By Rebecca Miller ’12, A&E Section Editor
This year, CCDS Upper School thespians will put on their annual Winter Musical, Seussical the Musical. The students will be joined on stage by several CCDS Fourth Graders, who will be portraying Whos.
Mr. Mark Femia, Upper School Drama Director, decided to use Lower School Students as Whos. “After the success of adding 8th grade students to Millie last year, I knew I wanted to continue to use students from other divisions in the musical,” Mr. Femia said. “Dr. [Robert] Macrae [Head of School] had also encouraged me to make this year’s musical ‘even bigger.’ Once I had selected Seussical, it only seemed natural to add LS students.”
Mr. Femia spoke with Ms. Jennifer Aquino, Head
of the Lower School, who was eager to see them included. She said she is excited for this cross-generational experience. “I’m excited for our students to have the exposure to musical productions and the many wonderful opportunities that await them in the upper school in regards to the Arts,” Ms. Aquino said. “It also allows our younger students to work with and collaborate with the older students at Country Day. They look up to them in so many ways and the intergenerational activities that the school promotes stay with these young children for many years,” Ms. Aquino added.
The Lower School Students will be chosen through an audition process if too many students are interested in being a part of this musical. While there may be some disappointment from those students who are not selected, Ms. Aquino said she hopes to use disappointment as a teachable moment. “I want to help them understand that there will be lots more opportunities for them in the future if they continue to work hard,” Ms. Aquino said.
Their rehearsal commitment will be minimal. According to Ms. Aquino, the students will be rehearsing “one to two times a week for a couple of hours leading up to tech week.” During tech week, the young students will have to attend rehearsals every day for several hours.
According to Mr. Femia, the fourth grade students are “only in a few scenes and songs.”
Picture Courtesy of www.theactorsgroup,org