A musical that changed theater forever more than 50 years ago came to life once again at The Storm King School and it was as powerful and emotionally-charged as ever. Three performances of Bernstein and Sondheim’s West Side Story took place at the Walter Reade Jr. Theatre on February 23-25 courtesy of the SKS Department of Visual and Performing Arts. The Sharks and the Jets were back in force gang against gang, with star-struck lovers from each side to complicate the rivalry. It was by far the largest and most complicated musical put on by the students to date and the entire cast and crew have a lot to be proud of.
Storm King’s Director of Theater Anne Fulton, who directed the show along with Karen Eremin of Cornwall’s Step It Up Summer Stage, was confident in her students and her colleagues when she chose West Side Story as the School’s musical production this year. “It’s my favorite musical, and I felt that we had students who could handle the vocals, acting, and dancing,” explained Mrs. Fulton. “The students are the same age as the characters, and there was also an opportunity for members of our school community to play the adult roles. The plot is engaging as it deals with issues that are still affecting people today. It’s also a very dance-heavy show and Jeanette Jacobson is an excellent choreographer. Alva Nelson, our music director, was very familiar with the show and was able to teach the songs quickly; he put together a great orchestra, too.”
The production featured a large cast of Storm King students, some who were experiencing theater for the first time, several faculty members who played the adult roles, and four students who attend Cornwall High School. Asia Raacke ‘19 graced the stage with her ethereal vocals as Maria, theater veterans Scott Rolon ’18 and Jack Besterman ‘18 commanded the roles of Tony and Riff, and Allegra Walker’19 as Anita kept the audience captivated throughout. Junior David Lu’s calm and cool role as Bernardo was yet another performance that captured the hearts of the audience.
According to their mentors, the cast went through an amazing metamorphosis since they began rehearsing in December 2017. “Students who hadn’t previously danced were learning complicated choreography. This is definitely the most amount of dancing I have choreographed in one of our musicals. So many of the songs had multiple dance breaks and were much longer than typical musical songs. At the final dress rehearsal, I cried “happy tears.” I knew we had a hit on our hands,” explained Mrs. Jacobson.
“We had very strong singers in the leads, but we also had a chorus of students who sang through some very complicated musical numbers with relatively little experience,” continued Mrs. Fulton. “Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim are both known for the complexity of their compositions, and I appreciate the efforts of our students who do justice to their work. One of those students was junior Cem Taviloglu, who played the role of A-Rab from the Jets. It was his first experience on stage where he found himself in a relatively challenging role. “In the beginning, it was hard to learn all the lines and the cues. Then we began rehearsing the dance routines and the songs. It was really hard to act, sing, and dance at the same time. The last week, it all seemed to work and when we rehearsed with the band, it made a huge difference,” Cem explained.
Having four adults from the Storm King Community as part of the cast also proved to be a positive experience for the students and gave a sense of realism to the show. Storm King’s Chief of Finance Ray Hecht played Lieutenant Schrank, with faculty members Jim Bennett as Officer Krupke, Kevin Jacobson as Gladhand, and Dennis Costello as Doc. “The student-actors really enjoyed working with them in roles that are very different than what they are used to. The adults also felt that it was invaluable to work with the kids. It was also great for those of us on the production team to have them with us,” continued Mrs. Fulton.
To the full-house audience who attended all three performances, the show was seamless and well-deserving of three standing ovations. Mrs. Fulton explained that the cast and crew did a fantastic job of overcoming difficulties that arose during their two months of rehearsals including weather cancellations and some illnesses only a week before the performance. “It was an enormous collaboration of everyone involved,” continued Mrs. Fulton. “In a musical, there are so many moving parts. We coordinated our time after school for music, acting and dance throughout the rehearsal process and the stagecraft work was done mostly in the evening. We also had students working on the show, particularly A. River Holasek ‘20 and Zoe Stene ‘19, who are knowledgeable about theater tech and are very reliable. Alan Douches, a Storm King parent, provided our microphones and sound equipment, as he has done on many occasions. We couldn’t produce a show like West Side Story without the collaborative efforts of SKS faculty, staff, students, and parents.”
For many ecstatic parents, and all who came out see the show, this production of West Side Story is yet another example of the thriving Visual and Performing Arts Program offered at Storm King. “I was pleased beyond all expectations. I’m so proud of how well the production turned out,” Mrs. Fulton said with a smile. “I’ve worked in the theater program at SKS for the past 13 years and I’m happy to see the program progressing and our student participation growing. We had 30 students perform and several more working backstage. We also had support from the local community: Karen Eremin has worked with us for the past three years and invited four Cornwall Central High School students to join the cast. They worked very well with our students and were a great addition to the show.”
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