Holding a role in the ensemble of the Rockville Musical Theater’s new show, Heathers, is a time-consuming role that junior Maia Cheung has accomplished. Cheung is an actress, singer and artist who devotes her time to perfecting her theatrical skills in and out of school.
Cheung has lived in four of the seven continents, with her last move being from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Rockville. She joined the school last year and although the transition from South Africa to America was drastic, she managed to integrate herself in the school’s culture and clubs. Cheung now participates in the drama club and the Sexuality Gender Alliance. “I mainly do theater extracurriculars. I go to drama classes and dance classes, mostly contemporary dance and tap,” Cheung said.
In South Africa, Cheung was part of an all-girls choir, Roedean Chamber Choir that toured around the United States. Once Cheung came to Rockville, she knew she had to join a choir. With no hesitation, she chose to become a member of the Chromatics, show choir. “Maia has an amazing voice and she’s very sweet. We are both Altos together, so she’s always helps me and other Altos that may not be able to remember notes for songs. She fits in perfectly and gets along with everyone too,” sophomore Angel Souzani said.
Along with her avid participation in school activities, Cheung plays the role of a stoner chick in the show, Heathers, hosted by Rockville Musical Theater. Heathers is an action-packed mystery show about a popular clique of girls, all named Heather that dominates Westerburg High School. Another girl, Veronica, and her new boyfriend, accidentally poison one of the Heathers and tries to cover up the death as suicide.“[It] leads to a lot of murder, twists and turns. It has a pretty good moral at the end. [The show] is basically Mean Girls with murder,” Cheung said.
The rehearsals for Heathers are every day from 6-10 p.m. The cast and crew rigorously practiced their acts and scene changes during the long rehearsals. During the week of the first performance on Mar. 8, tech week rehearsals last from six p.m. to one a.m. According to Gaithersburgmd.com, “Performances [are] Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. from March 8 – 24.”
In the future, Cheung would like to continue to be involved in musical theater. She aspires to end up on Broadway. “I also would want to go to a conservatory when I’m older and study there, but I’m not sure if that would be viable because theater and acting aren’t really a sustainable career for a while,” Cheung said.
Currently, Cheung has thoughts about joining the Rockville Musical Theater when the Hairspray production begins. “I’m thinking about joining Hairspray when the auditions coming out. And I’m thinking of joining other theater companies to broaden my spectrum,” Cheung said.
