Dozens of high school musicals are waiting in the wings across the Lower Hudson Valley, ready to create lifelong memories over the next nine weekends.
From “Grease!” to “A Chorus Line,” “Guys & Dolls” to “The Drowsy Chaperone,” the musicals are the culmination of months of rehearsal, set and costume construction, choreography and orchestra work that end in a precious few performances.
Come opening night, teenage stage managers will call lighting cues and scene changes, student musicians will sit forward and wait for the downbeat, and student actors will shelve thoughts of chem labs and AP English to become Cinderellas or shadowy figures beneath the Paris Opera.
Of course, students involved in this kind of drama don’t just change on stage; they evolve in real life, too.
High school musical directors — the people most responsible for pulling these shows together — get a front-row seat to these metamorphoses.
How do musicals change students? And how do high school musical directors change as a result? To find out, we caught up with a handful of directors and learned that the magic of a high school musical goes far beyond opening night.
Places, please.
Peter Royal, Bronxville + Kelley Morse, Edgemont + John Gwardyak, Eastchester + Cathy Gmoser, Tuckahoe + Jack Gremli, Nanuet +
Tim Reid, Clarkstown North + Ed Clinton, Tappan Zee + Joe Egan, Nyack + Justin Boccitto, Clarkstown South + Ian Driver, Briarcliff +
Adam Shatraw, Byram Hills + Ines Wilhelm-Boston, Kennedy Catholic + Ed Steele, Fox Lane + Christopher Schraufnagel, Horace Greeley +
John Orefice, Pelham + Mike Limone, Rye + Scott Zimmerman, New Rochelle + Pat Rinello, Rye Neck + Lynn Fusco, Harrison +
Liz Melito, Westlake + Frank Portanova, Archbishop Stepinac + Marci Elyn Schein, Woodlands + Harry Rios, Alexander Hamilton +
Bill Mentz, Valhalla + Katie Schmidt Feder, Peekskill + Tom Arduini, Yorktown + James Filippelli, Walter Panas +
Greg Bradley, Croton-Harmon + Darrin Grimm, Lakeland
Check out what the kids — and one more director — had to say during a Facebook conversation.
1 Comment
Hello! You are doing a tremendous service to students, families & the general public by discussing the parameters and issues involved in doing school musicals. But as knowledgable as you obviously are, your terminology is lacking in one important respect: “Musical Directors” are not directors of musicals, “Musical Directors” are the people who are responsible for the music [ONLY] in a production, incl teaching the music, accompanying the rehearsals, conducting/playing the shows, among other things. The term for Directors of Musicals is….Directors of Musicals! or stage directors, or simply directors. The DIRECTOR of the show is NOT responsible for the music, even though they may have imput about it. They are responsible for all the other aspects EXCEPT the music. So if you wouldn’t mind adjusting your terminology, the Musical Directors out there would feel a lot better about their contributions to these wonderful productions. Thanks.