The annual Spring Arts Festival, started by seniors during the 2011-2012 school year, is a compilation of acts showcasing a variety of performance arts: dance, singing, music performance, comedy and theater. What makes it stand out from the average talent show, however, is the addition of senior-directed ten-minute shows.

Senior Rachel Cavoto, one of five senior directors this year, has had her show picked out since the summer before her junior year when she saw it performed at a musical theater camp she attended.

“[StageDoor Manor] has a production of ten-minute shows written by students at the camp, so they’re all our age, and this one just really spoke to me,” Cavoto said. “I thought it was really well written for someone so young and I just thought it [would be] so cool to, my senior year, do a show written by a senior and performed by high schoolers.”

To prepare for auditions, held March 19th after school, Cavoto has been doing some technical preparation.

“I’ve been looking through the script and imagining in my head what I want it to look like. I’ve been writing my own ideas for what I need for the set, what I need prop-wise and I’m thinking about costuming; I’ve looked online [for] magazines, [deciding] what kind of style I’m looking for,” Cavoto said.

In previous Spring Arts productions, Cavoto has participated in a variety of acts.

“The first year that I was a part of it, which was actually the second year of Spring Arts, I was in a dance number with a couple other people. Last year I was in a show and a capella,” she said.

Cavoto had a positive interaction with her senior director last year.

“Aubtin [Heydari] was pretty good about keeping a director relationship as well as a buddy relationship, so it was pretty easy to make sure that we got stuff done while still having fun and still keeping the fact that we’re friends, we’re in the same school, but this is your show and I respect that,” she said.

Although Cavoto is worried about scheduling in the upcoming weeks, she’s mostly looking forward to the directing experience.

“This is a part of production that I’ve never been a part of. In a show, I’ve been onstage and I’ve done lights and I’ve done sound but I’ve never had the opportunity to see a show start to finish [while] putting myself into it so I’m looking forward to seeing where that ends up and where that takes me,” Cavoto said.