This Thursday marks the opening day of Costa Mesa High School's Urinetown the Musical. 

What is Urinetown?
"Welcome to "Urinetown": a place where, after twenty years of drought, water is liquid gold; where private toilets are illegal, where common citizens must pay to go, filling the coffers of a diabolic corporation. But, as in all really good musicals, lo and behold, a hero emerges to lead the Revolution! "Urinetown" takes a wild and wonky swing at the twin evils of corporate greed and political corruption, knocking them for a tuneful loop in celebration of our ageless human capacity to triumph in the face of adversity. This gleefully subversive and satirical show became smash hit on Broadway, winning three Tony Awards while virtually transforming the world of musical comedy."
-Excerpt from CMHS Drama Facebook page.

Show Dates and Times:
March 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th @ 7PM
March 4th @ 2 PM

Ticket Prices: 
Adults, $10 Students, $5
Tickets may be purchased at the ASB Office or at the Door 

A quick browse through the Equestrian will reveal that it now links to the Pegasus, CMHS’s online student art publication. The Pegasus was recently (late January) revamped with a new layout created by web designer David Luong (Senior), and a new “Artist of the Month” feature. The new site also has a small box for the “Submission of the Week.” 

The Pegasus was originally a print publication of student artwork that had been discontinued in recent years. Senior Sarah Yuen brought about the revival of the Pegasus as an online publication. 

According to Pegasus Editor-in-Chief Kelsey Armstrong, the initial plan for a completely redone Pegasus site was in large part created by Journalism teacher Mr. Abuel. Prior to the remodel, the site had averaged less than 100 daily page views. The new and improved Pegasus site reached its highest page-view count ever on the 12th of February, peaking at 519 unique visitors.  

According to Pegasus Editor-in-Chief Kelsey Armstrong, the initial plan for a completely redone Pegasus site was in large part created by Journalism teacher Mr. Abuel. Prior to the remodel, the site had averaged less than 100 daily page views. The new and improved Pegasus site reached its highest page-view count ever on the 12th of February, peaking at 519 unique visitors. 

Mr. Abuel had initially planned to feature only a Senior Artist of the Month, but the plan later expanded to an Artist of the Month for each grade. 

Each featured artist was interviewed and asked for sample works to be posted on the site. The interviews were conducted by Editor-in-Chief Kelsey Armstrong. Armstrong initially became a part of the Pegasus project when Mr. Abuel asked for an Equestrian staff member to interview the first Artist of the Month, Senior Mitchell Grandia. When asked what it was like to conduct the interviews of the first few artists, Armstrong responded, “I was crazy nervous. I was never too fond of interviews. I had a hard time keeping the flow.” Future interviews could also be conducted by Junior Editor Angel Fisk, who currently assists Armstrong in organizing and contacting potential Artists of the Month. 

The Pegasus also has a gallery for student-submitted artwork. The gallery currently consists mainly of photography and poetry. “I love the art, especially with drawing. I’m really intrigued by it,” says Armstrong.

The current rate of submissions is fairly low, peaking at about five in a day, according to Armstrong. She currently has no regulate submissions in any way, so all submitted work is added to the gallery.

According to Armstrong, her major goal for the Pegasus is currently to increase viewership and to receive more art to add to the site.

Armstrong has also hinted that she and Mr. Abuel have a set of goals for the Pegasus that are being reserved for next year. These ideas will be kept secret for the time being. 

Costa Mesa High's ASB held a Mario Kart Tournament for all students who wanted to participate in the gaming event. The Mario Kart Tournament consisted of several enthusiastic players who had their eye on winning against all of their opponents. As all racers/competitors readied their gaming skills, they attempted to show who among them was best in the game Mario Kart.

The tournament officially began on February 13 where all of the competitors, and those who wanted to watch, gathered in the lyceum. The Mario Kart game that was featured, though, was not Mario Kart Wii, but the Gamecube version, Mario Kart Double Dash. This surprised some of the people who were competing in the tournament, such as Drake Martinez, who was hoping the game to be the Wii version, for he has had no experience with this older game. "I was shocked to find out that we were playing Double Dash," said Drake Martinez. "I would have had a better chance if it were the Wii version."

As luck would have it for Drake, his first opponent was Joe Williams, who was experienced in Double Dash and has played it before. Using his skills to his advantage, Joe beat Drake, causing Drake to play in the losers bracket.

The following day, everyone gathered back into the Lyceum and the Tournament started where they left off. The first pair to compete were Wyatt Ferris and Jake Lux, in which Jake proved to be the best of the two after winning the round and moving up the tournament bracket. The next pair to play were Jamin Chalberg and Michael Panh, and in their match, both played like professionals. As both were making it toward the finish line, Michael gained the lead with a mushroom and passed the finish line just before Jamin did, making Michael the victor. After the close match, Drake and Wyatt were called up for the loser's bracket to determine who would stay in the competition, and who would leave in shame. Choosing Peach Beach as the destination for the elimination round, both karts accelerated up the track, their spot in the tournament on the line. In the last lap however, Wyatt was the victor after boosting to the finish line, making Drake the one to say good-bye.

In the third day of the competition, Joseph Rouintree squared off against Michael Panh. After choosing Mario Circuit as their destination, the game began and the karts accelerated. The race started off with Michael having a profound lead compared to Joseph. As both were at the end of the final lap, it seemed as though Michael would win this one, but as fate would have it, as Michael sped off a bump in the road, his kart hit what all Mario fans know as a "Piranha Plant", and was stunned a few feet away from the finish line. Joseph, who was behind the stunned Michael, passed Michael and managed to cross the finish line in a stroke of luck.

In the last days of the competition, we finally ended up with two finalists, Joseph Rouintree and Jake Lux. As both racers sped off, they desperately aimed to gain the advantage over the other. It was an intense match as both Jake and Joseph gained the lead over each other, making it seem like a tug-of-war. With the championship on the line, competitors reached the final lap making this turn the decision-maker. With Jake in front of him, Joseph attempted to throw him off with all kinds of obstacles, but to no avail as Jake Lux crossed the finish line, making him the winner of the Mario Kart Tournament. With the tournament being over, one can only hope that Mario Kart will make a return to Costa Mesa High School.

The Fray’s latest release, Scars & Stories, is an optimistic-sounding collection of songs, many of which have a very strong arena rock feel to them. The album cover, which depicts the band’s members running across a field, seems fitting: many of the tracks go for a bright and hopeful sound. One could say that this sound is even a bit over-used, as there isn’t a huge amount of variety on the album. Fortunately, however, Scars & Stories has a plethora of triumphant and uplifting songs, which makes up for the lack of variety.

This sound can immediately be heard on the album’s opener “Heartbeat.” The track uses the well-known formula of a hard-hitting drum beat, sturdy guitar chords, and a strong vocal melody to create an uplifting anthem rock sound; while not the most original track ever, it’s still a very enjoyable listen. 
A similar formula can be heard throughout the album, although it seems a bit more obvious toward the first half of the album. While many tracks use a very similar style to “Heartbeat,” for the most part they are different enough to be compelling listens, rather than boring reruns of the same song. One notable tune is “The Fighter,” which comes second on the album. The guitars on this song are a bit different, with a more distinct melody to them that works very well with the “choral”, multi-layered vocals.

Two other notable tracks on the album, “Turn Me On” and “Here We Are,” were interesting in that the guitars were much more varied. The guitar lines in both tracks were bright and rhythmic, a stark contrast to the sturdy foundation of “Heartbeat.” In fact, “Turn Me On” and “Here We Are” felt reminiscent of U2, with their great use of textured guitars.

While most of Scars & Stories is dominated by arena-rock tracks, there are a few slower, more introspective pieces to change up the rhythm a bit. “I Can Barely Say” and the album closer “Be Still” are both quieter, piano-driven songs. “Be Still” was an almost-lullaby that ended the album in a very peaceful manner.

The thing I found most unusual about Scars & Stories was that its formula shouldn’t work. Most albums with that many rock-anthem attempts would be too repetitive to be very compelling. However, the Fray does a great job in that each song has a slightly different feel to it that still manages to keep a similar theme between them. The album is filled with so much optimism and brightness that it’s hard not to enjoy listening to it.

Overall, I would definitely recommend Scars & Stories to anyone with an ear for uplifting music. The album has just the right combination of parts to make a memorable listen.

My Rating: 8/10

Hayley Smith is a junior at Costa Mesa High School.

Hayley has been in many choirs for seven years now. She joined choir when she was younger because of her love for singing. This is her second year in madrigal, and her third year in Costa Mesa High School choir.

She joined her love for singing with her love for performing and performed in musicals. She has been in over 25 musicals and plays; 6 of which were at Mesa. Her mom owns the Attic Theater in Costa Mesa, so Hayley has been able to practice and perform with many local actors.

For four years now, she has spent two weeks every summer at a theater camp at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. There, she gets to learn how to do theater make up and tips to be a better performer. She participates in dialect classes and dance classes with about 140 other performers. And over the two weeks, they learn a play or musical and perform it.

Last year, Hayley left Mesa and attended Burbank High School. She switched schools because she had a cousin that went there, and also because of the show choir that they had.

She auditioned kind of just for fun, but actually got in to the highest choir. So she discussed it with her parents and she moved to Burbank with her mom while her dad stayed in Costa Mesa for work. 

Once she got there she “fell in love” with their show choir. She would live in Burbank during the week and then come home on the weekends to see her family and friends.

With the Burbank show choir, she got the opportunity to perform in many states, and the group was almost a part of a television show; like a real life Glee. They made it to the last stages of filming, but the school decided not to let it air because of the impact it might have on the students.

She misses Burbank and the show choir that they offer because that’s something we don’t have. It made her a better performer and helped her learn new things about herself.

However, she is still having a fun junior year. She’s getting good grades and is working toward getting accepted to Brigham Young University Performing Arts program.

She hopes to become a professional performer when she graduates college, and wants to perform musicals on Broadway in New York City.

If she doesn’t become a performer, her second choice would be to do something that involves marine wildlife.

Her mom has had the greatest influence on her throughout her life. “She’s really supportive of me.” Hayley said. After all, she was the one that got her interested in dance and performing when she was younger, and helps her in the new adventures in her life.