Theater Returns to Burr and Burton

5/25/2021

Jill Perry Balzano and Georgia Lord '18

Theater is BACK

Last week, it felt a little like a midsummer night’s dream for theater students on the Burr and Burton campus: Amidst three warm and summery May evenings, the dream to be back on stage, among peers, with a live audience, finally came true.

When BBA Theater director Jim Raposa and his students first got together to begin rehearsing for last week’s Spring Theater Festival, it had been a year and one week since BBA had closed and pivoted to remote learning because of the COVID pandemic. In February, the Performing Arts department had virtually run the New Works Project, but as Raposa noted, “These [pieces] were created in solitude; theater is by nature a collaborative and communal act of storytelling. Casts support and energize each other, and that is what the students missed. The camaraderie was lost, and they were hungry for it to come back.”

Raposa credits the perseverance and ingenuity of his theater students who took responsibility for not only rehearsing Romeo and Juliet and Fourteen Lines, but also writing and directing their own original works: “Aidan Kennedy ‘21, Erin Norton ‘21, Lily Hutcheson ‘24, and Zoe Meyer ‘22 have been incredible in their work with their peers. They are smart, empathic, and effective directors. Costume designer Teri Salmon ‘22 and her crew Julia Ann Gregory ‘21 and Kendall Dorsey ‘21 costumed over 20 actors, some who are in all of the shows presented . . . and Production Stage Managers Claire Paxton ‘22 and Ava Maiella ‘21 have done incredible work with rehearsals, lighting, and sound.”

In true BBA fashion, the performances were made possible by a team of collaborating teachers. Raposa said that Creative Arts teacher Paul Molinelli was instrumental in creating the outdoor stage, and that Director of Dance Claudia Shell-Raposa choreographed Romeo and Juliet and assisted in the other productions. Raposa said that the entire team was thankful to have had the full support of Headmaster Mark Tashjian and Assistant Head of School Meg Kenny in bringing theater back to BBA.

In Their Own Words

Raposa asked some theater students to share their insights around the key challenges of not performing on stage due to the pandemic, how they made it through, and what they’re most looking forward to. Here's what they had to say:

How did you navigate the pandemic when you could not perform?

Gabi Craig: It was really hard. I felt closed off. We were disappointed that we couldn’t showcase our work, so we decided to create a film to show all of the work we did in the fall. It was a way for us to be together again.

Erin Norton: It was definitely strange not to rehearse every day since that has always been my regular schedule. I just continued pursuing other passions, such as writing, which I plan to pursue in college. But I missed theater more than anything.

Alea Myers: Singing in the shower.

Mary Mendez: Before rehearsal started, it was a lot of go, go, go; I couldn’t catch a break. I didn’t realize it then, but it was stressful and tiring.

Matthew Sabol: When I was unable to perform, I tried to find more artistic endeavors to busy myself with. Besides writing stories, nothing gave me the same feeling of excitement, so going for so long without performing was pretty difficult.

What are some of the ways that you adapted and succeeded during this historic time at school and socially?

Gabi: I really succeeded when I was given time to do my work in class and they taught the work instead of just giving it.

Erin: I adapted during this time by simply making more friends and spreading kindness because I feel as though that is something that a lot of people needed during this time.

Alea: I’ve learned to take every opportunity to spend time with other people and get work done. Before the pandemic, I didn’t really put myself out there. But now, the sheer boredom of quarantine has made me desperate to get out and try new things. It’s an excellent motivator.

Mary: I learned that my best is enough and to give myself a break now and then. I’m not great at practicing this, but I try to.

Matthew: I think that staying in contact with all of my loved ones and just staying as close to them emotionally as I could, if not physically, was what really helped me through these difficult times. Despite all that happened over the past year, I was able to maintain some sense of normalcy.

Why is it important for you to perform?

Gabi: I love participating in the plays no matter what they are. It is always really fun to be a part of a close community that adds new people every semester. We are like one big family.

Erin: It certainly has a special place in my heart. Performing has been my favorite activity since I was young, and it's something I've done all throughout high school.

Alea: After months of lying around in front of a Zoom class, it’s refreshing to have something that brings a rush of adrenaline. Especially because it’s a shared experience with the other performers. When we all have a common goal (in this case to give a good performance) it really brings us together.

Mary: Theater has become an escape for me; it’s where my brain stops everything and focuses on the task at hand. It's really freeing.

Matthew: Performing for me is something I have always loved to do because it gives me a place to express myself completely without judgement. It allows me to become not only my best self, but also so many different characters with various lives and backstories that I get to develop and share with so many people. You get to be someone new in every show, but you are always truly yourself when the curtains close.

How did you feel when the show was cancelled in the fall?

Gabi: I was devastated. We had worked so hard only for it to come crashing down, and we didn’t know if we would be able to perform at all in the spring. It was my final show, and I thought it was over.

Erin: I was devastated when the show was canceled because it was all so sudden. I especially felt this way because it would have been upsetting not to finish my high school career with at least one show!

Alea: To be honest, I was so used to things being canceled at that point that it didn’t phase me. I was disappointed, of course, but I never really processed any of it. I’m very glad that we could ultimately put up a show, even though it was postponed by six months. We put so much work into it in the fall, and it would have been a shame for it to have gone to waste.

Mary: I didn’t exactly feel anything. I was disappointed, but not surprised. This year was all a blur and I didn’t have much time to process everything.

Matthew: I was devastated when the show was canceled in the fall. We had finally begun to really get into our character work and make it fun--new and not the same old story everyone knows. Having it get delayed to the spring set us back a long way, especially because so many people were unable to come back for the spring semester. I also knew that having the play canceled in the fall would mean we would produce it in the spring instead of the musical, which is something I was looking forward to. However, I am very happy that we were able to do something for an audience and for ourselves. I am so grateful for the work that we did in the fall, which helped us get to our final production today.

How do you feel about being back on stage performing live?

Gabi: It feels so special and amazing to be able to perform one last show at BBA.

Erin: I am so excited to perform live again! There's just something about performing live that is so incredibly special to me, and I'm just so grateful that my senior performance can be done in person!

Alea: It’s a really strange feeling for things to be going back to this semblance of normalcy, but of course everyone is delighted to perform again. The entire rehearsal process has been such a great way to connect with people and have a project to work on together.

Mary: It’s very exciting and nerve wracking, but mostly exciting! A lot of things that I wanted to do this year have been and still are canceled so it definitely isn’t the senior year I wanted it to be. We’ve made the best out of what we have and I don’t have any regrets.

Matthew: Being back on stage has been a really fun and liberating experience for me. Being able to share the work that we have all done to the first live audience in over 15 months is a really momentous occasion, and I couldn’t be happier with the work we have done. ✸

Back