Click here to listen to this week’s JAM: Willy Wonka Then and Now
The 8th grade musical goes live this evening, Wednesday, May 24 – the first of two evening performances. This year’s production, “Willy Wonka,” brings a classic children’s story back onto our stage, full of memorable songs – “Oompa, loompa, doopity doo,” fabulously naughty children, a quirky candy maker, and a young hero who ultimately succeeds by being kind, thoughtful, and, most importantly, honest.
As we were preparing for this year’s show, I realized that exactly 10 years ago the Class of 2013 produced this same show. That’s right, back in Spring 2013 a group of 8th graders were up on stage with the same cast of characters, the same fabulous story, and the same beloved songs.
As I watched the current cast, I started wondering – where are they now? Where are those now 24 year old young professionals in 2023? While I wasn’t able to connect with all of them, I was able to connect with a small group of them. Not only did we get short updates on where they are now, but several of them sent short videos wishing the current cast good luck (or, more appropriately, they were encouraged to ‘break legs’).
So what did I learn?
Vishal Vishawanth, Charlie back in 2013, graduated from Indiana University’s Kelly School of Business and is working as an investment banking analyst at Citibank, while Cole Hammers, who played Grandpa Joe, went to Boston College’s Carroll School of Management and is now a financial analyst at Synopsys. Clearly, singing the burping song together back in 2013 isn’t the only thing they have in common.
Caroline DiNapoli, who was in the ensemble and also performed a dance solo (she was a top ballet dancer throughout her youth), graduated from USC with a BA in Business Administration and is now the Chief of Staff at Nex Cubd, a global accelerator that invests in diverse founders that are solving problems that matter. Sounds suspiciously similar to our Scott Center questions – what matters to you and what are you going to do about it?
Lucas Kernan, Willie Wonka back in 2013, went to MItty and NYU, where they continued to shine on stage, and is now interning as a glassblower, following in the footsteps of their grandfather, a world famous glassblower in his own time.
I was also able to find out about a couple of the naughty kids. Sophie Mortaz, who played Violet Beauregarde (the amazing gum chewer), went to Los Gatos High School and then graduated from UCSC, and is now a team lead at City Year San Jose/Silicon Valley, while Kiara Cardona, who played Veruca Salt, went to Notre Dame and then Oregon State University, where she earned a BS in Computer Science. She is the CTO and CMO of PMP Academica, a local soccer training program and start-up she has developed with her brother and father. I should note that both of these students were not at all like their characters in the Musical.
It’s amazing to think about how much these young people have grown up in the past 10 years, and then to realize that as they were graduating back in 2013, our current group of 8th graders was just joining Hillbrook. It is one of the great joys of this work, seeing children grow up into young adults and then full adults, while continually having the opportunity to welcome new younger children into the fold.
And, as a parent of one of this year’s 8th graders, it is a reminder that while the days often feel long, the years are short. I remember the Class of 2013 on stage in Willie Wonka as if it was yesterday. Enjoy the moments. Each and every one of them.