Design by Dara Rosen
Stealing the Show
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arjory Stoneman Douglas High School’s drama department performed “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief ” as a musical, based off of the popular fiction series “Percy Jackson” on April 25 and April 26. The musical brought in not only high school viewers but also, children from the surrounding elementary and middle schools, along with their parents. “It’s really fun, but it is really scary at times, just because you know there are hardcore fans,” Director Jared Block said. “It’s scary because you could totally not misinterpret the show, but misrepresent key moments and really important characters if you don’t focus on those moments.” In the weeks leading up to the musical, the production stage manager, Alexandra Duffy, and the rest of the cast worked on stage placement. “All of a sudden we realized we had a couple of weeks until the show,” Duffy said. “So, we started running the show, and we have a music teacher come in and help us play piano for the songs so we know how they go when we have our live band here.” Senior Alexander Athanasiou played the part of Percy Jackson and brought the key elements of the character to life on stage. “Playing a role as big as Percy Jackson is both exciting and terrifying,” Athanasiou said. “It’s been a dream role of mine since middle school when I read the books and wanted to be a half-blood too.” In the musical, Jackson discovers that he is a demigod, a person who is halfhuman and half-god, and he begins the search for his identity and Zeus’ missing lightning bolt, after being accused of having it. He is joined by his new friend, and fellow “half-blood,” Annabeth Chase, played by senior Isabela Barry, and magical satyr guardian, Grover, played by junior Tanzil Philip. Two of the three directors, junior Andrea Peña, who played Clarisse, and
Electrifying Performance. Juniors Isabela Barry, Tanzil Philip and senior Alexander Athanasiou perform in Douglas Drama’s production of the concert version of “The Lightning Thief” on April 26. Photo by
Mackenzie Quinn
Philip, also had prominent roles in the musical. Many members of the drama department were part of the cast and the production team. Due to copyright restrictions, only certain plays and musicals are available for schools to perform under a licensing agreement, which the school has to pay for. Normally, popular modern series, such as Percy Jackson, are not available for licensing. MSD Drama was given special permission to perform the musical at a $0 cost, and a special concert version was written specifically for MSD. MSD’s version was shorter and contained additional narration from the “campers,”
Eye on the Prize
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n Monday, April 15, The Pulitzer Prizes, the most prestigious form of recognition granted in journalism and literature in the United States, announced their 2019 winners. As the nation’s writers, composers and journalists watched the annual ceremony in eager anticipation, viewers were surprised by an unprecedented opening: a shout out to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School’s very own newspaper, The Eagle Eye. For their coverage during the 20172018 school year, The Eagle Eye entered the Public Service and Local Reporting categories. The submitted work included a collection of 17 obituaries published in their third quarter memorial issue, as well as coverage of The March For Our Lives movement, and other activism and happenings at MSD. “I want to break tradition and offer
MSD drama performs a concert version of “The Lightning Thief”
my sincere admiration for an entry that did not win but should give us all hope for the future of journalism in this great democracy. The entry is from the staff of The Eagle Eye student newspaper at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida,” Dana Canedy, the Pulitzer award administrator, said. While The Eagle Eye did not receive the award, their recognition was atypical, for the Pulitzer Prize organization has rarely, if ever, acknowledged a high school entry. “These budding journalists remind us of the media’s unwavering commitment to bearing witness, even in the most wrenching of circumstances in service to a nation whose very existence is dependent on a free and dedicated press,” Canedy said. “There is hope in their example.” The award in Public Service was ultimately received by South Florida’s
or rather, side characters. “So what happened is the original writers of the show contacted Herzfeld after the shooting, and they were like ‘hey you want to do it?’” junior Sophia Cichetti said. “They wrote a special concert version just for us because they already knew we were doing a children’s show.” After the final bows and closing of the musical itself, there were several speeches about Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, in a similar fashion of actual Broadway shows. The drama department also made bonnets based on the show and had an auction. As the audience started to depart on closing night, there was a special,
surprise promposal for senior Ariana Lopez from senior Jonah Bryson. The cast welcomed the audience with a meet and greet afterward. “Percy Jackson was one of my personal favorite musicals performed here at Douglas,” sophomore Alexander Denisov said. “I love how they pulled me into the action as if I was on stage with them. The acting and singing were incredible and I enjoyed every minute of it.” “The Lightning Thief ” was the final MSD Drama performance of the 20182019 school year and the last high school performance for the senior actors. Story
by Mackenzie Quinn
The Eagle Eye receives special invitation to attend annual Pulitzer Prize luncheon in New York City
Sun-Sentinel for their coverage and investigative reporting on the shooting at MSD, and the award in Local Reporting was received by the staff of The Advocate from Baton Rouge, Louisiana for their coverage of their state’s discriminatory conviction system. In further recognition of their entry, Canedy personally invited The Eagle
Eye to join the annual Pulitzer Prizes luncheon at Columbia University in New York City on May 28. Spirit Airlines donated a set of flights for the group, alongside the Sun-Sentinel, who will be covering the group’s other expenses. Eight students will travel to the luncheon. Story by Hannah Kapoor; photo courtesy of The Pulitzer Prizes
News • MSD in Brief 05