Noah Madrano’s Biographies
Obituary (hopefully not coming soon)
Noah
Madrano started his musical studies at the age of 6, receiving professional
piano lessons in his birthtown of Aberdeen, South Dakota. His first year brought high ratings in
competitions and recitals.
Unfortunately, his lack of practice during his second year resulted in
lower scores, and marked the ending of his wish to play.
For the next 2 years, after moving
to Gresham, Oregon, he did not pursue any musical study until he entered the 5th
Grade band at East Gresham Grade School.
Inspired by Jonathan Frakes’ portrayal of Riker and his love for the
jazz trombone, Noah begins to play the trombone for the next three years into
middle school, where he participates in the marching band at the annual Rose
Festival Parade.
Due to peer pressure, Noah decided
to quit band, but cannot deny his love for music and joins choir instead. After only one term of choir in the fall of
his 8th Grade year, he joins the Dexter McCarty Middle School Encore
select ensemble, made up of all grade levels and voice types.
Again, peer pressure gets to Noah,
and decides not to sign up for choir in high school. It is not until the third week of classes that his best friend
persuades him to join Gresham Singers, the freshman boys’ choir at Gresham High
School.
Pursuing his other interest of
theater, Noah auditions for his first musical, Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat, and is double cast as both a brother and the Baker,
being the only freshman in the cast to receive a short solo.
Preparing for his sophomore year,
Noah auditions for both the large Concert Choir and the select 22-member
Overtones. With about 50 people
auditioning for the select group, Noah receives the very rare honor of being
the only sophomore to enter Overtones.
Noah also begins studying voice privately with Dr. Dwight Uphaus.
His sophomore year kept him busy
with lead roles in one-acts and main-stage play productions, as well as
admission into the Oregon Music Education Association’s All State Choir, again
being the only member of his class to be selected.
Noah teaches himself to play the
acoustic guitar over the summer of 1998, writing his first rock song (“Driving
on Empty”) using the only 3 chords he knew.
During his junior year, he continues to self-learn rhythm guitar and continues
studying voice. He also sings in the
Oregon Repertory Singers High School Honor Choir during this time, while
continuing with both Concert Choir and Overtones, singing in a tour of
Washington, D.C.
Senior year brings on many
challenges for Noah, as he continues in two school choirs, solo voice, theater,
and recording his solo album and co-forming his band, Madnana. Highlights included the return to the OMEA
All-State Choir, Drama Council Member, Bass Section leader of both Concert
Choir and Overtones, and receiving third place in OMEA District II Solo Contest
in bass voice. His proudest
accomplishments were First Place in Group Musical Theater at State Competition
(Oregon Thespians), and placement into the 2000 Oregon Bach Festival Youth
Choral Academy, working under Dr. Anton Armstrong, and singing Bach’s “St.
Matthew Passion” under Helmuth Rilling, co-founder of the renown music
festival.
Currently, Noah is studying voice at
the University of Oregon, singing in the Top Chamber Choir under Prof. Kathryn
Lehmann-Olsen. Additionally, he sings
professionally with the Eugene Symphony Chorus under Dr. Sharon Paul, debuting
Robert Kyr’s “Symphony of Time”, and a variety of other composer showcases at
the School of Music. In his free time,
he continues to write songs for his guitar, as well as singing with the
newly-formed a cappella group, The Basix.
Noah hopes to continue his musical
studies at University of Oregon, and plans to sing again with the Eugene
Symphony Chorus this spring.
Noah
Madrano has played a variety of roles during his four years at Gresham High
School, as well as experience in directing, sound, and lighting. During his Freshman year, he played the King
of Hearts in Alice and Wonderland.
Trying to advance in theater, he volunteered to do everything from
ushering to technical work for school assemblies. After playing Igor in GHS’ first Haunted House, he ran spotlight
on the lighting crew for Sweet Dreams.
Later, Noah becomes the only freshman at that time to participate in
Regional Acting Competition. He is then
cast as Jim Fawcett in the Freshman One-Act, Meridian 7-1212, which is
the closest there is to a “lead” role in the play. His first major production, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat, showcased his talent with two roles, one as a brother of Joseph,
and the other as the Baker with a small solo part in the play.
The following year, Noah was cast as
the co-lead role in an All-Class One-Act, Fright (John Fairbride), as
well as playing a gravedigger in the second Haunted House. He participates in State Improv Tournament,
District and Regional Acting Competitions, receiving fairly low scores in
each. Nonetheless, he becomes the only
sophomore to be cast in a speaking role in The Foreigner. With only 7 characters, Noah played Owen
Musser, his first villainous role.
Later, he is cast as Harry the Horse in Guys and Dolls,
understudying for a variety of lead roles.
Noah’s Junior year started off with
yet another Haunted House, playing a killer woodsman. Meanwhile, back on the main-stage, he plays Egeus in A
Midsummer Night’s Dream, while understudying (and almost recast as) the
Rustics. As in the previous year, he
receives low scores in both District and Regional Acting Competitions. Noah is then cast as the co-lead role of
Juror #3 in Twelve Angry Jurors (Men), followed by both Bellerose and
the Man of Letters in Cyrano DeBergerac. Other projects during this time include co-writing and directing
the short play Trivial Pursuits: A Story of High School Relationships,
Dating, and Love with an Optional Musical Number, winning best “Lunchbox
Theater” play of the year; a dismal role in Addict, a play about drug
addiction, performed for the entire school; and Bang, Bang, You’re Dead,
an anti-violence play produced entirely by students. In the latter production, Noah primarily played the Grandfather
and Voice #1, but also played many other roles in later summer performances. It is also during this time that Noah
becomes sound operator, running the entire show’s sound from a personal stereo
backstage.
Noah’s Senior year is kicked off
with multiple awards from the City of Gresham for Bang, Bang, You’re Dead,
as well as being elected to the Drama Council.
Main-stage shows include Lloyd Dallas “Director” in Noises Off,
The Man in the Senior One-Act The Tangled Snarl, and Elisha J. Whitney
in Anything Goes. Other projects
included Head Technician for the Haunted House, Head Organizer of Lunchbox
Theater, and a school-wide performance of Bang, Bang, You’re Dead, this
time playing Josh’s Father. For the
third year in a row, Noah receives low scores for his monologues in both
District and Regional Acting Competition, but does get exceptional scores in
solo musical theater for “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” (from Les Miserables),
and state qualification in group musical theater for “Your Fault” (from Into
the Woods), which later went on to win First Place in Group Musical Theater
at State Oregon Thespians. Noah also
writes and directs the sequel to his first play, and also acts as Technical
Director for The True Tides of Friendship: Another Story of High School
Relationships as Told by Those Who Experience It, again winning best
“Lunchbox Theater” play at the 2000 Associate Awards.
Currently, Noah is not studying
theater, but did take Acting I at the University of Oregon, and hopes to
continue theater soon.
Posted March 1, 2001
© 2001 madnana.com