The Great Pie Robbery...Or, We Really Knead the Dough
A few weeks ago Trumbull High students had the opportunity to perform The Great Pie Robbery...Or We Really Knead the Dough at elementary schools around the town. Students were able to share their love of theatre with hundreds of children in Trumbull. The show had lots of humor and food puns that made the children smile and giggle. The icing on top of the cake for this amazing play was that the entire show was student directed and produced by Andrea Alicea and Sydney Sirkin. They flawlessly put together an amazing show that was enjoyable for all ages. If anyone has the opportunity to see this fantastic play I strongly recommend it.
The cast of The Great Pie Robbery performing at Frenchtown Elementary School
If you're looking for a high energy and exciting show, your best bet would be to see Kinky Boots! This thrilling show has everything and more to make it the perfect experience to go and see. Between its outstanding lighting, choreography, acting, and music, you will never get bored. There’s constantly something new to see. There’s never a dull moment in this play!
The plot of the story centers around a young man named Charlie Price, whose father unfortunately passed away and left him in charge of his father’s failing shoe company. He refuses to shut the company's doors and has to come up with an idea fast. After one fateful night in a dark alley, Charlie comes across Lola, a drag queen at the local night club.
Lola's spectacular high heels break and he comes to realization that the heel cannot support the weight of a full-grown man, so he decides to change these shoes for the better.
He turns his factory around; taking a production facility for old-school loafers and transforming it into a high-end boot factory for drag queens. The underlying theme constantly shown throughout the show is to express yourself and be true to who you are, regardless of what anyone else thinks.
Six points that are constantly repeated throughout the show are…
Pursue the truth
Learn new things
Accept yourself and accept others
Let love shine
Let pride be your guide.
You can change the world when you change your mind
This show is great for most audiences, from teens to adults! There’s some crude humor that may not be suitable for a younger audience, but regardless, it’s truly an awe-inspiring and amazing show!
(A teaser for this play can be found below. Email viewers, just click the provided link.)
The Apollo Theater in the Harlem District of Manhatten, New York.
I recently performed at the Apollo Theater with my A cappella group, The Fairfield Prep Encords, during the Apollo’s Jazz Festival. The New York City Jazz festival is produced by Manhattan Concert Productions, and allows A cappella groups and instrumental groups from all over the country perform at this hallowed hall of music. The festival consisted of two days worth of activities, starting with a clinic and ending with a performance at the Apollo. Early Saturday morning, the Encords, and the Jazzuits (the instrumental group) left Fairfield with the music director Christine Evans. The A cappella group consists of 8 boys and 8 girls, and the group practices for 90 minutes every week. The all-male instrumental group practices for 90 minutes as well. The train ride on day 1 consisted of a group sing-along of the set list we had prepared (much to the delight of the other passengers in the car). Once in New York, we rushed to the Marriott in Times Square to participate in a clinic before the big show. The instrumental group was up first, their clinic being led by Pete McGuinness. The man was clearly an incredible musician, as he was able to pick up any instrument, and play it brilliantly despite it not being an instrument he frequently played. Following the instrumental clinic, the a cappella clinic was led by Greg Jasperse, a professor at Western Michigan University. We performed two songs from our set, “Words” and “Use Somebody.” After singing “Use Somebody”, Jasperse informed us that he helped produce the song and worked closely with the lead singer of Kings of Leon. Needless to say, we were all quite taken aback and impressed with the caliber of our critic’s credits. Following the clinic, the group traveled to the bright lights of Broadway to see Something Rotten! The show is absolutely hysterical and Brian Darcy James truly shines in his role. Without a doubt, the best song in the show is called “A Musical.” With a broad knowledge of theater the allusions made in this song are both genius, and hilarious. The witty, comical nature of this show makes it a must see! The following day, the groups traveled to Harlem, to perform at the Apollo Theater. Encords was chosen to be the group used for sound check, so we were the first people on the stage. We got the opportunity to touch “the stump” (a famous tree that was touched by performers like Ella Fitzgerald before they went on stage). We were also the first group that performed. Our set list included “Kalamazoo” “Use Somebody” “Words” “Sir Duke” and “Pompeii”. To be on the same stage where Ella Fitzgerald and Stevie Wonder have performed was an unbelievable and unforgettable experience. Following our performance, we got to watch other high school a cappella groups from all across the country including Florida and California. Later that evening, a professional a cappella group known as The Real Group performed at the Apollo. Encords actually sang one of their songs, “Words” during our performance. The group is absolutely incredible, and one of the most famous a cappella groups in the world. This opportunity was an invaluable experience, and I highly recommend other a cappella groups to try to get involved in next year’s Jazz Festival!
Encords is a Mixed (Men and Women) Jazz/ A Capella Choir. It is audition only; auditions are held in the spring. They sing contemporary/modern to classical jazz music and they perform with the band and choir as well as perform at other gigs.
-Sarah Kulaga, 16
Junior at Lauralton Hall
Member of the Marketing Committee in the NPT Youth Board
I recently saw an incredible Off-Broadway musical called Dear Evan Hansen. I bought tickets mainly because I LOVE the songwriters, Pasek and Paul, but in the end was blown away by every aspect of it. With bold portrayal of the common personality traits of teenagers, along with an accurate representation of social media in comparison to today’s society, it was a truly amazing experience. And although the dead guy singing isn’t Gabe Goodman or Moritz Stiefel, this musical is easily as much of a tear-jerker as Next to Normal or Spring Awakening.
The show focuses on Evan, a high schooler who struggles with social anxiety. He writes a letter to himself as an assignment to help his anxiety, but Connor, a misunderstood boy at school, takes the letter. Connor is found to have committed suicide three days later with the note in his pocket and the letter is mistaken as Connor's suicide note addressed to Evan. Evan goes along with the assumption that Connor wrote the note and that they were friends and, realizing that pretending to be Connor’s friend makes him mean something, he abandons his originally innocent intentions and reluctantly builds onto the lie. In the end, however, he is right back where he started, with no friends, but tragedy allows him to begin to believe in his own worth.
One of the things that makes the story so effective is that everyone knows how it feels to want to fit in somewhere. The complexity of Evan’s impulsive and irrational choices seems crazy at first, but his movements, actions, reactions, and words create an extremely humane character that is impossible not to compare to someone you know, or even yourself. The outcome is an effective and accurate representation of an overthinking teenager who struggles with people, fearlessly displaying qualities teens may not want to admit they have.
Part of the reason why Dear Evan Hansen can make the audience laugh at some points and be close to tears at others is the music. The incredible Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (who also wrote A Christmas Story, Dogfight, and more) have once again proven to be absolute geniuses and the gods of contemporary musical theatre. Each song continues a conversation or monologue so that they are all important to the plot, and does not just allude to the plot, but explodes the moment — along with your mind. The score captures the many emotions of this show, between love, betrayal, and self-reflection, and seems to say things so much better in song than it ever could in words. As a HUGE fan of Pasek and Paul, I might be a little biased in saying that the show wouldn't be as great as it is if they hadn’t written the music. Some of my favorites were "Waving Through a Window" and “Requiem,” and the music had me crying by intermission.
Another factor of it's success is the fantastic cast. Each character in the show goes through their own emotional journey, and every actor bared their soul onstage. In particular, Ben Platt perfectly portrayed the awkwardness of Evan, yet his display of emotion was realistic and tear-jerking...not to mention his HEAVENLY voice. As a big believer in being natural and connecting with a role, I was very pleased with his unique-but-effective acting. In addition, Mike Faist portrayed Connor Murphy incredibly well, convincingly becoming the troubled teen yet showing his comedic side in “Sincerely, Me.” Will Roland, who played Evan’s “family friend,” Jared Kleinman, was the comic relief of the show and had the audience laughing harder than ever on several occasions. As the only person I had not heard of before seeing the show, I was surprised at just how much he blew me away.
(A teaser for this play can be found below. Email viewers, just click the provided link.)
The movie entitled The Big Short has recently been made one of the "Best Picture nominees" is a truly educational, inspirational, and immersive story. The acting is phenomenal, and throughout the entire movie, you feel like you are right there with the characters. This is also because of the way that the camera angles are established, and how they pan and tilt with the slightest bit of shake through the movie, making it less of a typical "lights, camera, action" type of movie. In addition to its nomination for "Best Picture Award", The Big Short won an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, an 81% rating on Metacritic, and a 7.8/10 on IMDb.
The Big Short focuses on the housing market (And overall economy) crash in the year 2008, and how a select few individuals were able to predict its occurrence years in advance. It guides the viewer along the multiple story lines of these people, and how they were able to "Short" the housing market. This was a bold and criticized move by them at the time, because the housing market was considered to be stable through a system of corruption, malfeasance, and fraudulence. The movie exposes and explains different aspects and secrets of the stock market, housing market, and general economy.
This movie also acts as a warning of history repeating itself, because it explains subtle hints of the same events leading up to the 2008 crash beginning to occur yet again in the coming years. I can not recommend this movie enough to anyone, and while it can almost be considered a documentary, the humor and immersion that the actors and the script provides keeps the viewer interested. The only possible downfall of this movie is the fact that it is rated R (Restricted) for "Pervasive language and some Sexuality/nudity".
The trailer for this movie can be found below (Email viewers, please click the provided link)
