HUNTINGTON BEACH HIGH SCHOOL:

Alex Syiek

Alex Syiek devoted much of his high school career to theater and politics — and it didn’t take him long to find a way to combine the two.

The 18-year-old Pennsylvania native was a star in Huntington Beach High School’s theater productions, taking leads in “Sweeney Todd,” “Miss Saigon” and other school productions. Along the way, he spent four years in the school’s Model United Nations, in which students represent countries and engage in mock debates about world issues.

All that experience led Alex to write “Decorum,” a musical comedy about students spending three days at a Model United Nations conference at UCLA.

The show, which Alex describes as “sort of a biographical experience, with a few twists,” will have a two-night run in July at the Rose Center Theater in Westminster.

Alex, whose father and sister have also been involved in theater, said he was grateful to his alma mater for helping him nurture his gifts.

“At Huntington Beach High, we’re lucky,” he said. “We have a really good program.”

— Michael Miller