windy city raiders chi-town

Drama, Dance, and Music attended various shows and workshops to advance their performing skills.

Everyone went silent as senior Theodore Ciperski practiced his monologue at the Second City Theater on Oct. 13. The Performing Arts department traveled to Chicago to explore the city while attending instructional workshops, musical performances and theater productions. Ciperski was grateful for the opportunity to learn from industry experts.

“During the workshops on the Chicago trip, I continued to work on my college monologues and my audition skills. Something I learned from this process was to never get locked in on a choice as an actor and to always return to the text itself to find nuances to always improve your performance,” Ciperski said.

The experience was also meaningful for younger students. Freshman Fernanda Cerqueira gained important insight as to what the life of a professional actor is like.

“I think this experience helped because it gave me theater skills and helped me learn the truth about being an actor in the real world,” Cerqueira said.

In addition to the hands-on learning experiences, students were able to attend live theater productions like “The Notebook,” which took place at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Freshman Sophia Harari enjoyed the performance.

“My favorite activity was ‘The Notebook’. It was such an amazing play with an amazing ending,” Harari said. While Ciperski planned to use the knowledge he gained and his experiences from the past four years to pursue his acting goals in college next fall, Cerqueira, Harari, and other underclassmen, felt hopeful to travel and attend more performing arts workshops during the remainder of their time in high school.

“It was an amazing experience,” Harari said.

ACTING. Students of the drama program attend the Second City Theater workshop in Chicago. The workshop taught the students skills for their monologues. “During the workshop, the talent agent gave me really good advice and direction for my monologue,” senior Theo Ciperski said. Photo by Samantha Falcon

nights

Music students enjoyed some of Chicago’s musical events.

SHOW TIME. Students in the music department went to several music events during their time in Chicago. They group went to a jazz performance, and also saw “Amadeus Live” performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. They also attended the musical “The Notebook,” and had a chance to speak with the music producers of the show to learn different techniques they could apply in class. “The showcase was very good and my favorite activity was the Notebook musical,” sophomore Gregg Chase said. Photos by Robert Keating