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The Spectator • November 17, 2008
Halloween 2008: Roving Reporter The Candidates Seniors Amitav Chakraborty, Tom Sanford, Jared Dummitt and Danielle Blackman dressed up as Barack Obama, John McCain, Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. The group effort came together after Sanford convinced Dummitt to be Biden. Chakraborty was recruited as Obama, and together they found Blackman to be Palin. “Halloween was four days before the election, so being the candidates was the most appropriate costume,” Sanford said. During their free periods, the candidates went with one another to classrooms to improvise skits. “The secret to being a good Barack Obama is three things: a deep voice, a smile that stretches across the face, and an introspective stare at a 45 degree tilt. And you have to have the perfect eyebrows,” Chakraborty said. For a great John McCain, “don’t lift your arms too high. And Maverick,” Sanford said.
The Blues Brothers Computer Science teachers JonAlf Dyrland-Weaver and Mike Zamansky dressed up as the Blues Brothers, a band formed in 1978 from a musical sketch on Saturday Night Live. “Mr. Zamansky wanted to do a team costume. We were deciding between Men In Black and the Blues Brothers, and we chose the Blues Brothers because there was more of a performance aspect to it,” Dyrland-Weaver said. After two rehearsals before the day of Halloween, Dyrland-Weaver and Zamansky performed 11 times for their computer science classes and in front of the senior bar. “It was incredibly exhausting. By the end of the day, our feet were heavier,” Dyrland-Weaver said. Even though a large majority of students did not know who the Blues Brothers were, “they still enjoyed the performances. I recommend the movie to everyone,” Dyrland-Weaver said.
Matt the Flamingo Senior Matthew Gottesman dressed up in a homemade costume as a flamingo for Halloween. “It started as a hairdo, but that didn’t really work out, so I adapted it to be a flamingo,” Gottesman said. He wanted to create a duo with a Queen of Hearts from Alice and Wonderland, but this did not come to fruition. Gottesman, who enjoys sewing, has made his own Halloween costumes in the past; he dressed up as a ragdoll in his sophomore year. Even with a busy schedule, Gottesman made sure to “make [his] last Halloween at Stuy special,” he said.
Village People Seniors Nick Rozar, Nick Bauer-Levey, Nick Wheatley-Schaller, Nolan Becker, Andrew Ermogenous, Christopher Zhao, Aaron Ghitelman and Tarek Elesawi were the Village People, a disco group from the 1970’s. What started as a group of three sailors grew after Rozar gathered more members. “After watching videos on Youtube.com we decided we needed to come up with a dance to rock the school,” Rozar said. Senior Jennifer Yeon choreographed the group’s dances, which accompanied ‘YMCA,’ ‘In the Navy,’ and ‘Macho Man.’ “They asked me for some dance moves and we just put it together,” Yeon said. Their performances took place in classrooms and in the hallways. “It was a success. The atrium was crowded, and people seemed to enjoy watching it,” Yeon said.
Reporting by Jenny Ye Photos by Stephanie London