JUNE 2005

Volume 24, No. 11, June 08, 2005

ARTS

• Artist of the month: J. D.-B.: D. B., French horn player, is in great demand
• This acting elective will perform at the tone... :Day’s drama elective wins Silver Medal at Mass. Drama Festival

Reviews:

• An Evening of Dance
• Improbable Players present drugs and alcohol performance for 8th grade
• 7th grade Italian students perform “I Due Fannulloni”
• Lincoln’s Final Hope
• Urban Improv. strikes a chord with Day 7th grader

Review

An Evening of Dance

by A. D.

The Day Dance Company, under the direction of N. B. and J. B., performed for the Day community in the Day Auditorium on Thursday evening, May the 12th.

The 7th and 8th grade Day Dancers performed individual dances along with those dances choreographed and taught by B. A., N. B., and J. B., on Thursday evening, May the 12th in the Day Auditorium. “An Evening of Dance” started at 7:30 and ended with food and beverages around 8:30 in the lobby.

M. F. and V. G. started the performance with an introduction. The great variety of dances consisted of Modern, Salsa, Hip-Hop, Jazz, and Classical.

When asked the question, “How do you think the performance went?” N. B. answered, “I think the show went great. The dancers did an awesome job, and the audience was enthusiastic. There were a lot of family and friends. I really enjoyed connecting with the parents after the show.”

When asked the same question, B. A. answered, “Aside from the technical difficulties with the sound system, I think the show went fantastic. Everyone put it together and did really well. The audience turn out was strong, and I really saw the dancers come alive on stage.”

And J. B. said, “I thought the overall performance was good. It was exciting to see lots of different people presenting different kinds of dances. It was great to have a large audience.”

During the performance there were some speeches written by the dancers. They were about choreography, friendships, the snappy dance field trip, and going on tour to the elementary schools.

Asked opinions about their performance, Day Dancers responded.

• H. H., 7th grade Coral Team student said, “It was fun and exciting.”

• K. L., 8th grade Orange Team student, said, “I was nervous at first, but when I got on stage I forgot about everyone in the audience and did my thing.”

• C. D., also an 8th grade Orange Team student said, “Everyone put in a lot of energy. It was really exciting.”

• J. S. 8th grade Green Team student said, “I thought it was really colorful and we all put in a lot of effort.”

After the show, audience member, M. A., 8th grade Green Team student said, “I liked how all the Dancers looked like they were having fun.”

This acting elective will perform at the tone...

Day’s drama elective wins Silver Medal at Mass. Drama Festival

by D. W.

The 8th grade drama elective class competed at Fuller Middle School, one of the four middle schools hosting the Massachusetts Middle School Drama Festival, on Saturday May the 7th. While there, they performed “This Phone Will Explode At The Tone”, for which they won the Silver Medal and numerous individual achievement awards.

There were 24 schools involved in the festival, six of which were present at Fuller Middle School. Each performed their own show, be they comedies, tragedies, or even historical plays. Four schools hosted these productions.

“(All of the kids) were fantastic,” said J. S., Day’s drama teacher and the director of “This Phone Will Explode At The Tone”. “They were absolutely fantastic.”

Fuller was not only new to hosting schools, but to participating in the Festival. It was new to everything, but people say they looked like they had always been doing this.

“They really seemed to know what they were doing,” J. S. said.

Although this show was merely the project of a drama class, the rehearsals went on for months. According to J. S., the students spent most of January sifting through short plays for one they felt that they could perform well. After settling on “This Phone Will Explode At the Tone”, the kids broke up into groups with the actors with whom they shared scenes to run through the lines.

“Projection was something I wanted to work on,” said J. S. That and secondary focus were important features that J. S. wanted the kids to use regularly onstage

On May the 6th, the day before the festival, kids finally got a chance to practice in the pit of Day’s auditorium. Other than that, they had only been able to rehearse in J. S.’s classroom, which everyone agrees was not as much room as they would have liked.

After all the performances, a committee of theater professionals awarded every school with either a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Medal. All but two schools at Fuller won the Silver Medal. Weston won the Gold for their production of “The Education of Janet O’Malley”, and Rashi won the Bronze for their student-created “The Reunion”.

D. A., L. S., and N. W., three students from Day, won individual awards for exceptional performances.

“I didn’t think I was going to get one,” said N. W., who received his award for his performance of the “Obscene Phone Call Hero”. “I was sure D. A. was going to get an award for his accountant monologue, but mine took me by surprise,” N. W. laughed.

After totaling up all the time it took to go to the Festival, participate, see other shows, and come home, it took 10 or 11 hours. When asked if it was worth his time, N. W. replied, “Absolutely. It was interesting, seeing new people onstage and meeting them offstage as different people. They can be totally different offstage, sometimes.”

“I think it was a great day,” said N. W. “It was a great atmosphere, and even better, it was a great way to meet other actors.”

By the numbers:

• about 500 kids participated

• 24 schools participated

• about 23 kids per school were involved

• 4 schools hosted

• 4 schools created their own shows

Review

Improbable Players present drugs and alcohol performance for 8th grade

by R. O. and A. S.

On Thursday, May 26, the Improbable Players performed a play about drugs and alcohol for the entire 8th grade in the Day auditorium. The play was sponsored by the Gorin Family Foundation.

The performance revolved around the lives of 4 teenagers in their senior year of high school. They had previously made a pact not to fall into the drug and alcohol group, but things start to slip when Brendan hangs out with his brother.

The play begins with 4 friends named Tracy, Brendan, Kim, and Mark getting excited that they’re “finally seniors.” Mark decides that he’ll make 2 documentaries for his senior project - one to hand in to his teacher, and one that is the real story of their year.

At first, the other 3 are fine with Mark filming them each month, but things soon get out of hand. All 4 have basically the same goals (to be “...different from everybody else”), but even those fall apart after Brendan starts doing drugs with his older brother.

Brendan soon becomes hooked on the drugs, and even gets Tracy involved. While Mark and Kim struggle to stay afloat and not join in on the dangerous activities, Tracy and Brendan’s conditions get worse and worse, until they both have dropped out of school. Tracy finally decides to go to rehab, and comes back clean and sober. Brendan, on the other hand, is the complete opposite and overdoses on heroin.

The cast explained that they were all actually addicted to drugs and/or alcohol at one time. At the end, the audience got to ask questions about their past experiences while they were on drugs or alcohol.

When asked if it was hard to play the characters after their pasts, they said that, “...it was good to remember, but it has been emotional and taken a lot of courage.”

They also explained that there are 20 actors in the theatre group that rotate for different characters throughout the 6 shows that Improbable Players perform.

Overall, the audience seemed to enjoy it and get a lot out of the performance.

Review

7th grade Italian students perform “I Due Fannulloni ”

by A. S.

On Wednesday, May the 11th, 7th grade Italian students and several 6th graders, performed “La Commedia: I Due Fannulloni” at Harvard University’s Boylston Hall.

Many parents gathered at Harvard University to witness what Italian teacher E. P. described as an “unusual” event. For it is not every day that a middle school Italian class is invited to perform at Harvard University .

Italian students (now dubbed “Day Middle School Italian Players,” by Harvard Italian Professor Elvira DiFabio) spent nearly a month preparing for their “La Commedia” performance, and worked diligently to bring it up to performance status. A. G. and K. R. introduced the play and explained the plot, after which the 7th grade students sang a song called “ Buongiorno a Te”, which translates into English “Good Morning to You.”

DiFabio lauded E. P. for “her creative energy, her selfless dedication, her obvious effectiveness in directing her students’ motivation to reach beyond any limits they may have set for themselves.”

Performers included seventh graders A. F., S. P., M. B., A. W., M. N., A. D., and B. M.

Following the play, the select 6th graders who attended the trip performed “Per Fare Un Tavolo,” a song about ecology. The title translates to “You Need A Flower”, and the song’s lyrics are written by a famous Italian poet.

The several Harvard undergraduates who attended the performance were “in awe of the language abilities of Mrs. P’s young thespians,” said DiFabio.

Following the performance, the undergraduates gave the sixth and seventh graders a tour of the Harvard Campus.

DiFabio has already extended an invitation for the students to return next year.

According to DiFabio, her students “were challenged to perform all the better in their own skits,” which they plan to perform following the E. P. production next year.

Review

Lincoln’s Final Hope

by R. O. and A. S.

On Friday, May the 13th, Theater Espresso presented “ Lincoln’s Final Hope” to all three 8th grade teams throughout the day in the Day auditorium. The show was sponsored by the Day P. T. O’s Creative Arts Committee.

The point of “ Lincoln’s Final Hope” was to convey to a middle school audience the decision of an American President who had to decide the fate of his country. The play takes place right after the Civil War and the captured Confederate soldiers are still in prison. “ Lincoln...” started off with the 5-person cast reading events off of newspapers right before and after Lincoln’s assassination. The play then continues as a case of whether, or not, to let the captured Confederate soldiers out of jail.

All characters spoke to the audience, such as the Secretary of State, the President ( Lincoln’s former Vice President), and Sue Ellen, the sister of a prisoner, in hopes of influencing the audience’s decision. The Secretary of State talked about how the North and the South still wouldn’t be able to get along, even if prisoners were released, and that the soldiers would eventually rebel against the U. S. government. The audience members then had an opportunity to ask questions as members of Congress. The actors answered questions with great enthusiasm and knowledge about the time period, and always stayed in character. Cast members also used important points from the era.

The theater company chose costumes from the time period, which was in the mid-1800s. The costumes helped establish the time period. At the end, the cast members stated that they had to learn a lot about that time in history in order to fully understand the play and be able to answer the questions correctly.

Theater Espresso does 5 plays in total, including “The Confession of Ann Putnam”, about a girl in the Salem witch trials, “Three Mill Girls”, a story of girls who worked in the Lowell Mills, and “Justice At War”, which is about the Japanese internment camps. The performance was very well done, and the 8th graders seemed to enjoy it very much.

Review

Urban Improv. strikes a chord with Day 7th graders

by A. S.

On Tuesday, May the 31st, a group of performers called Urban Improv., an interactive acting group who teach decision-making, conflict resolution, problem-solving, cooperation, and leadership performed for 7th graders. The play was acted out n the Day Auditorium, and was sponsored by the Groin Foundation.

Though the cast consisted of only 4 actors, Urban Improv. brought out many important messages and topics that middle school students experience every day. The actors started off with a game of “Simon Says” to get the audience warmed up. They then went on to act out scenes that happen often in middle school, such as letting others sit at your lunch table, harassment, and what to do if you’re a bystander in a difficult situation.

One of the characters was named Marty Roche, a new student at the school. Everyone has just returned from Spring break at the beginning of the play, and even the audience was included in some scenes (hence the name Urban Improv, for the improvisational part).

People in the class make fun of Marty’s name, because the teacher pronounces it wrong. Marty becomes upset, and the scene ends there. Later on at lunch, a student from the class named Sam, who was the main reason behind Marty’s embarrassment, comforts Marty and sits with him. Other students from the class soon join the two, but are back to making fun of Marty.

Another scene shows a female student being sexually harassed. The audience was then allowed to volunteer to help act out what they would do in the scene. The harassment scene was repeated 3 times, with 3 different female actors and 3 different Day students giving their input on the situation.

Overall, the 7th graders seemed to enjoy, and learn from, the scenes, especially since they got to help out.

Artist of the month: J. D.-B.

D.-B., French horn player, is in great demand

by B. H.-M.

J. D.-B. has an “interesting” talent. He is the only French horn player in Day’s own 7th grade band.

D.-B. plays for All-City Band in their brass cabinet. This is a group of musical students who play instruments in the brass family. For example, saxophone, trumpets, and French horns.

He also plays in the small brass section of Day’s 7th grade and will play in the upcoming Spring Concert on June the 8th.

He hopes to try out for All-District, another Newton children's band. D.-B. is also taught by a private teacher, Fred Aldrich, who has him join in their separate recitals.

D.-B. was inspired by the musical/movie “Peter and the Wolf”, his brother, who also plays French horn, and the band Weezer.

Peter and the Wolf is composed of characters who were represented by different instruments. When the wolf came on, he was represented by a French horn and D.-B. liked the sound.

“In [Day’s] band, playing the French horn makes me feel a part of the group,” says D.-B.