In Front of a Live Studio Audience

Over the course of the last year and a half, our fine arts department has gotten the short end of the stick. They were among the first to feel disappointment as the pandemic began to take hold of our country. I will always recall the moment I spoke with Mrs. Davis as the music department was beginning their spring music trip. The skyline of New York City was just coming into view when I called her on the tour bus; they were shutting down Broadway and they needed to start making preparations to turn the bus around. It didn't get much better from there. You see, our students were in final preparations for the spring musical. It was among the first of our spring activities to become, at first postponed before finally capitulating to the inevitable. During the entirety of the 2020-2021 school year, our music and theatre department was relegated to remote, prerecorded performances. Theatrical productions were live-streamed. It wasn't until the very end of the school year we finally were able to have a music concert with a limited audience. 

This year we have largely returned to normal. At this point, we have had our first concert of the year, the marching band has impressed us during halftime shows at a stadium of full capacity, and our students will be able to participate in the full 'All State' experience in just another week. For me though, everything came full circle with the production of the fall play, 'Murder's in the Heir'. 

With the production of this play, it seems to me that we are truly back to normal. I attended on Friday evening and it was wonderful to see a nice crowd in attendance enjoying this outstanding performance! And there is no doubt our young thespians took advantage of performing in front of a live 'studio' audience. Yet, in my view the biggest winners over the weekend were not the audience members by a long shot. The biggest accolades need to go to the young people on the stage and the director of the show, Mr. Stover. 

The play was fantastic! I would love to go through the list and tick off the outstanding contributions of each of the cast members, but this would likely become much too long to have the impact that it rightly deserves. The blocking was well thought out and provided superb balance and clear lines of sight. I thought the students' diction was clean and found it very easy to understand the action on the stage. At the same time, it was evident a great deal of thought went into character development. Were they believable? Absolutely! The timing, flow, and pace of the show was excellent and the comedic punchlines were delivered brilliantly. 

It is crucial in our school that we offer a diverse and comprehensive activity program that spans an array of interests. From athletics to fine arts, all are an important part of the overall program that we come to think of as the American high school experience. I am grateful that we have so many talented students who not only provided us with this fine performance, but also found time this fall to compete in our athletic program. It is only fitting then, they are rewarded for their efforts with the opportunity to perform in front of a live audience. I am so happy they were able to do so, and we were all treated to the experience.

To the cast and crew of 'Murder's in the Heir', thank you for such a wonderful evening of entertainment. Thank you for helping us in our journey to normalcy. I am very proud of you all!