“Singing is Our Birthright” was the title Susan Nace, upper school music teacher, gave to one of the final vocal concerts of the year, featuring three upper school groups at the Nichols Hall auditorium on April 28: Camerata, Cantilena and Guys’ Gig.
Camerata, the mixed choral ensemble, started off with a diverse set of madrigals and jazz tunes. Following the mournful harmonies of John Wilbye’s “Adieu, Sweet Amaryllis,” the mood quickly lightened as the students gathered ‘round the piano (played by Nace) to sing Billy Strayhorn’s “Something to Live For,” followed by a vocal arrangement of Scott Joplin’s famous “Maple Leaf Rag,” during which the students leaped off stage and brought the music directly to the audience by strolling through the aisles as they sang.
Several soloists were featured throughout the show between group performances singing a wide variety of songs from many cultures, including show tunes such as “Somewhere” from “West Side Story,” sung by Cristina Jerney, grade 10, Romantic era pieces such as Sebastian Herscher, grade 11, performing Franz Schubert’s “Der Neugierige” and even one song sung entirely in Chinese by sophomore Rebecca Liu.
Guys’ Gig, as always, were a crowd favorite thanks to their upbeat mood and energetic sense of humor. One of their songs, which integrated a storyline about a socially insecure Harker freshman, combined themes from several famous John Williams scores (including “Star Wars,” “Jurassic Park” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”) into a hilarious tribute to “Star Wars” fandom.
Cantilena performed a series of varied and experimental songs, starting off with “O Mama Bakudala,” a traditional tune sung by the women of the South African Xhosa tribe, whose words translate to, “The mothers from way back used to pray.” The continued with classics such as Thomas Morley’s “Sing We and Chant It” and Johannes Brahms’ version of “Ave Maria.” After breaking to make room for solo performances, Cantilena returned to the stage to sing Gwyneth Walker’s “To Sing is to Fly” and the Robert Lowry-penned hymn “How Can I Keep From Singing?” during which they were joined by Daniel Cho, grade 12, who sang “Amazing Grace” with a section of the group.
With the show officially finished, Nace had some special gifts for the departing seniors of Cantilena, who each received a medallion to commemorate her dedication to the group. She also presented Alex Najibi, grade 11, with a new pitch pipe to assist him as he enters the next school year as the new leader of Guys’ Gig.
The students themselves also had a surprise tribute of their own for Nace, gifting her with flowers and assembling on the stage to sing Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.”
Special to Harker News Online from Susan Nace, Cantilena’s director. Listen to recordings of the performance by clicking on the links at the bottom of the article.
Cantilena earned their third unanimous superior (highest honors) at the California Music Educators Association regional choral festival held at Saratoga High School. Judges complimented the ensemble on their warm and inviting tone, excellent vocal resonance, exceptional blend, consistent intonation and rich quality (see the linked recordings of the songs at the end of this article). Adjudicator Catherine Smith, delighted to hear a women’s ensemble at the festival, commented on the strength of Cantilena’s sound with “strong women who sing.” In the sight singing portion, Travis Rogers, another adjudicator, praised Cantilena for their discipline and careful listening to each other. “You should be bursting with pride! What a wonderful representation you made for your school today, beautiful in every way: discipline, posture, alertness, attentiveness, taking responsibility for yourself for your own parts.”
Listen! Sing We and Chant it composed by Thomas Morley and arranged by Katherine Davis, sung by Cantilena
Listen! Ave Maria composed by Johannes Brahms, sung by Cantilena
The lower school’s Bucknall Choir and instrumentalists have had a busy month. The entire group held its annual concert on May 10 and the Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble attended the Heritage Festival at Foothill College just a few days later, with the artists garnering kudos both places.
At the annual Bucknall Instrumental and Choir Concert , performances were by the Lower School Choir and all the instrumental students from Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble, String Ensemble, Prep String Ensemble, Wind Ensemble and seven first-year group classes, and there were a few nice surprises.
Joe Connolly, dean of students K-5, was master of ceremonies while Tomas Thompson of the P.E. staff was the guest conductor for the Harker school song, which was performed by the complete ensemble at the opening of the program. Tiffany Wong, grade 4, on harp, accompanied the orchestra on “O Mio Babbino Caro,” and Kathleen Ferretti took a break from her day job as the lower school’s math department chair grades 2-3 to play Taiko drums on the grand finale of “I Want Candy.”
Two special pieces were performed that were composed by grade 2 students. “Both students studied with me in learning composition, orchestration and arranging,” said Louis Hoffman, director of instrumental studies K-Grade5. “Paul Kratter wrote for orchestra. His piece is ‘Rondo in A Minor.’ Aditya Andrade wrote a piece for the Jazz Ensemble called ‘Fun with Blues,’” said Hoffman. Kratter s conducted the orchestra for his piece and Andrade the Jazz Ensemble for his.
The boys’ compositions grew from a new program Hoffman started called Young Composers Series. “Any student can submit a composition for performance to be played by any of our ensembles (orchestra, jazz ensemble, string ensemble, choir, etc.,” said Hoffman. “The student is taken through all the steps from composing, orchestration and arranging to preparing a score and parts to performance and conducting.”
At the Heritage Festival, the Orchestra took a gold award and the Jazz Ensemble placed a close second with a silver award. “Only two schools received the gold,” said Hoffman. “Not too shabby. Both groups wowed the adjudicators, who gave high praise to the students for their outstanding performance level and composure.”
Both the young composers whose pieces were performed at the school concert were specially honored: Kratter and Andrade each got a standing ovation and were awarded Maestro trophies at the festival. “This is a high honor and the first time ever in the over 30-year history of the festival that two young composers were honored,” said Hoffman. “Please join me in congratulating our young budding musicians in their wonderful and well-deserved accomplishment.”
In April, the entire kindergarten class performed at this year’s kindergarten shows, which took on an undersea theme. Louis Hoffman directed each kindergarten class at every one of the four shows. Students, costumed as various forms of undersea life, sang several popular songs paying tribute to the life aquatic, including “Somewhere Beyond the Sea” by Charles Trenet and Jack Lawrence (and made famous by Bobby Darin and others), The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” and “Wipe Out” by The Surfaris.
Faculty and staff members also appeared in the show, including Lisa Diffenderfer, who narrated the show while dressed as a mermaid, Larissa Weaver as a water buffalo and piano accompanist Paul Woodruff as the submarine helmsman. Each kindergarten homeroom teacher made a guest appearance in the show as the titular character from the Disney Pixar film “Finding Nemo.” Not to be outdone, Hoffman directed the entire show dressed as a deep-sea diver. The show was Hoffman’s last as director, as he will be going on to teach in the after-school music program full-time.
Danny Dunn, technical theater teacher, served as technical director as well as set and lighting designer. She was assisted by her grade 5 technical theater class, who acted as the technical crew. The middle school’s technical theater club came up with the show’s costume concepts. Gail Palmer, lower school dance teacher, choreographed the show’s dance sequences.
The middle school’s spring musical, Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” entranced young and old with simple but evocative sets, colorful and active crowd scenes and superlative performances by leading actors.
There were three showings, plus shows for students during school time, and two casts, so special kudos go to Monica Colletti and Roxann Hagemeyer, the director and musical director, for the stellar performance of both groups!
Dinner was available before each of the evening shows and the Saturday matinee show was a special family event where children dressed as a prince or princess and met cast members in costume.
The story was introduced by players speaking to the audience. Then, the curtain opened to the vivid, active panorama of the village square, where we are introduced to Belle, the beauty, played by Apoorva Rangan and Rasika Raghavan, both grade 8, a quirky young woman and the only one in the village with the perspicacity –and motivation– to tame the Beast/Prince, played by Jeton Gutierrez-Bujari and Glenn Reddy, both grade 8. About 50 middle schoolers were in the cast, with more working as stage hands and in other technical positions.
Highlights included very fast set changes with the curtain open, displaying the clever arrangement that kept the continuity of the play intact. The village backdrop was simple, leaving center stage as the action focus; the interior of the Beast’s castle had simple risers that played into the plot, but again, kept the action center stage.
Characters were fun! The hunter, Gaston, played by Ryan Pachauri, grade 8, was a swaggering braggart, and his side kick Lefou, played by Sid Krishnamurthi and Agata Sorotokin, both grade 8, was by turns insouciant and ingratiating. Other characters brought the drama alive, including Lumiere, played by Ishanya Anthapur and Maya Nandakumar, both grade 8, whose inspired delivery and lively movement captivated the audience.
Costuming was thorough and fun, with Belle in a lovely dress, the prince in velvet and a shaggy mask, and market folk in peasant dress.
Crowd scenes were especially energizing, with opposing rows of players singing and moving back and forth across the stage to create symmetrical movement, while the chaotic raid by the villagers delighted young audience members with its frenzied search for the Beast/Prince.
“I am constantly amazed at the depth of talent that exists within this community amongst students, faculty and staff,” said Cindy Ellis, middle school head. “A special thank you to Monica Colletti and Roxann Hagemeyer, our phenomenal directors, and to Paul Vallerga and Brian Larsen, our magical tech and set managers. I know there are untold hours that go in to such a lavish production!”
In early April, The Harker Conservatory premiered the American leg of its gritty, aggressive production of Stephen Schwartz’ “Pippin” for the upper school’s 2011 spring musical. Directed by Laura Lang-Ree, performing arts department chair K-12, the troupe will travel to Scotland in August to perform the show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the largest international performing arts festival in the world.
A meditation on the struggle to lead a meaning-driven life, “Pippin” smashes together a coming-of-age tale, wherein Pippin must swim though an endless ocean of hopeful-yet-unsatisfying choices, with a mid-life awakening, where, awash in apathy and disappointment, a despairing, confounded Pippin must reconcile his lost promise with a domestic lifestyle he had condemned. Finally, with an end-of-life letting-go, Pippin finds his choices made and his time running thin.
Just as the real-life Pepin, the son of Charlemagne and prospective heir to the Holy Roman Emperor, grew up with a duality and uncertainty regarding his coming adulthood, torn between the potential to inherit a vast religious legacy and the danger that his deformities and disabilities might rob him of a bright future, so too our Pippin is caught when his ambition, immeasurable talents and desire to live out an extraordinary life struggle to find an outlet.
And, just as the historical Pepin would be thrust into a journey that would see him conspire to assassinate his famous father, fail and be pardoned, and live out the rest of his life as a monk, so too our Pippin embarks on a long and epic journey through warfare, romance, politics, family, scholarship and solitude in search of meaning, fulfillment and an opportunity to flourish.
As a young man, praised for his mounting and lofty intentions, Pippin joins his father and brother in a holy war in search of esteem, glory and thrills. However, he finds himself alienated from his military peers and personally unsuited to the horrors of battle. After consulting with elders, Pippin conspires to assassinate his father and slides into a political future casting himself as a problem solver who can float above traditional problems. Alas, unequal rights, taxation and military preparedness are more difficult problems to solve than he had imagined. Pippin’s promise turns to disappointment and he abandons a civic life to continue his personal search for fulfillment.
The text of Pippin was chosen by Lang-Ree for its appeal at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where the production can speak to an international community of adventurous and bold globetrotters searching for their place in the world and “resonate with our young American and European audiences who, like Pippin, are trying to find their way in these times of global economic depression and civic revolution,” she said.
The production showcases the depth of Conservatory members with a compelling and edgy choice that Lang-Ree expects will draw in a sophisticated audience at the festival, an influential meeting place and launching pad for theatrical trends.
Lang-Ree noted the production connects with its audience through humor; indeed, “Pippin” is ultimately a lively, comic affair.
During the campaign, Pippin’s alienation from fellow soldiers is illustrated when he diverges from his crew’s war song in an enthusiastic, lonely, bursting, incongruous solo. In the stylized battle, loose limbs fly from every direction and after the fray, in a moment of poignant reflection, Pippin consults with the severed, though pleasant-mannered, head of one of the battle’s casualties.
Yet hilarity often turns to heartfelt longing. After Pippin gives up on his long quest, he finds himself emotionally shipwrecked and personally abandoned – dirty, lonely, and apathetic – before he is discovered by a kindly young widow – Catherine – a single mother whose son has an endearing pet duck nearing the end of its life. While the prop duck wins the audience’s hearts and smiles, a romance blossoms between Pippin and Catherine.
Comic, but crushing, Pippin leaves Catherine, unwilling to content himself with a domestic life: “Life is more than ducks that die,” he says. Catherine, who was introduced telling of her despair after her husband’s death and of how she picked herself up, is left repeating the refrain: “On the sixth day, I got up. There were things to be done,” adding a tearful lament: “He was the best to come along in a long, long while.”
Pippin’s journey is framed by a theatrical troupe of players who manifest for him the various vignettes he lives out. These sly and darkly irreverent players, directed by Lang-Ree to represent “the darkness in Pippin’s mind and the negativity that can eat away at all of us,” flesh out the environment of voices and dancers who surround the plot.
In the end, as the performance nears its conclusion, Pippin, faced with dying an unsatisfying death after never compromising the purity of his intentions, resolves to continue living, and to search for happiness and meaning in the human relationships he can revive with Catherine and her son. Yet, when the players are deprived of their fantastical and tragic finale – Pippin and Catherine, in a metatheatrical moment, seek to disable the production, shutting down the stage lights and willing the band to cease playing before permanently exiting the stage – the players find a new target to propel on a path of human existential searching: Catherine’s son Theo. Thus, with a bang of light and sound, in our performance’s closing moments, the story begins anew, and the cycle continues, with Theo as the newly appointed protagonist.
Wearing eyeshadow, dark, skinny jeans, and chains about his waist, John Ammatuna, grade 12, dazzles as the wistful, daring, sarcastic Pippin. The ensemble, performing in black leather and neon, dances amidst a hazy smoke pierced by green, purple and burnt orange beams of light, matching jagged, exact, aggressive, athletic choreography with buoyant character acting. The ensemble is led by Daniel Cho, grade 12, as the cunning Leading Player; Noel Witcosky, grade 11, as the shimmering Catherine; Adi Parige, grade 12, as Pippin’s father; Sean Martin, grade 12, as Pippin’s likeably dimwitted brother; Allike Walvekar, grade 12, as his wily grandmother; and Michelle Holt, grade 12, as his conniving stepmother.
The architecture, a whirling mix of gilded and bronzed wheels, cogs and gears, was created by Paul Vallerga of the performing arts department; lights were designed by Natti Pierce-Thomson; choreography was by Katie O’Bryon; costumes by Caela Fujii, and performing arts teacher Catherine Snider led the rock band in music she reworked to better match Lang-Ree’s steam punk vision.
In her program note, Lang-Ree framed the production as a contemplation of the “too-hyped American Dream,” where one man is “told that he can have it all if he just works hard enough.” “When you’re extraordinary, you think of extraordinary things,” Pippin tells us early on, lamenting “here I am, to seize my day – if anybody would tell me when the hell it is.”
As the production reaches its end, with our triumphant and defiant family drenched in an ethereal sidelight, and the leading player taunting Pippin, chanting that his “search for perfection was doomed from the start” – that after a life of wandering, nothing was completely fulfilling – we are left to hope that Pippin has found his extraordinary capstone after all, in the comfort of those around him, and the shared life he now embarks on. “I wanted such a little thing from life,” he said. “I wanted so much.”
Upper school vocal groups Downbeat and Bel Canto teamed up in late April for the annual “Songs Into Summer” concert, one of the last performances of the year from both groups and a fitting send-off for graduating seniors who performed with them during much of their high school lives.
Each group performed songs from their diverse repertoires, with some new songs thrown in to make the event extra special. Bel Canto kicked off the show with their performance of “Everybody Rejoice,” from the musical “The Wiz,” employing light yet infectious choreography and clapping. Downbeat followed with a raucous version of The Spencer Davis Group’s “Gimme Some Lovin’,” with the performers decked out in ’60s garb and dancing through the aisles on their way to the stage.
Rock and pop music were favored for much of the show by Downbeat, who also performed versions of “Dust in the Wind” by ’70s rock group Kansas and the Natasha Bedingfield hit “Unwritten.”
Bel Canto showed their love for the classics, including Mozart’s “Ave Verum” and traditional pieces such as “Shine On Me” and “Shenandoah,” which featured violin accompaniment by Downbeat member Alex Najibi, grade 11. Bel Canto also had wonderful accompaniment on piano from Ramya Rangan, grade 11, who has spent the entire year as the group’s accompanist.
Downbeat’s much-anticipated performance of the Queen classic “Bohemian Rhapsody” didn’t disappoint. After rigorous practice, the group fired on all cylinders, bringing the art rock epic to life with great vocal performances and choreography, which included stomping and headbanging during song’s famous “hard rock” section, drawing cheers from the large audience.
The seniors in Downbeat (there were none in Bel Canto this year) were then recognized for their time and dedication with gifts from their fellow students. Next year’s new Downbeat members – Govi Dasu, grade 11, Rohan Chandra, Cristina Jerney and Indu Seeni, all grade 10, and Suraj Chandrasekhar, Shenel Ekici, Sean Knudsen and Namrata Vakkalagadda, all grade 9 – were also announced and given sweatshirts to christen their new membership, before the group performed Paul Simon’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” to conclude the show.
Bel Canto is directed by Catherine Snider. Downbeat is co-directed by Snider and Laura Lang-Ree.
Among Harker graduates, it’s not unusual to find students who enter college with a pretty clear idea of their future careers. What is a bit more unusual are the ones who plan to pursue a career in the performing arts. This year the Conservatory graduated seven seniors who are committed to such a path.
“Making this decision requires total focus, commitment and a ton of work and passion,” said Laura Lang-Ree, K-12 performing arts department chair. Students cannot just let their high school resumes speak for them; most colleges require live auditions from those applying to elite, professional programs. Conservatory teachers add their two cents to counselor and teacher recommendations and often play an active role in helping the students gather materials, create first-round demo videos, and prepare for live auditions. Arts schools look for raw talent combined with potential for growth, driving ambition, good grades and the ability to collaborate creatively and personally. Harker wishes the best to the following students as they dare to pursue their chosen paths.
After criss-crossing the country for nine live auditions in only a couple of weeks, Michelle Holt has chosen to study vocal performance at The Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
Daniel Cho, recently seen showing his talents as Leading Player in “Pippin,” will attend Swarthmore College, where he will be majoring in performing arts education and possibly minoring in music or dance.
Adi Parige, who created such wonderful videos for this year’s fashion show, will pursue his dream of being a film director at the Rochester School of Film in New York.
Nirjhar Mundkur is combining his two passions, planning to take advantage of a crossover program between Cal Tech and Occidental in engineering and vocal performance.
Daisy Mohrman was one of 30 accepted out of 300 auditionees for a dance program at Chapman University in Orange, Calif.
Several thousand students applied to the B.A. program in theater performance at Wagner College in New York. Of those, 300 were invited to audition, and John Ammatuna was one of only 25 accepted.
Clara Blickenstaff will be double majoring in theater and business at the University of Redlands, where she received a theater scholarship.
Another highly competitive program is the Clive Davis School of Recorded Music at the Tisch School at New York University. Their website explains that the school “provides professional business and artistic training toward a B.F.A. degree for aspiring creative entrepreneurs in the music industry.” Christina Li was required to create a press package showcasing her performance, writing and business skills and was one of 30 to be accepted out of 300 applicants.
Harker’s Conservatory graduates shone on the Blackford stage on April 22 during Harker’s 10th annual Senior Showcase. Featuring 33 performers from every discipline – theater, musical theater, technical theater, vocal music, instrumental music and dance – it was the largest showcase in the Conservatory’s history.
The fast-paced two-and-a-half hour show included everything from high-energy dance numbers to stirring dramatic scenes to inspiring instrumental and vocal pieces. Splendid piano accompaniment was provided by Melissa Lin. Production values were high as usual, with Conservatory candidates Michael Prutton and Araby Martin handling sound and lights, respectively, as their part of the showcase. Lead-off performer John Ammatuna demonstrated the great use of tech by descending from the ceiling on a swing for his infectiously upbeat performance of “Footloose,” from the film of the same name.
Two performers brought their siblings on stage to duet with them: Francesca Nagle’s brother, Nico, grade 10, joined her on guitar while she sang and played banjo on “Wake Up Everybody” by John Whitehead, Gene McFadden and Victor Carstarphen; and Warren Kwong had his sister, Audrey, a Conservatory graduate in 2007, play violin for his virtuoso viola/violin duet. Other performances featured multiple graduates, including Pierre Gerard and Amal Asghar acting a scene from Shakespeare’s “Richard III,” and the final dance performance of Anisha Agarwal and Malika Mehrotra, which featured an impressive ensemble of no fewer than 14 dancers.
The night’s masters of ceremony were Tina Crnko and Cole Manaster, both grade 11, who introduced every performer and kept the crowd warm between performances with humorous banter.
At the end of the show, the featured performers were presented with their plaques from the Conservatory advisors, signifying their graduation from the elite program.
This year’s Harker Conservatory graduates are:
Anisha Agarwal (Dance), John Ammatuna (Musical Theater), Amal Asghar (Theater), Samir Asthana (Theater), Clara Blickenstaff (Musical Theater), Daniel Cho (Musical Theater), Jennifer Dai (Instrumental Music), Carmen Das-Grande (Dance), Lydia Demissachew (Instrumental Music), Mallika Dhaliwal (Vocal Music), Katharine Forsberg (Dance), Pierre Gerard (Theater), Nidhi Gandhi (Instrumental Music), Vrinda Goel (Vocal Music), Michelle Holt (Vocal Music), Warren Kwong (Instrumental Music), Christina Li (Vocal Music), Araby S. H. Martin (Technical Theater), Malika Mehrotra (Dance), Daisy Mohrman (Dance), Shireen Moshkelani (Vocal Music), Nirjhar Mundkur (Musical Theater), Francesca Nagle (Instrumental Music), Aditya Parige (Theater), Michael Prutton (Technical Theater), Ava Rezvani (Instrumental Music), James Seifert (Musical Theater), Naomi So (Dance), Catherine Stiles (Instrumental Music), Allika Walvekar (Musical Theater), Michelle Vu (Dance), Jason Young (Instrumental Music) and Olivia Zhu (Dance).
Their Harker faculty advisors are:
Laura Lang-Ree (Musical Theater), Jeffrey Draper (Theater), Brian Larsen (Technical Theater), Catherine Snider (Vocal Music), Susan Nace (Vocal Music), Chris Florio (Instrumental Music) and Laura Rae (Dance).
This article was originally published in the Harker Quarterly Spring 2011 Edition
The Harker School has a highly developed technical theater program now offering new opportunities to its most devoted theater tech students, and a trio of upper school student technicians is leading the way.
Seniors Araby Martin and Michael Prutton, and Christophe Pellesier, grade 11, took major leadership roles in the design, technical execution and personnel management of this year’s edition of the grade 5 show, “Go West,” becoming the first students to take on such a level of responsibility for the successful coordination of the lower school’s largest production.
Each student took on a highly specialized role. Prutton designed and ran the lights, and Pellesier took on elements of sound design and live-mixed it during performances, adjusting levels and coordinating between input from 32 different sources. Both were complex positions in a show featuring 120 10-year-olds. Martin took on managing the frenetic flow of movements backstage, keeping the young performers focused and knowledgeable about their next moves, ensuring that microphones changed hands properly and that props were utilized to plan. “I love kids,” Martin said. “I loved working with them.”
According to Prutton, Martin has the gift of a booming voice and the will to use it. When she and Prutton have collaborated on projects in the past, Martin often played the part of group leader and cheerleader – the active, vocal organizer next to Prutton’s more measured tactics.
“Araby gets it. Araby knows how to stage manage,” said Danny Dunn, lower school performing arts technical director. Prutton and Martin have each stage managed productions for the Harker Conservatory at the upper school.
The student techs are the end product of a long process. Harker is able to grow its own technical staff because it has the professionals in place to train them. Having a technical director is rare, said Dunn, and Harker has three, all consumed with technical theater. Brian Larsen at the upper school and Paul Vallerga at the middle school, along with Dunn, teach classes, work after school and mentor students all while helping students at all three campuses with more than 75 performances a year. The eagerness with which all three await the new theater building and the opportunity to teach their students in a space equal to the students’ abilities is clear.
Students as young as grade 5 volunteer after school to “operate complex lighting and sound systems, build scenery and create the magic,” according to Dunn. “The absolute enthusiasm of the tech students who can’t wait to give up their weekends to work extremely hard is amazing!” said Dunn. “They do it because they love it.”
By grade 6, and continuing through grade 8, classes build on earlier encounters and take a step up in challenge and complexity. During a span of several months, students are asked to design every aspect of a scene from a play. Everything from how the work is illuminated to each article of clothing must be considered.
There are more classes and opportunities for upper school students and plenty of opportunity for practical application as assistants, stage managers or assistant directors on projects across campuses, including the grade 5 show. Allowing tech students to handle critical jobs in lower school productions meant students could “cut their teeth” in a less demanding venue than the upper school performances.
With the technical infrastructure already set up via the technical theater program on the lower school campus, the adjustment was a match and the students really began to stretch their wings.
“Michael originally was simply going to be the lighting operator,” says Dunn. “But because he was so experienced and very eager to take that next step, I offered the bigger job to him and he jumped on it.” Making the challenge more exciting, and more complicated, Harker had just added a new lighting board to its equipment, from which a live technician can remotely adjust and pre-program equipment.
“He really got to sink his teeth into it,” said Dunn. “Sometimes, moving lights don’t know what you want them to do. He was able to beat them into submission quite nicely. I think he might know how to use that board even better than I do. The lights in the show sure looked great.”
Pellessier, meanwhile, was tasked with juggling a plethora of audio equipment, managing and adjusting levels of sound remotely, and balancing how much sound was projected to various areas of the theater. All of the sound was manually operated live, so whenever an actor with a microphone left the stage, Pellissier had to turn it off.
“We had sixteen wireless mics, and several of those swapped between two, three, four different people. We had at least 24 people who had wireless mics in the show. Plus, we had seven hanging mics. And every on-and-off, of every level, of all of those mics, Christophe had to control, and at the right time, and at the right place, bring them down,” said Dunn admiringly.
“The goal was that I was going to be there, right over them, to help or fix,” said Dunn. “We met that goal. By the time the show went on, I was just there for the moral support. That was the absolute ideal goal.”