ARTS-IN-ACTION
Productions in Full Swing
Students from the Lower & Middle Schools through the Prep are showcasing their talents From a West Coast premiere to a 70s cult classic, a 40s farce to a contemporary Broadway musical, the SHS theatrical season thus far has been ablaze with rising talent. Launching the 2014-15 season, in October Prep thespians had a rare opportunity to mount a production by Pulitzer Prize finalist and contemporary playwright Stephen Karam. The musical, a new twist on the classic Jane Austen novel Emma, explored broad themes of manners, moires, and the timeless quest for love—set on a college campus and through a modern-day lens. With a cast of 19, the lead roles were played with panache by senior Samantha Baugh (Emma) and junior Ted Caitlin (Professor Knight). In November, LMS students staged a musical revival of the 70s movie classic Bugsy Malone, Jr. With a story centered around Prohibition, speakeasies, and the 1920s “gangster” culture, young actors had the opportunity to study and replicate song styles, dress, colloquialisms, even dance moves of the period. The lively 24-member cast kept the audience rolling and the pace fast, while performing the tongue-in-cheek homage script. Lead roles were performed by 7th graders Luke Higgins (Bugsy) and Ava Schumacher (Blousey Brown), and 6th graders Andrew Plaschke (Dapper Dan) and Connor Fitzpatrick (Fat Sam).
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Closing out the fall lineup, the Prep Actors’ Showcase tackled the 1944 murder-comedy, Ramshackle Inn. Featuring ghosts and mysterious trunks, bad weather, and suspicious circumstances, the production required students to master the rapid-fire dialogue, wordplay, and physical comedy that characterizes works of this highly stylized genre. Heading the cast were seniors Rhys Lewis (Belinda Pryde) and Nick York (Patton). Heading into the spring semester, the highly anticipated all-school musical Big Fish enthralled near-sellout crowds with big song-anddance numbers, big vocal talent, and one really big puppet. Based on the novel by Daniel Wallace, the story chronicles traveling salesman Edward Bloom and his epic stories from the road, and Edward’s adult son Will, who is determined to learn the truth behind his father’s tall tales. Featuring a cast of 70 actors from the PSK through Prep, the show’s lead roles were performed by SHP freshman Roddy Cardamone (Edward), seniors Evan Bigley (Will), Grace Barada (Sandra), and sophomore Cami Steppe (Josephine), and LMS third grader Kelsey Fitzgerald (Young Will).
The biannually produced allschool musical draws talent from nearly every grade at SHS. Of those participating in this year’s show, Big Fish, close to 50 percent of the cast were students in K - 5.