Teen observed older people to prepare

Teen thespian basks in Carnegie’s victory

Edwin Mendoza let out a blood-curdling scream, and so began Houston Independent School District’s first play in 10 years to advance to the elite eight at University Interscholastic League one-act play competition in Austin.

The Galleria-area student, a junior at Carnegie Vanguard High School, portrayed Gabriel York in a complicated Australian play, “When the RainStops Falling.”

The shownot onlymade the finals but was crowned as the best at 5A competition May 21 at the University of Texas.

Carnegie, which has only 590 students, competed in 5A against the largest schools in the state because of its status as a magnet school for gifted and talented students, theater director Steward Savage said.

Mendoza won a num- ber of individual honors as the production advanced through five levels of competition: zone, district, area, region and state.

“My character had so much pent-up frustration because his son was coming, who he hadn’t seen in 20 years. It was all weighing on his shoulders,” said Mendoza, the 17-year-old son of Edwin and Anna Mendoza.

Edwin Mendoza’s pivotal lines were “I know what he wants. He wants what all young men want from their fathers. He wants to know who he is. Where he comes from. Where he belongs. Andfor the life of me I don’t know what to tell him.”

“When my character screamed, a fish fell from the sky,” Mendoza said. “Different audiences reacted in different ways: sometimes they laughed; other times, people moved in their seats and there was silence.”

“I know what he wants. He wants what all young men want from their fathers. He wants to know whohe is. Where he comes from. Where he belongs. Andfor the life of meIdon’t knowwhat to tell him.”

Playing a character who was 50 year old was “fun because being different people is fun,” Mendoza said. “I walked around and

looked at what I thought was the way older people walked and talked.

“I love theater,” he said. “What I want to do is be an actor.”

“The last time a team from HISD advanced to State was 2004,” said Don Hernandez, manager of UIL activities for Houston ISD. “That was Bellaire High School, and they didn’t win.”

Judges also selected Carnegie senior Justin Lau as best actor, and Jackson Burnham and Anastasia Vayner were named to the state all-star cast.

Mendoza was named to the honorable mention allstar cast at the 5A Region III competition, where the team from Carnegie, 1501 Taft. advanced to state.

Thiswas the 87th annual state one-act play contest.

Savage said the play’s family saga takes the audience back and forth in time from 1959 to 2039, from London to Australia. With four generations of fathers and sons, the play is epic in scope, yet intimate at the same time, he said.

Tony Bullard / For the Chronicle Galleria-area resident Edwin Mendoza, right, won notice for his role in a Carnegie Vanguard High School theater production that won the 5A state championship in University Interscholastic League one-act play competition. School theater director Steward Savage, second from right, led the teens in their production of “When the Rain Stops Falling.” Among the cast and stage crew were Anastasia Vayner of Meyerland, left, Nash Haydon, Jackson Burnham of Westbury and Claire Lauzon of Montrose.

Zoe Herring photo Carnegie’s performances of “When the Rain Stops Falling” started on a dramatic note with an anguished scream by Edwin Mendoza, who portrayed Gabriel York in the complicated Australian play in which the teen actors had to master Australian and British accents.