June 17, 2019 Volume 11, Issue 3 Respect Seventh Graders Learn “Independence” There’s No Stoppin’ Poppins: On Annual Philly Trip Making Magic Behind The Scenes By Frankie Scazafave and Grace Condura By Amanda Rogowsky and Violette Tabio Every year the 7th grade takes a In February of 2019, sixth, seventh and eighth graders auditioned for the middle school field trip to Philadelphia, and this musical, a production of “Mary Poppins”. Auditions were easy; you sign up for a time slot, go into the year, we went on the trip! This trip chorus room with a group and sing a portion of a musical theater song. The next day, the call back list is to learn about the history of our goes up. Callbacks are where you sing your song again and then do acting and singing exercises so that the directors can see more of you and make logical decisions for casting. Then, the cast list goes up at country and our first leaders. the end of the week, which is a much anticipated day. As an excited eightheighth----gradegrade theater kid, I ran to Philadelphia is the birthplace of our see the list. I was cast as one of the Mrs. Corry’s, one half of “identical twins” (the gag is that we actual- nation’s independence and the U.S. ly do NOT look alike). Rehearsals started with simple music work, acting work, and blocking. Constitution. The 7th graders took a Fast forward to when things got serious, April 3rd. On April 3rd, leads worked out previously blocked three-hour bus ride to Philadelphia, scenes. The definition of Pennsylvania and back later in the “blocking” in theater is the move- ments and precise staging of actors. day. When we arrived we watched a We also worked on “Jolly Holi- 10-minute show about the history of day”, “Precision and Order” and a our country, which was filled with few other songs, and we worked out some choreography. The leads “They the People” of seventh grade enjoy the day at the birthplace of our independ- awesome lighting effects and cool in scene two went through that ence and the Constitution. Photo Contributed by Staff photos! After, we got to roam scene, which is the scene where around and look at some historical Mary meets the kids. We also did scene seven, which is my scene in objects and pictures. As the grade all grouped up, we headed to the bottom floor to eat lunch. After Mrs. Corry’s talking shop where we the grade re-separated into our original groups and went on a tour of the main attractions in Phila- sing delphia, which was led by people dressed in colonial outfits. Here's a few things people had to say “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”. On April 9th, the leads and people about the trip: playing honeybees did the choreog- raphy for “Spoonful of Sugar!” For “It was a great learning experience!” Abigail Zambrano the rest of that week, we learned A small sampling of the many VMS students who made “I loved seeing the Liberty Bell!” Victoria Bencivengo our choreography, did more scene Mary Poppins a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious hit! work and also worked on the “The tour guides were very nice and involved.” Mia Carbone singing portion of our show! “The bus ride was my favorite part.” Sara Norris Now, the day things started to get extremely, extremely serious was April 29th. By that day we had worked out the choreography for each song, and had learned every scene. We also performed all of As the quotes above show, the Philadelphia trip proved to be not only educational, but act one!! There were a few slipslip----ups,ups, but we were pretty good for the first time using mimicscs and running a also a great time to be with friends, and learn about part of our nation’s history. lot of the show. The next day we used mics again and ran all of act 2! On May 1st we fixed up some “choreo” in our spare time and ran the whole show with mics! It went well, and we were all very proud. On May 2nd we ran scenes that needed work, cleaned up the show and choreo and figured out how bows would work. VMS Jazz Band “Swings” To Success May 6th was incredibly fun and important! This is whenwhen we ran the whole show for the first time using costumes. We had to put on mics and then do all the costumes and costume changes! Then, we finally got to do one of the most exciting things, perform for Kensico!! This went super well By Brady Teter and we were so proud of everyone. Nothing wrong except a few small notes on expression and tone. A little loud backstage, but not bad for our first performance in front of a crowd. And then, Friday night On April 5, both the Valhalla Middle School and came! May 10th, opening night!! It went super well. Pretty much no mistakes were made, super proud. High School Jazz Bands traveled to Sleepy Hollow High We had a huge crowd which definitely motivated us to do better because we fed off the energy. School to participate in the Sleepy Hollow Jazz Festival. The Then the whole cast went to get ice cream at the Creamery! We all get along so well and it was a fun night. Then, next day, it was closing night! This was a fun performance as well and everyone was so Middle School Jazz Band performed the swing “ Work Song,” pumped up, but also sad that this was all over. Luckily, everyone had a blast at the cast party! Eighth graders and seniors who helped out had to take their final bows, which by the way, was super sad. The the ballad “Living in a Dream,” and the rock song “Rock ‘Em cast party was so fun for me but it was my last middle school cast party and I was emotional. Closing Sock ‘Em.” After getting very helpful tips from the judges, the night had literally no mistakes that we could see!! Everyone was pretty jumpy backstage (excitement for our party) but we stayed pretty quiet. Many seventh graders didn’t attend the party because they had a next day they were given great news: they had won the “Best another commitment (we missed them!) but with it being closing night and my last MS musical (and Swing Section” award. Dr. Rimm Hewwit, the Middle School Ava and Amanda’s last Valhalla show) it was emotional. The night was high energy though!! It was much fun dancing with everyone and being with everyone! Band director said, “I was pleasantly surprised and over- The play itself was performed the nights of May 10th aandnd May 11. The play was about two hours long and moved swiftly. All the performers had to sing and talk in British accents, so if there joyed that this amazing group of kids won an amazing award were any mess ups in their vocals it was most likely due to that. Mary Poppins was played by Ava for such a fantastic festival.” Also, the Valhalla High School Alvarez who did an amazing job channeling Julie Andrews’ Mary Poppins. Bert was played Amanda DiFalco who had a very convincing British accent, and even with the accent, did an amazing portrayal Jazz Band was invited to come back to perform and won Best of Bert. The ensemble along with the leads did a great job keeping up the choreography with extreme- Trumpet Section and Best Trombone Section. Congratula- ly slight mess ups. Volume (which has been a problem in previous shows) was better than before, where almost all cast members spoke loudly and clearly. All in all the show was very good and most tions to both bands! definitely worth the 10 dollar admission! P A G E 2 V ALHALLA MIDDLE SCHOOL CHRONICLE Volume 11, Issue 3 Need Middle School Advice? For Ms. Martino And Students Of The Helping “Just Bug Brady”! Hands Club, Doing Well Means Doing Good By Frankie Scazafave By Brady Teter Mrs. Martino comes from a family of volunteers and started volunteer- ing at a very young age. Mrs. Martino says, “It is a passion of mine and I feel like Dear Brady, I’m missing something if I’m not volunteering.” Mrs. Martino’s friend, Tara, started the walk 10 years ago in memory of her mom who passed away from pan- I am trying to prepare for finals, but I am just so stressed! creatic cancer. She met Tara when they were volunteering together at another or- ganization. They became friends and Tara asked her if she would be the volunteer Can you help me? coordinator for the walk. Mrs. Martino said yes because she loves helping people anyway she can, and she From, TestTaker has been doing it for the past 6 years. Mrs. Martino Aren’t we all, TestTaker? Finals are a difficult, is very dedicated to this stressful thing, yes, but once you get it done, that’s it! Sum- event because Tara has become one of her best mer is here! To prepare for finals, do whatever fits you. If friends. She would do you think Quizlet is your best shot, use Quizlet! Making flash- anything for her. Mrs. cards or studying with friends is perfect way to get ready. Martino also thinks pancre- Use the study guide teachers give you in order to know what atic cancer research is ex- to prepare for. But, remember to take breaks.