The New Trier Performing Arts Division will feature a celebration of student directors, technicians, and performers, the Spring Plays Festival runs today-Saturday in the McGee Theatre. Tickets and Festival Passes can be purchased in advance at www.seatyourself.biz/newtrier or at the door.
The process began in September, when students in the Advanced Acting and Directing class selected, cast, staged, and presented a 30-minute play to their classmates. These productions showcased close to 90 student actors in a variety of plays of diverse genres, cast sizes, and subject matter.
At the same time, the seniors in the Acting Studio class began a documentary theatre project that will culminate in a performance of “The Laramie Project.” That performance is an adaptation and dramatization of over 200 interviews conducted by the Tectonic Theatre Company in the months following the murder of university student Matthew Shepard.
Twenty-three of the short plays have been revised and will be presented with “The Laramie Project” in the Spring Plays Festival under the auspices of the Performing Arts Division as an opportunity to showcase student work. The featured plays, casts, and directors are (an asterisk denotes a play containing mature content):
7:30 p.m. tomorrow, “Criminal Hearts,” directed by Lucy Clabby and featuring Lori Kusatzky and Sarah Leuchtner.
“Love Song of Birdie and Cole,” directed by Maeli Goren and featuring Tommy Clabby and Alexi Siegel.
“Jerry Finnegan’s Sister,” directed by Andrea Rubens and featuring Maudie Brown and Joe Marshall.
4:30 p.m. Friday, “The Dumbwaiter,” directed by Henry Steinken and featuring Zoey Bond and Neda Jasemi
“Velvet Ropes,” directed by Alex Philoon and featuring Maggie Graham and Emily Lungmus.
“The Zoo Story,” directed by Jenna Rossman and featuring Hannah Antman and Jessie Pappas.
7:30 p.m. Friday, “The Eclipse,” directed by Alex Rust and featuring Rae Lindenberg, Daniella Maestre, Monica Orjuela, and Julian Staebler.
“‘Dentity Crisis,”* directed by Griffin Schulman and featuring Maddy Campbell, Caroline Gladman, Tom Hayes, Chloe Knight, and Katrina Mutuc.
“Third and Oak: The Laundromat,”* directed by Ryan Lucas and featuring Jessica Perelman and Emma Wold.
12:30 p.m. Sunday, “Portrait of a Madonna,” directed by Allie Jennings and featuring Matthew Later, Olivia Macklin, Catherine McKenna, Natalie Polechonski, and Juliette Sward.
“Ancient History,” directed by Katie Gavin and featuring Sarah McCausland and Michael Rogerson.
“Good Country People,” directed by Asia Szczepanik and featuring Ford Bowers, Anna McCarthy, Madelyn Miller, and Sarah Schuette.
“Thirst,” directed by Pamela Hugi and featuring Kathleen Frost, Jackie Hall, and Isa Qasim
“Carwash,” directed by Alex Shenkman and featuring Elise Duffy Caroline Reedy, Natalie Reehl, and Katie Schulze.
4 p.m. Sunday, “Amicable Parting,” directed by Lauren Nitto and featuring Charlie Engleman and Hayley Himmelman.
“This Property Is Condemned,” directed by Kristine Moffitt and featuring Emily Ashenden and Josh Philoon.
“Next,” directed by Grace Anaclerio and featuring Nick DiLeonardi and Dina Menegas.
“Greensleeves,” directed by Sami Goldstein and featuring Audrey Binder and Joey DeFelice.
“Power Lunch,”* directed by Madie Oldfield and featuring Abby Albrecht and Matt Smith.
“Tone Clusters,” directed by Chelsea Smith and featuring Jordan Bretthauer, Maxine Lapin, and Mike Liebenson.
7:30 p.m. Sunday, “The Laramie Project,”* featuring Madeline Campbell, Joey DeFelice, Nick DiLeonardi, Steph Feldman, Caroline Gladman, Spence Jones, Rae Lindenberg, Jackie Marschke, Isa Qasim, Kevin Silverstein, Iris Sowlat and Jill Wiedrich.
“Porcelain and Pink,” directed by Lauren Stremmel and featuring Nick Anaclerio, Sarah Goone, and Danielle Newmark.
“No Exit,”*directed by Freddie Ramos and featuring Janie Dickerson, Becki Schwartz, Leah Silberman, and Kevin Silverstein.
New Trier invites members of the community to get involved with the school’s upcoming efforts to help the people of Petit-Goave, Haiti, who are still in the long process of rebuilding their community following last year’s devastating earthquake.
Freshmen students will take part in a Haiti Walk from 7:15 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. May 19 beginning in the South Courtyard of the Northfield Campus. Community members are invited to sponsor the students for this fundraising walk. Any donation will be accepted, and live music and a pancake breakfast will be provided immediately following the walk. That same day, during the Northfield Campus’ Springfest during the lunch periods, Haiti Project T-shirts will be on sale for $15, and student booths will raise money for the Haiti Project.
New Trier is also collecting supplies for the families of Petit-Goave, including school supplies (notebooks, paper, pencils, backpacks), clothing (new or lightly used shirts, pants, shorts, shoes, and sandals), and toiletries (toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, soap, and shampoo). Donations will be accepted through May 23 and can be delivered to the Student Activities Office at the Northfield Campus, in Room C103.
New Trier has already raised more than $100,000 in its efforts to help rebuild St. Joseph School in Petit-Goave, which was destroyed in the earthquake. New Trier has a special connection to the school, which was kept running for years through the support of two of New Trier’s security staff members, Maurice Bonhomme and Jean Cayemitte, who grew up in the community. New Trier staff members traveled to Petit-Goave last summer to run a day camp for the former students at St. Joseph School, and construction on the new school is scheduled to begin this summer. Funds are still needed for this effort and to help with other rebuilding efforts in Petit-Goave.
For more information on New Trier’s Haiti Project, or to donate, visit www.newtrier.k12.il.us/haitiproject.aspx or contact Carolyn Muir,
Haiti service learning committee coordinator, at (847) 784-7574 or muirca@newtrier.k12.il.us.
