's not a rejection. -Okay.
I got rejected.
It's... it's pretty disappointing.
"I wish that a different decision had been possible."
Do you, Harvard? Do you really?
Because if you wish it, you would have done it. (laughs)
-Oh, no. -Oh, my God.
Ah, I got in!
(shrieking)
mother: You have been accepted!
Whoo! Let's go!
I'm officially an Illini now, so that's exciting.
(mother speaking Japanese)
That's such a relief.
It's my first college.
Worst case, I got into college!
Aaaah!
We almost in, y'all. We at the finish line. We almost did it, so...
I am so excited. I've been accepted
to one of the schools that I really want to go to.
Congratulations!
I got a $100,000 scholarship.
Michael Johnson: Today is college decision day.
We come together to celebrate them, to encourage them,
and to just acknowledge all of the hard work
that our seniors have achieved
and the challenges that they've overcome this academic year.
Today marks an extremely significant day for each of you.
Today is the day you decide how you will spend
the next two to four years of your life
as you pursue post-secondary education.
Linda: Many of our seniors have gotten into their first choice school,
some are waiting for a few more decisions.
The students are going to have to see
what the financial aid packages are.
For our students, it's not a possibility
to come out of school with a $200,000 student loan.
That would be sort of crippling if they were going into the arts as a career.
They need to find the best option
to enter the career path of their choice
with very little debt.
Isiah: A lot of my friends are on urge
of making their decisions already.
Some already made their decision.
It just kind of make me like, "Dang, I wish I knew where I was going."
I heard back from Howard University
and Chapman University in California.
I got into Chapman, but I got waitlisted for Howard.
Being told no, ya know, it just, like,
it's messing with my, like, my whole plan
of where I wanna go to college.
I'm really stuck in the middle right now.
I don't have all the answers, you know, to financial aid.
Just this week me and my mom had been talking.
She was just saying that she don't want me in debt.
I'm young and she doesn't want all that on me at a young age.
She doesn't want it to mess me up in the future.
At the end of the day it's my decision,
and honestly for my dream,
I wouldn't, I wouldn't mind being in debt,
and that's what I told my mom.
I told my mom everything can go in my name.
"I don't want nothing-- I don't want nothing on you.
I want everything on me because it's my dream, it's my life,
and I should be taking accountability for what I want."
Linda: All of us in the arts department
are committed to our students living their dreams,
so, like, we'll exhaust every possibility
to help them find the money.
-Whoo! -Whoo!
-Linda: Wait, wait, wait! -Isiah: Can't forget you!
both: Whoo! Whoo!
-Isiah: You know that! -Linda: All right, man.
Linda: Last time we talked, we talked a lot about Howard.
But as luck will have it,
you seem like you have another choice...
-Isiah: Yes. -...that has come to you.
My other choice is Chapman University in California.
-Linda: Great. -For screen acting, so...
You got their financial aid package back.
So, what they gave me, approximately 57,000,
and then the rest I'll have to like, it's 18.
-Linda: 18,000 per year. -18,000, you know.
(tearfully) We're really proud of you.
Don't cry, miss. What you about to tell me?
Linda: We love you, and we know your dream.
And we've got really good news.
You got a scholarship,
so you don't have to pay the 18,000.
Nah, you're serious?
Yeah.
I don't...
I'm not even like, y'all know, like, I--
I'm not even the person to like, with these reaction things,
but, are you serious?
Yeah.
Thank you, thank you so much.
Right now, you know, I don't want to cry.
Don't, I can't look at you guys.
Ma, somebody's gonna pay for me, you know, I'm happy right now.
I can't stop cheesing, ya know. Somebody's gonna pay.
Michqwelyn: (on phone) Wait, I can't-- you're breaking up, wait.
You hear me? They, they're gonna...
Michqwelyn: Are you serious?
Yes, Ma, they're gonna do that.
Yes, Ma, yes, yes, yes, yes.
You don't have to worry no more, so...
- Michqwelyn: That's your dad. -Oh, wow.
Thank you.
Oh, man. Oh, man.
-I can't. I'm happy... -(teachers laughing)
I'm sorry, I'm sorry...
(peaceful music playing)
California.
It's a lot of emotions going on,
but like, I'm just ready.
Ready when you are.
Senih: Growing up in America,
you get the sense of graduation being like
this huge moment in your life.
Nice, all right, we're good. We're set.
I guess it's supposed to feel, like, magical
or you know like you're coming to an end of something.
But it's not something I got from my parents a lot.
They're not too excited because
in Turkey, it's not the biggest deal to graduate.
So, when I walk across the stage,
I'm not expecting much from my dad.
You know, just the usual, "Hey, congrats, you did it,
high school is over, get to college," you know.
-Front? Is this okay? -Yeah.
-Does that look good? -Yeah.
Senih: Over the past year, my relationship
with my dad has gotten better.
I'm less reliant on, I guess, that sense of approval.
You know, moving away from him now, going to college,
I'm going to be put in a situation where
I need to do what I do for myself and then
I guess hopefully whatever I do, he'll be supportive of that.
announcer: Senih Okuycucu!
(cheering and applause)
Senih: I made it, so I guess that's what matters.
father: He went from being this little teenager
fighting with his brothers
to being a responsible man,
and I'm very proud to see that.
Senih!
I don't know, it hit me like that's it.
Like, he's gone.
He's gone and, and I don't know, I...
maybe I didn't appreciate our time together.
I don't know, it felt like, oh, we could have done more...
I don't know.
Senih: I did it!
(indistinct chatter)
Senih: Thank you.
father: I may not really see him as much as I used to
maybe for the rest of my life.
Graduation is kind of like an explicit milestone
that kind of symbolizes all of that at once.
It's a lot of emotions, actually.
(peaceful music playing)
(music fades)
Isiah: I knew the day was gonna come,
but I didn't expect it to come fast, you know.
It's just sad because it's come at a end
and you only get high school once in a lifetime.
I'm also sad because, it's like,
my dad couldn't make it here for me today.
It would have been wonderful to have both parents
at my graduation.
Looking sharp, kiddo.
Hey.
I'm so proud, man. I wish your dad was here.
Isiah: He's watching me, that's all I can say.
He's watching me, he's proud.
And I'm proud that I did it, and I'm proud that I got here,
'cause I know that's what he wanted.
And now I'm sad and I'm trying to be happy.
But it's a good day today, so, ya know, I'm gonna be happy.
Jolimar: Yeah, I'm excited that, finally,
everything that I have worked for
throughout the past three years has finally paid off.
I'm very happy that I don't have to take any student loans
or be in debt for the next year.
NYU gave me a full ride.
Now we're having a graduation
which not a lot of people had last year
because of COVID and stuff, so I'm grateful.
My cap says, "porque puedo y me lo merezco" in Spanish,
and that translates to
"because I can and I deserve it."
(mother speaking Spanish)
woman: It is with great pleasure that I welcome you
to Fordham High School for the Arts'
commencement ceremony for the graduating class of 2021.
(cheering and applause)
Michael: I stand here staring at you in awe,
as your proud principal
and filled with so many emotions.
-(cheering) -Too early in the speech.
I'm sorry that we couldn't give you all the senior year...
student 1: Don't cry.
student 2: Aw.
I'm sorry that we couldn't give you
the senior year you rightfully deserve...
student: We love you!
(cheering and applause)
Go out into this world,
hold your head high, be proud of who you are,
what you've accomplished,
and most definitely where you come from.
Congratulations.
I now pronounce you official graduates
from Fordham High School for the Arts
on the 25th day of June 2021.
You may now transfer your tassels to your right!
student: We outta here!
(cheering continues)
(lively piano music playing)
(train clattering)
Kyle: We're here in New York City because
we wanted to be at the New York premiere of "Ranked."
(crowd applauding)
(crowd cheering)
Linda: Jolimar Perez!
Next we have Nahiely!
We have Isiah, senior drama major.
(cheering)
-Linda: What are you wearing? -Amazon.
-Linda: Ama-- Oh! Amazon! -student: Yeah!
David: Seeing the kids going on their red carpet,
striking a pose,
feeling really special and feeling like a superstar
and looking like superstars too,
it reminds you of what we've all been missing.
(orchestral intro playing)
student: Whoo!
(cheering and applause)
♪ What could I say ♪
♪ If it turns out I failed? ♪
♪ What should you do ♪
♪ When the water you've bailed ♪
♪ Is rushing back in? ♪
She's got a great voice.
♪ You know you can't win ♪
♪ You're drowning, you're drowning ♪
♪ You're drowning... ♪
♪ Better learn how to swim ♪
(upbeat music playing)
David: We wrote "Ranked," we never dreamed
that anyone else would ever even do it
or know about it.
♪ Until we come up for air ♪
♪ These waves keep crashing down ♪
♪ Without a care ♪
♪ They push me down ♪
♪ They spit you out... ♪
David: The beauty of theater
is that people can come together
and feel a part of something
and feel connected to each other.
♪ I'm gonna come up for air ♪
♪ I'm gonna come up ♪
♪ For air ♪
♪ I'm gonna come up for air ♪
♪ I'm gonna come up ♪
♪ For air... ♪
David: We need this.
♪ You're finally breathing ♪
♪ For the first time ♪
♪ You finally found your peace of mind ♪
♪ So don't you throw it all away ♪
♪ Don't throw it all away ♪
(pensive music playing)
Kyle: The moment that made me the most emotional
was green screen stuff of you guys.
Like, I got to see you all in your homes, like,
just being silly and being kids,
and I stopped seeing all these characters that we wrote
and I just got to see you and I got to see you, um...
(clears throat)
Uh, I got to see you just making art,
not worrying about a pandemic, and having fun and being silly.
It was just such a, um, just a really great reminder
that, you know, you're all still here
and you're gonna be okay.
And we're gonna move on and keep,
keep making meaningful art.
(peaceful music continues)
♪ Everything changes... ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Everything changes... ♪
♪ When does this feeling go away? ♪
-♪ Everything changes... ♪ -♪ What it takes to survive... ♪
(singing in rounds)
-♪ Just breathe... ♪ -♪ You're drowning, you're drowning... ♪
♪ Everything changes ♪
♪ Come up for air... ♪
all: ♪ When will this change? ♪
(soulful orchestral coda playing)
(viewers laughing)
(switch clicks)
(rock music playing)
I just calculated day 452
since the first COVID lockdown in California.
So, pretty wild.
Um, approaching 500 days.
(clears throat) That's crazy.
Today we at Chapman University.
You know the vibe, guys.
It's me and mommy here today.
Move-in day.
-Feelin' good. -I love this place.
-Yeah. -Oh, my gosh, it's so awesome.
It is really nice out here, guys.
Like, really nice, the people are wonderful.
Michqwelyn: The people are really wonderful.
The scenery, guys,
just look at everything, you know?
Moved into my dorm,
in SUNY Binghamton. Super excited.
Here's my desk and everything.
There's my side of the bed, that's my roommate's.
Looking forward to an exciting year.
I am still working at Country Canine Groom and Board.
I've been with them for about four months now.
Best first job I could have ever asked for.
Working, saving up money for California.
And I'm gonna be a makeup artist.
I leave for school in 30 days
from today.
I'll be moved in on September 5th,
and I started packing,
and I'm really excited to live in New York
for the next four years.
I'm starting at West Virginia University
at Parkersburg, which isn't far from home,
so I'm still here at my parents' crib.
And while I'm here, I'm working
on a new YouTube series
that quite frankly I think
can take over the internet.
I am currently in my college dorm.
I committed to Cornell University.
I have a single dorm as you guys saw.
I honestly really love it here,
so I'm just excited to see
what's gonna happen in the next four years, but yeah.
I'm finally going out at school, everything I've been working for.
This is my freshman year, it's like it's finally happening.
See? I'm excited.
I'm really happy with where I am at right now in life.
I'm doing great,
and I'm still at De Anza.
Uh, planning to transfer
to UCLA though,
um, next school year,
which I am very excited for,
but I am working
real hard to do that,
to make the plan a reality.
I'm working on my associates degree
in stenography at BridgeValley
Community College,
and I'm also still working
at I Scream Sundae
and Hallowbeans.
Hi, everyone.
I'm at lunch right now in Sichoba,
a little art installation
that they have here in New York City.
I'm in college. I have studio in just a few minutes,
so I'll see you guys later.
(peaceful music playing)