Performing Arts Classes Showcase Their Talent through Performance
Recently, both the Advanced Acting and Musical Theater classes have put on performances for the GA community during two flex periods. The Advanced Acting class performed a scene from the award-winning play Proof by David Auburn, while the Musical Theater students each performed two pieces of their choice. Typically, all of the performance classes have an opportunity to present the material and skills they’ve been working on throughout the semester, despite the pandemic bringing this to a halt for the past few years.
Synopsis of Proof (performed by Advanced Acting):
In Proof, Catherine grieves the loss of her father, Robert. Robert was a famous mathematician who solved complicated proofs, and suffered from mental illness. Catherine’s older sister Claire returns home to help “settle” family affairs. While Hal, one of Robert’s old students, discovers a notebook filled with profound, cutting-edge calculations…
Proof featured Brianna Geist ‘24 (as Claire), Emma Moyer ‘24 (as Catherine), and Will Cooper ‘22 (Hal) as performers. Ms. Emma Hearn, Upper School Assistant Drama Teacher, chose this play for the Advanced Acting class at the beginning of the year. She chose this piece because it has “great emotional depth, nuanced character arcs, and is relatively balanced between the three roles.”
The play can have a deeper meaning that is interpreted differently among viewers and actors, for example, Moyer believes that “the deeper meaning to this piece is in regards to relationships between each other; how we act towards one another, the impact we have in each other’s lives, and what it means to support and care for other people.” On the other hand, Hearn explains how “this piece takes a deep dive into the intricacies of family dynamics paired with romantic encounters and how mental health plays a role in those relationships.”
The Musical Theater performance consisted of two songs performed by each student involved. Elizabeth Riley ‘22 performed “Life of the Party” from The Wild Party and “Always True” from Kiss Me, Kate. Morgen Zighelboim ‘23 performed “Right Hand Man” from Something Rotten and “A Little Bit in Love” from Wonderful Town. Danny Hernandez ‘23 performed “Breathe” from In the Heights and “Try Me” from She Loves Me. Hernandez discussed his experience learning “Breathe” to be more rewording, as he had to put in more work to connect with the piece.
According to Ms. Hearn, the students had to select two songs, one was a Golden Age (pre-1965) and the other was a Contemporary Musical Theater song (post-1965). She believes “it’s important to have context for the music that has helped shape and influence the music of the industry today.”
Preparing for a school-wide performance can be challenging. Cooper felt that “it was easy to fall into a preset rhythm with the words, which takes away from an actor’s ability to truly say and mean each word, so challenging myself to expand on my emotions within the scene and having Emma and K challenge me was the most difficult part that ended up paying off.”
Geist and Moyer both thought that getting into their characters was challenging at first, but they were eventually able to make it work. Even though at first they experienced difficulties, they eventually felt like their hard work paid off with the performance. Hernandez adds that “digging deep and finding a place where I can relate to each piece” was his biggest challenge, especially since “acting is being able to connect yourself to each role.”
The reception was overwhelming as a large number of students came to watch this performance. Many of the actors felt supported by having members of the community watch and enjoy their hard work. The audience believes that both classes did a good job with the performance. For example, Caitlyn Connely ’23 thinks Proof “showed talent, drama, and was overall fantastic.” While for the musical theater performance, I think that each of the singers did a phenomenal job and talentedly expressed their ideas through their voices.
Overall, these performance classes should be very proud of themselves for putting on such spectacular shows, and everyone should be looking forward to Newsies, which the Belfry club will be putting on this March.
Cast List:
Advanced Acting: Brianna Geist ‘24 (Claire), Emma Moyer ‘24 (Catherine), Will Cooper ‘22 (Hal)
Musical Theater: Elizabeth Riley ‘22 (performed “Life of the Party” from The Wild Party and “Always True” from Kiss Me, Kate), Morgen Zighelboim ‘23 (performed “Right Hand Man” from Something Rotten and “A Little Bit in Love” from Wonderful Town), Danny Hernandez ‘23 (“Breathe” from In the Heights and “Try Me” from She Loves Me), Mr. Masters (as piano accompaniment)