Harold Hill has left the building

Sunday’s closing matinee of The Music Man was sold out and the cast’s excitement and adrenaline manifested in some crazy ad-libs and over-the-top performances.  I don’t blame them.  It was the school’s first musical.  I remember bringing one of my ex-bf’s to his first Broadway musical, Aida, and he was blown away.  I mean, Aida!?  Imagine if I had brought him to Ragtime or Hairspray.  He’d of passed out.

I had also forgotten how good Meredith Willson’s book is, with all the songs emerging organically from the dialogue and every scene catapulting the story forward.  The recent crop of new musicals, save maybe Book of Mormon, really do have shitty books compared to the classics.  It’s a pretty sad state of affairs when today’s audience standard of quality is Mamma Mia.

Considering many of our young actors had not sung onstage before, the shows went remarkably well with several lovely performances.  I do have to give an extra fist pump to Brenden Paternostro, our Harold Hill.  He was one of the few cast members who, throughout the rehearsal process, was always prepared and off book.

I also have to give a shout out to our dancers, who picked up any staging and choreography we threw at them with little to no rehearsal.  Oh, to have these dancers in the Pineda Conservatory shows (sigh).  A girl can dream.

If I was being picky, it wasn’t until Saturday evening’s show that the cast really relaxed and found their “groove.”  They finally got out of their own heads and started to work off the energy of the live audience.  But I guess that’s to be expected when you don’t have your lines memorized until opening night.  Oh, yes.  I went there. 

I won’t name any names, but imagine how much better the show could have been had certain cast members actually bothered to learn their lines before the first performance and we were able to actually direct them.  Sadly, some were still stumbling with lines up through the final performance - as if they think we didn’t notice.  Oh well, that’s a rant for another time and over a few cocktails. 

I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer.  There were some wonderful performances and many proud friends and family members.  Hopefully the success of this inaugural production will inspire these young actors to up their game next year. 

High School shows

The Pinedas' annual March pilgrimage to each local high schools’ spring musical is finally over.  Since it’s just plain heartless to rip apart a high school production in a public forum, I’ll just limit my comments to praise and constructive criticism.  I don’t want to be accused of dashing some young thespian’s dream.  These young people have plenty of opportunities for heart-crushing disappointment once they move to New York and hit the audition circuit.

Oklahoma! at Cranford HS.  Gorgeous physical production, great leads, some fine singing, generally wonderful choreography but an over-choreographed title song.  Seriously, it’s acceptable to display beautiful technical dancing on its own, but not okay to display beautiful technical singing on its own?  I mean, if Agnes DeMille didn’t think to add choreography to the number…well, I’m just sayin’. 

Hairspray at Scotch Plains HS.  Incredible Tracy (Val’s student, Samantha Tropper), Penny Pingleton, Edna, and Wilbur; an energetic and diverse ensemble that for the most part, overcame dirge-like tempos.  Hand that conductor a red bull.

Sweeney Todd at Westfield HS.  OK, I didn’t see this, but Trish and Val told me the ensemble singing/staging was quite impressive.  To be honest, I have no desire to watch teenagers perform one of my favorite Sondheim shows.  It’s just too complex and sophisticated for teens no matter how talented.  While we’re at it, I’d probably also refuse to see a high school production of Follies, Company, Sweet Charity, Dreamgirls, Showboat or Gypsy except to laugh at the inappropriateness of it all.

Thoroughly Modern Millie at Hillside Middle School.  All I can say is cute, cute, cute.  I was dubious this show would work with 10-14 year olds, but mini-flappers and boys in zoot suits won me over.  And yes, some of the Asian stuff was on the verge of being offensive, but you can’t expect 10 year old kids to finesse the material the way an adult would.

I need a life

Congratulate me.  I'm 30 days sober today.  That's one month show-free.  Though I'm still suffering withdrawal symptoms, I've started to substitute with my DVR.  Though not the same heady high I get from the scent of a freshly cut Playbill insert nor as thrilling as hearing a full chest-belted high E, TV has its own unique pleasures. 

Last Saturday, for instance, Trish and I spent nearly 8 hours watching back-to-back episodes of Chuck.  Like any good addiction, at the start it's mildy amusing and you tell yourself you can take it or leave it at anytime.  By the fourth episode, though, watch out.  I could barely pry my eyes from that HD widescreen long enough for a bathroom break or for anything as superfluous as food. 

Otherwise, life without The Broadway has been pretty uneventful - long days strung together by the daily bitchy threads on All That Chat prophesying the end of civilization due to the continued presence of Spider-man on the Great White Way.  I'm no Spidey fan, but I can't wait for the glut of spring musical openings so we can stop hearing about the musical web-slinger.

We also recently sat through auditions for Pineda Lyric's young artist production of The Bat.  There's nothing quite like teenagers singing coloratura.  Not that there weren't impressive moments, but shifting hormones and high C's coupled with nervous teenage energy - that's just an accident waiting to happen. 

Val was actually able to cast a full company from the day's auditions.  Though if you were lucky enough to possess male anatomy, you were granted a lead role by default.  It's good to be a boy in high school theatre. 

B&B opening night

After much nail-biting and hundreds of dollars spent in train tickets and cab fare, B&B finally opened last night to an extremely enthusiastic audience. I have to give the kids props for pushing through some extremely adverse conditions. And frankly, I was surprised by the audience reaction at times. Not that I don’t think they deserve it, but it really never occurred to me - certainly not while choreographing either "Gaston" or "Be Our Guest" - that these numbers would garner mid-number applause. I can honestly say that I did not intend to build this into the numbers. More than anything, I guess it has to do with expectation. If I’m to believe the stories of past productions, it seems that dancing has not been the drama department’s strong point. I guess if you don’t expect memorable choreography, then even my somewhat rudimentary attempt (perhaps not my most difficult work, due to the lack of trained dancers in the cast) must have really been a happy surprise for the audience. It was truly a joy, even for a jaded old bitch like me, to see the wide-eyed shock of the cast after the audience’s seemingly endless ovation following "Be Our Guest." Granted, how can you not clap for dancing silverware and napkins?

I’m happy with what I was able to get out of the cast, but also somewhat disappointed knowing that before snow days and scheduling changes, I’d have probably had at least an additional three or four rehearsals. I guess as an artist, you always feel like you’re trying to perfect your work even if your audience seems satisfied with the final product. If you’re not, you’re probably not a very good artist or you’re just a stuck-up asshole (or probably both).

B&B rant

I guess “mild frustration” would best describe my core emotional state during most of tech rehearsals for Beauty and the Beast, which I’m choreographing for South Plainfield High School. This tech week has been unlike any other I’ve ever experienced in my theatrical life - mainly because I didn’t have anything to do. Yes, I attended rehearsals everyday this week, but the technical aspect was so overwhelming that no actual “rehearsing” took place. Because of the overwhelming technical demands of the show, virtually no performance issues were addressed during tech week - not a single real acting note. I mean, there was the perfunctory, “find your light” or “can you play that more stage left”, but nothing specific about characterization or cleanliness of blocking.

I’m accustomed to the cast and directors sitting down together at the end of each rehearsal and going through their list of performance notes with the cast as a group, but that didn't happened. I had a pad full of notes, but didn’t have an opportunity to give them out. So last night, I finally decided to take initiative and give individual notes before the last run-through. Mistake. These kids were looking at me like I had three heads. Have they never gotten notes before? It was so weird. Our kids - the ones who work with us in the operas and in the summer - actually come up to us and ask us if we have notes for them. They think there’s something wrong if we don’t give them notes. Did this cast think they were perfect? I hope not. It was so weird.

I continued anyway, even though some of the cast (i.e. the leads - talk about big-fish-little-pond syndrome) were definitely giving off the “how-dare-you-give-me-performance-notes” vibe. These same “actors” would hang their heads in shame were they to witness the performances of our conservatory kids. I’ve never directed a group of people, kids included, that didn’t want suggestions as to how to improve their performance. I mean, we - the Pineda’s - continue to give notes and make changes through an entire run of a show. Okay, so we’re probably a bit extreme in the opposite direction, but come on, these kids had no note sessions the entire week before opening? That’s just not normal. Suffice it to say, I didn’t give out all my notes. It was just too much work and the kids didn’t really seem to care that I was trying to help them anyway. To be fair, that’s a bit of a generalization. A few - very few - students (mainly non-leads) were open to my notes and suggestions. But I was just so frustrated that I basically gave up. The last thing I need after a nine-hour work day is to be snubbed by a high school student who doesn’t think someone with a decade of professional theater experience and conservatory training can possibly give them any insight into their performance. That probably sounds harsh, but I don’t get paid enough to force these kids to listen to me. At least I have a personal relationship with our conservatory kids, so I’m willing to push a little harder.

I cannot wait until tomorrow when the show finally opens. Then I can get some of my weekends back, at least until Magic Flute rehearsals begin next week.

South Plainfield’s B&B curse - here’s the short list of “problems” that have plagued this production:

• Over 20 people dropped out since initial casting.
• We lost at least two weeks of rehearsal because the administration didn’t bother to tell the director she couldn’t use the auditorium during some fire alarm upgrades (not to mention a couple of snow days).
• The opening date was moved up one week to accommodate another event that needed use of the full stage.
• The set designer’s wife was mugged at knife point in the school parking lot during a rehearsal.
• The student playing Gaston was expelled (don’t ask) less than a week before opening and had to be replaced by a student who graduated two years ago.
• The nearly all student orchestra had basically no rehearsal, so tempos were painfully too slow and un-danceable.

High School musical overload…

…and I don’t mean that travesty of a Disney show. Between Beauty and the Beast rehearsals this weekend, Trish and I managed to see three of the area high schools’ musicals. I know, you’re thinking, “What the f*ck would possess anyone to see ten hours worth of high school performances voluntarily?!” Well, Pineda Conservatory has the good fortune of having plentiful student representation in each cast. Since Juan and Val ran off to the Caribbean with mom-ski and dad-ski (that’s what we call Val’s Polish parents to differentiate them from our “-ski”-less parents), it was up to Trish and I to represent. So it was Cranford’s Anything Goes on Friday night, Westfield’s Kiss Me Kate Saturday night and Scotch Plains’ Guys and Dolls Sunday afternoon.

Since I know many parents and students read this blog, I’ll keep to the positives and give out my version of the HS Tony Awards, the Pinedas if you will, based on these three productions. I’ve used character names if I don’t know the student (sorry, I know that’s sort of ghetto, but I didn’t keep any of my programs).

Best supporting actress (tie): Bonnie in Anything Goes - incredible comic timing and great dancer / Sarah Szollar in Kate - a Pineda fave - be proud of those boobs, hon!

Best supporting actor (tie): Dan Berman in Kate - another Pineda fave showing his “steamy” side / Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls - just a funny, all around solid performance.

Best lead actor: Sky in Guys and Dolls - not the strongest singing voice, but had a strength, confidence and ease of character you don’t usually find in high school boys. And that speaking voice, he definitely has a voice-over career in his future. Dreamy.

Best lead actress (tie): Catalina Gagliotti in Kate - no one on any of these stages can out-sing her (so I'm sure they all hate her) / Adelaide in Guys and Dolls - perfect blend of sincerity and character without becoming a cartoon, impeccable comic timing.

Best ensemble: Guys and Dolls - these kids were committed and invested in the story and in character all the time, unlike some of the other productions where they ensemble was mainly used as glorified “set-dressing.”

Best choreography: Guys and Dolls - a perfect example of using the entire cast rather than always featuring the “dancers” and everyone else stands around jazz-handing it. It was maybe not as technically difficult as the other schools, but it was always clean, tight and precise. I also give props to Cranford for somehow finding an ensemble of long-legged tapping chorus girls - a pleasant surprise.

Best musical: Guys and Dolls - was just extremely tight, clean and well-rehearsed. Some of the other shows, while maybe possessing more talented casts overall, were a bit ragged/sloppy around the edges. G&D was streamlined, well-paced and unlike the other shows, didn’t suffer from clunky transitions and scene changes.

Overall, it was a good weekend of high school performances. Now I just have to survive tech week for Beauty and the Beast and final auditions and callbacks for On The Town. Good times.

I'm so old

So I just started rehearsals for Beauty and the Beast at South Plainfield High School. Man, do I feel old. I don’t know how these teachers cannot be depressed. You’re basically assaulted by youthful vim and vigor at every turn. I don’t think I could take being constantly reminded how not “with-it” I am. I hear the noise coming from their white earbuds and think, “That’s music?” When did I turn into an old man?

I guess you could be a “cool” teacher and try to identify with the kids’ fashion, music and pop culture. But to me, that just seems like a pathetic attempt to try and stay relevant in a group that ultimately, though probably not to your face, thinks you’re just some old guy acting like an idiot.

I was never cool or popular in High School. In fact, I’m sure I was referred to as a nerd or fag behind my back. But of course, I get the last laugh. I’ve seen my 20th High School reunion pics (I, naturally, had rehearsals that weekend) and the cool kids are now fat, pregnant, alcoholic, divorced or some combination thereof. I gotta’ say, I’d never trade my current status to have been one of the cool kids in High School. How sad must it be to be in your late-30’s and think your HS years were the best/happiest time of your life?

Anyway, rehearsals are progressing slowly as I attempt to remember that these are not Broadway trained dancers, but High School students who just now are becoming aware of their bodies. High School girls have no idea how to be alluring or coquettish. It’s just a one way ticket to Slutsville for these girls. Thank you, Madonna. I reiterate, when did I become an old man?

Merry Widow is finally over and I can start getting six hours of sleep a night instead of four. Yeah! Performances were well-received and the houses, though not sold out, were full. Our Widow, Christina Rohm, pretty much kicked everyone’s ass on the stage. She sang gorgeously and was the only one of the “professional” singers that gave a full, sincere character portrayal. Not that I’m dumping on the other leads, but she was the only one who seemed to back up an over-the-top comedic performance with real emotional honesty - not an easy task given our admittedly skimpy rehearsal schedule. Carmen’s coming up in four months and already the phone’s ringing like crazy for tickets. What’s up with that? I guess sex and murder really do speak to the American public, at least in NJ. Hmmm, what does that say about Jersey?

Driving back from High School Musical rehearsal last night, I realized that my commute back and forth to the theatre was nearly equal to the length of the actual rehearsal time. I thought to myself, “Am I just a dedicated artist, committed to enriching our young people through the arts, or just plain stupid?” And no need to comment, it was rhetorical. I know what most of you jaded biyatches are going to say anyway.

Speaking of HSM, it’s hard to believe that we’ve been rehearsing for nearly 3 months and we’re still behind with staging and music. Who would have thought that a ninety-minute piece of substandard (though I have to admit there are some insanely catchy tunes) music theatre could take so long to get on its feet? We still have a couple of weeks, so I’m staying positive.

I know my last couple of blog entries have been bitch and moan sessions, but my schedule does lighten up a little - very little - now that Widow’s dead and buried. But now comes the dreaded (cue ominous underscoring) Holiday Season!! Eeeeeek!!! Sitting at the Outback Steakhouse Sunday night (yeah, classy, I know) after we - meaning the Pineda’s and a handful of loyal opera company folk (thanks Glasser-Bakers, Loves and Chris Grimm) - struck the Widow set, we heard the familiar jingle of sleigh bells and a sickly-sweet, generic soprano start singing, “…have yourself a merry little etc.…” I threw up a little in my mouth. And bloomin’ onion does not go down well the second time. I mean, really?! It’s the first week of November! Can we at least get through the horror of Thanksgiving first? I ended up getting pounded with Holiday Spirit the next night, too, having been stuck running a rehearsal for the Caroling company I’ve worked with for the past several years. Nothing like two hours of non-stop a capella Christmas Caroling to bring out the Scrooge in you.

Anyway, a busy week continues with weekend HSM rehearsals and a list of shows we (the Pineda's!) must go see. And I don’t mean the NYC variety (although Trish and I are seeing What’s That Smell tonight), but the do-your-penance variety. One necessary evil of having so many talented students spread out over many different schools is that you can’t discriminate as to which productions you’re going to see. If you make it to one school’s production, you have to at least make an effort to go to see all the other ones. Of course, it doesn’t help that schools seem to schedule all their shows on the same two weekends! So it looks like it’ll be Museum at Westfield High on Saturday and Forum at Somerset County on Sunday afternoon. Peace out, homies.

13

Busy, busy, busy! With all the stock market craziness, work has been just action-packed. Therefore, some of my normal blogging time was consumed with frantic calls from bankers’ wives screaming for their husbands to sell, sell, sell! We actually hit $11 a share at one point - ouch. Nothing like having your beach house and retirement plan melt away before your eyes. Luckily, I am burdened with none of the above. So I’m just now catching up writing reviews for a couple of shows I saw this past week.

Although I didn’t love 13, I’m encouraged to hear they are actually taking advantage of the preview period and doing some real revising and making changes. I grudgingly may have to revisit it - granted I can get a cheapo TDF ticket. As we left the theatre last Thursday, the first thing Trish said to me was that she thought it should just be one act, no intermission. Lo and behold, today on All That Chat someone posted that last night’s show was indeed intermission-less and two (really bad, IMO) songs have been cut! Perhaps Trish should look into becoming a show doctor.

As for the show, it’s cute, I guess. But who wants to shell out $100 for cute!? I can get that for free walking Chris and Dan’s dog. The storyline is thinner than Mary Kate's waist and just about as substantial: NYC-raised teen Jew moves to Indiana and tries to get the cool kids to attend his Bar Mitzvah. Of course, there are no other Jews at his new school because everyone knows that Jews only live in NYC. How does he do it? By guaranteeing the coolest guy in school some tongue time with the hot chick. No, really. The whole first act is devoted to the pursuit of French kissing. Throw a brainy handicapped kid and nerdy girl outcast (who happens to be way prettier than the hot chick everyone is pursuing) into the mix and you’ve got a Broadway show. Thankfully, Jason Robert Brown’s score saves the evening with his always tuneful, folksy-pop ballads and some insightful lyric writing suitable for a 13-year-old. Unfortunately, the book writer thinks he’s writing a "Friends" episode, having teenagers spouting one-liners way too sophisticated and knowing for their tender 13 years on earth. Imagine teen age Ross, Monica and Chandler belting show tunes on an ABC After School Special but without the teen pregnancy, booze and drugs to keep us interested.

As for the 13 child actors (get it? 13 actors playing 13-year-olds? Clever, aren’t we?), no denying they are talented, but that’s not enough to sustain a show. The three lead nerds are exceptionally good, especially Allie Trimm who plays Patrice. She has more control over her belt/mix/chest voice than most adults I know and her acting is sincere and unfussy. I hope she doesn’t turn into a total bitch when she realizes she’s more talented than everyone else. Otherwise, the rest of the cast runs the gamut from “very good” to “just fine.” As much as I can appreciate how talented these young people are, without any adult (read: experienced) presence on stage to anchor the production, many of the young performers (unintentional, I think) drift into cheesy overacting and one-dimensionality. It’s not helped by the audiences’ over-enthusiastic response to any remotely impressive sung note or dance step. The night we attended, the house was clearly papered with family members and friends. I must note that Trish and I (and the gay couple in front of us) were kept entertained by the beauty-pageant-worthy cheesiness of one young actress who shall remain nameless. Her consistent sh*t-eating grin and blatant winking to the audience called to mind the best of Junior High School dance recitals and kept us quietly chuckling through the whole evening. Brava!

On the whole, unless some radical changes are made to the book, it’ll be just another great JRB CD to add to the collection.

Debauchery and delinquency

Oh, to be a teenager again! The acne, prom dates, band geeks, popular kids...
To read the rest of this entry, please contact fausto and ask for permissions.

Ass pirates

I can’t believe we (just barely) pulled Pirates out of our asses. Not literally, of course. That would be quite difficult and painful (and very messy). Our stage manager, Sharon, gave an admirable performance as the Pirate King, given that she had half a run-through and less than 24 hours notice to fill in for our indisposed actor. All in all, she acquitted herself quite nicely. Of course, there was some highly creative improvised dialogue, and much of it from actors who had actual rehearsal time and should have known better, but that’s a whole 'nother can of worms that I don’t wish to crack open and smear on anybody’s reputation, especially some high school kid. Since I’ve learned that it’s not just my sister and I that read my blog, in order to protect the innocent I’ll have to desist naming names - at least if they’re under age. But watch out biyatches, once you’re over 21, you’re asses are fair game. Anyway, it was hard to keep track of who was playing what role in any given show since so many people were double cast, sick or just plain clueless on stage. I just sat in the pit minding my own business and conducting the orchestra, and by orchestra I mean me at the piano and Trish turning pages.

The best part of the 3-day run? Having dinner and getting ice cream between Saturday shows with my nominee for “Hot Jersey Mom,” Anita Napoli. No, there is no such award, and yes, I’m gayer than springtime (poor Oscar could never have foreseen his lyrics used in this context), but I know a hot mom when I see one. Lest I get hate mail for playing favorites, we did not plan to have dinner with Anita and her daughter Gabby, we just coincidentally ended up going to the same restaurant (a lovely Thai fusion place, Avenue East). In all honesty, Trish, Juan, Val and I tried to find a restaurant off the beaten path in order to avoid any additional contact with the cast and parents. Not that we don’t love our kids (now the parents - at least some parents - well, that’s a different matter. Mama Rose anyone?), but sanity must be preserved in these days of show overload. Next week, is the opera company’s garage sale fundraiser and the following week is the graduating senior’s cabaret show. Then we’ll finally get two weeks to recuperate before we start all over again with Les Mis.

Some of our lovely Young Artists backstage at Pirates (Kristen Caruana, Kaitlyn Mills and Katy Cockrell).

Some Enchanted (?) Evening..

There is nothing appealing about the prospect of watching a high school production of South Pacific (though perhaps only slightly more appealing than the prospect of seeing a high school production of Rent or Miss Saigon). Not that it’s a bad show. In fact, I think South Pacific is one of the under-rated R&H shows because it always gets overshadowed by its more popular siblings, Carousel and The Sound of Music. I mean, the score is brilliant: I’m Gonna’ Wash That Man Right of My Hair, Some Enchanted Evening, Bali H’ai, Young Than Springtime, A Wonderful Guy, Honey Bun - not a dud in the lot of ‘em. And the book unapologetically attacked racism and bigotry long before the current trend of obsessive PC-ness. The pitfall of the R&H canon is that on the surface, all the shows seem deceptively simple and “old-fashioned” because of their outward musicality, colorful locales and comedic predilections. But on closer inspection, these works were groundbreaking social commentaries: The King & I - racial stereotypes and feminism, Carousel - abusive relationships, The Sound of Music - Nazis, etc, etc. South Pacific is no exception. To quote one of its songs, “You've got to be taught to hate and fear,…You've got to be taught before it's too late, Before you are six or seven or eight, To hate all the people your relatives hate…” And remember, this was 1949! Compare that to just about any lyric in Legally Blond or The Wedding Singer.

This brings me to the high school production of South Pacific I attended last night at the Delbarton School in Morristown, NJ. Let me preface my comments by saying that I am not in the habit of reviewing “non-professional” productions. And this isn’t even really a review, just some observations about the production. Believe me, I give props to any school that has the balls not to cut its arts funding and any student brave enough to get up on stage in the face of peer ridicule. Face it, being the lead in the school musical is not the same as being the quarterback or head cheerleader. Sad, but true. Anyway, we knew we were in for an interesting evening as soon as we heard the opening "Bali H’ai" theme in the overture. Funeral march anyone? Kudos for even getting a full orchestra of students (with a sprinkling of ringers) to learn the score; but I’d rather hear half an orchestra play well/at the proper tempi than a large one where you sacrifice tempi so that the musicians can get through the score. If musician quality wasn’t the issue, than the conductor desperately needed a red bull or should have done a line of cocaine before starting the show. Anyway, my main gripes with the production weren’t the performances. By and large the cast was extremely talented and there were some truly outstanding voices onstage. My main problem was with the direction, or rather lack thereof. When a show is three-plus hours long, you can’t have the leads just stand there. The director didn’t seem to understand the basic defining principle of musical theater - that the songs are a continuation of the preceding dialogue/scene and shouldn't stop the show's forward momentum. “A Wonderful Guy” and “Wash That Man” are scenes between Nellie and the girls, not cute songs merely played to the audience. I won't even detail the problems with the choreography since they are the same as with the directing - it was random and had no relation to what was happening in the scene, the time period or the characters (just because someone can do a split or a flip doesn't mean that it's appropriate). The performers were all energetic and totally committed to what little blocking they were given. Nellie, Bloody Mary (for full disclosure, the actress playing Bloody Mary is one of Val’s students) and Emil were the obvious vocal stand outs.

It’s especially frustrating to see the obvious care and financing dedicated to the physical aspects of the production - sets, costumes, lighting (especially good), talent - not matched in the direction and staging. It is clear that a strong directorial vision would have elevated the production above your average high school fare considering the abundant talent on the stage. No matter, the talent and enthusiasm on stage was clearly visible and the audience seemed thoroughly pleased with the final result. And I guess when it comes to a high school production, there isn’t much more you can ask for.