Pablo Solano as J. Pierrepont Finch

At Samo, Pablo Solano (’18) is a well-known name. As the president of the Theater Council, singer in Madrigals choir, lead of the school musical “How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying” and an all-around fun guy, he has had a massive impact on the school’s community.  Solano’s role in the musical -- playing J. Pierrepont Finch -- culminates thirteen years of pursuing his passion for theater. He started taking drama in Spanish at Edison in Kindergarten, and continued in that program until he graduated in fifth grade. He then went on to star in the musicals at John Adams Middle School. After middle school, Solano realized theater was something he wanted to pursue more seriously, and he enrolled in Samo’s acting classes, as well as in the Mock Trial team. With more activities than the average high schooler, Solano had to figure out how he was going to balance everything. “To achieve my goals, I’ve taken seven or eight classes at a time and summer school three times,” Solano said. Despite the late nights and lack of free time, Solano’s commitment to theater has paid off. This year, as the protagonist of the musical, he is the driving force of the production. His character is a somewhat nasty guy who will do almost anything to, you guessed it, succeed in business. He pays no mind to the lead female, Rosemary, and doesn’t show much of any emotion towards the people who help or love him. Nonetheless, Solano loves playing Finch because, despite his flaws, he is a likeable guy. “He basically disregards everyone else’s emotions to get where he wants to get, but somehow he still is so loveable even though he’s kind of a scumbag. The audience roots for him and they just want to see him succeed,” Solano said.  In addition to being able to play such a dynamic character in the musical, Solano loves almost every other aspect of being in theater. He enjoys the thrill of performing in front of hundreds of people and likes the challenge of learning lines. Theater is such a prominent part of Solano’s life, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. “The fact that you can meet people in pit, in tech and all these other ways is a great feeling, and I love that I am around a solid group of people that I see everyday. You talk to everyone and then you go home and you wake up the next morning and are like ‘Yeah, school. That’s that little thing that comes right before theater,’” Solano said.