April 26, 27, & 28 2012
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Volume XV Issue 3 The Horace Mann Theatre Company's Tri-Annual Publication Spring 2012 April 26, 27, & 28 2012 Cover Art by Jean Mariano (‘12) 2 Off icers Notes FROM: Thespian Editors Gamblers, showgirls, drunks, preaching “mission dolls,” and Mindy’s cheesecake (or was it stru- del?). What a way to end the year. All the way back in May 2011, we were so excited to hear that the HMTC would perform Frank Loesser’s Guys and Dolls. The show has fun dancing, a hilarious book, memorable lyrics, and exceptional music. The slapstick comedy and larger-than-life characters translate well into high school theatre, allowing students to step out of their comfort zones whether they’re singing, dancing, acting, or design- ing. It’s a classic. But there’s something more about Guys and Dolls. Maybe it’s the famous Brooklyn accents. Maybe it’s the homage to a fairytale New York that existed somewhere between 1950 and our imaginations. Or maybe it’s the way sitting in the audience or even listening to the CD can immediately put a huge grin on our faces. Like Clark Field in spring or cotton candy, Guys and Dolls is just plain good. We’re hoping this issue of The Thespian, which of course focuses on Guys and Dolls, captures the musical’s essence of simple delight against a backdrop of American history. Explore the many iterations of Guys and Dolls – from 1950 to today! Check out our spotlight on our new musical director Bill Stanley! And fill out our hilarious crossword puzzle mixingG+D and HMTC trivia! As we wrap up our APs, SATs, and even our high school careers, we can’t think of a better way to launch into summer break than ripping open your Thes- pian and watching us shimmy and sneeze our way through Gross Theatre. As Nathan Detroit would say, so nu? Happy Reading, Katie Birenboim and Matt Taub FROM: HMTC Presidents FROM: HMDC Presidents Dear HMTC family, Hey Thespians, As Guys and Dolls gets closer, I can only think We’re so proud of the success of our Student Cho- about what a wonderful year it’s been. The company reographed Dance Concert. Thank you to everyone has had amazing success with all of its shows, selling who came and supported us. But now, after two tri- out almost every show in the Black Box and Dance mesters of waiting we finally get to experience the Studio. As both of us perform in Guys and Dolls, it biggest and best show seen in Gross Theatre yet, Guys will be both a farewell to amazing, talented people as and Dolls! Whether shimmying in Havana or strut- well as the rise of an even stronger Theatre family. We ting our stuff in the Hot-Box we’ve been dancing all know that though we say goodbye to Antonio, in the trimester long in preparation. We’re super excited to years to come, both he and the Theatre company will be a part of this show and hope to see you in the audi- move on to be even stronger and more successful than ence. You can catch us on stage April 26th, 27th and it is today. 28th. See you on stage, Happy Tappin! Antonio Irrizary & Rachel Buissereth ShaKea Alston & Chiara Heintz Our 2011-2012 Season 3 La Vida Es Sueño Student Written One Acts November 11th 12th 13th 2011 February 9th 10th 11th 2012 MD Musical: Once Upon A Mattress Guys & Dolls December 8th 10th 11th 2011 April 26th 27th 28th 2012 Student Choreographed Dance Show January 26th 27th 28th 2011 LIKE US ON FACEBOOK HTTP://GOO.GL/AUXNP Theatre & Dance Faculty & Staff Denise DiRenzo Woody Howard Alison Kolinski Emma Laurence Roll Call: Jonathan Nye The Students Behind This Season’s Productions Joel Sherry Joseph Timkó THE CAST Theatre Presidents Nicely-Nicely Johnson – Andrew Levin Toby Teitel Antonio Irizarry Benny Southstreet – Asher Baumrin Hannah Jun Rachel Buissereth Rusty Charlie – Danny Brereton Megan Goldberg Sarah Brown – Rachel Simerka-Smith Libby Smilovici Dance Presidents Arvide Abernathy – Noah Margulis Emma Maltby ShaKea Alston Lt. Brannigan – Wallace Cotton Sophie Mann Chiara Heintz Nathan Detroit – Dan Froot Rebecca Shaw Miss Adelaide – Katie Birenboim Caroline Kuritzkes Student Technical Directors Sky Masterson – Antonio Irizarry Marit Shuman Jessica Azerad General Cartwright – Rachel Buissereth Emma Freisner Kenneth Zhang Big Jule – Sam Torres Kasia Kalinowska Giulia Alvarez Publicity Ensemble: Ali Futter Megan Goldberg Alex Smith Samantha Albstein Noah Margulis Ethan Cain ShaKea Alston Isaac Grafstein Kiki Heintz Technology Coordinator Jacob Bass Gurbani Suri Rachel Simerka-Smith Ken Zhang Alexis-Brianna Felix Lizzy Weingold Anastasia Moroz Thespian Editor-in-Chief Matt Taub Charlotte Sands Seth Arar Valerie Bodurtha Katie Birenboim Will Shore Phoebe Gennardo Thespian Junior Editor Jessica Heller Hannah Ades Matthew Taub Karina Rodriguez Thespian Production Director Aramael Peña-Alcántra 4 The “Oldest Established”... Background on Guys And Dolls Guys and Dolls: the celebrated, energetic, and quintessential musical comedy. Against a backdrop of New York City gamblers, playful showgirls, and reverent missionaries, the leads Nathan Detroit, Sky Masterson, Sar- ah Brown, and Miss Adelaide fall in, out, and back in love again. The original concept for the characters and the plot came from two of Damon Runyon’s short stories—“The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown,” and “Blood Pressure.” Frank Loesser’s musicalized version premiered on Broadway in 1950, directed by George Kaufman and ran for a total of 1,200 performances. It was nominated for and won five 1951 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. A 1955 movie version came out, which included three new musical numbers such as “(Your Eyes Are the Eyes of) A Woman in Love”. With these additions though, five original musical numbers were removed, such as “A Bushel and a Peck” and “My Time of Day.” In 1976, an all-African-American cast performed 239 performances of the show, earning Ken Page , who played the character of Nicely Nicely Johnson, a Theatre World award. In 1982, at London’s National Theatre, a popular Guys and Dolls revival was produced, running for almost four years and garnering four Olivier Awards, including Outstanding Musical. In 1992, the most revered of the Guys and Dolls revivals was performed with 1,143 showings and new orchestrations for some of the classic songs. This version raked in eight Tony Award nominations and won four of them, including Best Revival of a Musical. The cast album also won a Grammy. Through many periods of America’s quickly-changing popular culture, the allure of Guys and Dolls continues to capture audiences around the world. -Sinai Cruz The Man Behind the Music: The Thespian Explores the Life & Times of FrankFRANK Loesser was perhaps the greatestLOESSER composer of American musicals. Growing up in New York City, Loesser never had formal musical train- ing, but instead taught himself how to read and write music, as well as how to play the piano. He started off his career singing in nightclubs, and then quickly progressed to writing lyrics for The Illustrator’s Show. While the show was not successful on Broadway, shortly afterwards Par- amount and Universal decided to employ him as a lyricist and composer. After World War II, Loesser moved back to New York after having written his second Broadway show, “Where’s Charley”, which opened in 1948. In 1950, he wrote the music and lyrics for Guys and Dolls, which has become without a doubt “the” American musical. Loesser went on to compose both the score and the book for The Most Happy Fella, which ran for two years. After a brief interlude of less successful shows, Loesser wrote the smash hit How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. In addition to his five hit musicals, Loesser also wrote music for over sixty films, as well as singles. Frank Loesser ended his amazing career having received one Pulitzer Prize, two Tony Awards for best musical, and one Academy Award, along with six other nominations. -Phoebe Gennardo HORACE MANN’S CHAIR OF THEATER, DANCE + FILM STUDIES DIRECTOR OF GUYS & DOLLS SPEAKS ABOUT GUYS & DOLLS AND HIS TIME AT HORACE MANN INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY ISAAC GRAFSTEIN The Thespian: You’re the official head of the theater department at HM. What’s your main role regarding our school’s theater productions? Woody Howard: I help organize discussions each year about what the next season will be. I try to input my own feelings but I also try to hold the overview of what the season will look like. We do on occasion try to think about where we are in a four year cycle because part of our theory of operation is that if there are kids who would never take a theater course or never be in a production at least if they just came to see the shows, they should have some kind of education through that. We try to have a variety of types of plays over a four-year period. I’m also kind of the producer around most of the productions. I try to troubleshoot, find sources, that sort of thing. I sort of dance around someone else’s production, facilitating things and pushing along the process. Thespian: What was your first job in the theater department at HM? WH: Essentially I came on board to help with the technical stuff. I actually led the technical crew when I first came here twenty-one years ago. I came to do what Joel does, which is ridiculous because I could never do what Joel does but we were at a very different level then. I also taught acting in the middle and upper divisions and only since I’ve been here have I developed my ability to direct and teach appreciation courses.