It’s easy to lose track of how many instruments Dominic Mendoza plays. The 13-year-old student at Chief Umtuch Middle School in Battle Ground plays piano, drums, guitar, trumpet, bass guitar and other percussion instruments. Oh, and the violin.
“That was the first one I learned,” Dominic said. “I had played (the violin) until two years ago. Sometimes, I get the urge and open the case up and start playing random songs on it.” He also sings, dances and acts in theater productions and commercials. “I’ve been performing since around second and third grade, playing instruments since around kindergarten,” he said.
While at a dance competition in New York City last year with his older sister, Dominic learned of an open cast call for the Broadway musical “School of Rock,” composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
“He begged us to do the open call,” his mother, Janett Mendoza, said. “We were like, ‘Oh sure, whatever, what’s going to come from that?’ ” The first audition resulted in a call-back in November, and then a second call-back in January.
“(The auditions) were slightly different each time,” Dominic said. The first open call featured just casting directors. The second audition included the musical’s directors and also took place at the Winter Garden Theatre, where the show currently performs. Dominic had to play and sing the song “Teacher’s Pet” on three different instruments — piano, drums and guitar — for the three different roles. His favorite was Zach the guitarist: “I like his personality and sense of humor.” The auditions also featured line readings.
“(Musicals) usually are really happy, even though some parts are sad, or there’s a problem, it all usually gets better in the end,” Dominic said. “I like how they just burst into song.”
Before the audition, they received tickets to the Broadway show. “We saw in the (Playbill) a picture of Andrew Lloyd Webber. He asked ‘Do you think I’d be able to meet him if I was in the show?’ ” Janett recalled. She said, ” ‘Oh no, I’m sure he’s pretty busy, working on his next thing.’ ”
The third audition in February featured most of the crew and directors from the show — including Webber. As part of the audition, Dominic also sang “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day, one of his favorite bands.
“During my performance of ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams,’ I was playing guitar to back myself up. (Webber) said it seemed like I was focusing on hitting the exactly right note. That’s not what the musical’s about; it’s about rocking out and having fun. He said not to worry about hitting the right notes at the right time,” he said.
“It’s a bunch of once-in-a-lifetime moments,” his mother said. Again, the Brush Prairie family will be waiting to see if another call for another audition comes from New York. Until then, Dominic has a full performing schedule.
Dominic is a music student at Musical Beginnings, a dancer for DanceWorks Performing Arts, a band member of Chief Umtuch Middle School and part of Puddle Town Talent in Oregon. He’s also been performing in Prairie High School theater productions since third grade, whenever the production needed to fill a role of a kid. Right now, Dominic is focused on his dance showcase with DanceWorks, taking place June 18. He’ll be in six of the dance pieces, from jazz routines to an acrobatics piece, inspired by another Webber musical, “Cats.”
In the future, Dominic said he’d either like to become a musician when he grows up, or go into a career in computer science. “Even if I don’t end up becoming a (professional) musician, I’d definitely have a couple of instruments lying around my house.”
