181 Mitchell Drive, New Haven CT 06511
Wilbur L. Cross High School
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A Light in the Dark:
A Virtual Streaming
Showcase (2021)
Wilbur Cross’s Drama Club Shines
“A Light In The Dark”
*From The New Haven Independent
by BRIAN SLATTERY
The cast of A Light in the Dark — the showcase from Lights Up Drama Club at Wilbur Cross High School, which will be broadcast June 4 and 5 — assembled in a rehearsal room at the school that would also serve as the beginning scene for the number “I Feel So Much Spring,” from the William Finn-penned musical A New Brain.
As the music began, and music director Matt Durland conducted, all the voices behind the masks sprang to life.
The students glided across the floor as co-director Salvatore DeLucia weaved among them with a camera. It would all be edited together into a final product, with 17 other songs, in time for broadcast.
“This is a marriage of my two loves, theater and film,” DeLucia said, even if it was born “out of necessity…. Covid stopped us from the big musical number we were champing at the bit for,” but it was possible the showcase would be “more meaningful. This is our response to Covid. You want to shut us down? This is our rebuttal.”
In the fall, anticipating a possible end to the Covid-19 shutdown, Lights Up had planned to do a full production of The Little Mermaid.
“And then nobody came back to school,” said co-director Heather Bazinet.
“Just logistically it wasn’t a possibility,” DeLucia said.
But Lights Up still wanted to do something. In January Bazinet hit on the idea of a cabaret, “a showcase where we could allow our students to socially distance, from home if they wanted to.” And some students had returned to school. “Once sports were back,” Bazinet said, they asked themselves “why can’t we do stuff?”
“We felt it was a necessity. In this world, with these kids — letdown after letdown,” DeLucia said.
The Wilbur Cross administration gave Lights Up its support. Durland was eager to help. The club began brainstorming ideas and hammered out a story composed of 18 songs from different musicals, plus monologues and interviews. Act 1 would be about darkness, “how they were feeling when everything was shut down and there wasn’t a lot of hope,” Bazinet said. “Act 2 is more about hope and coming out of the darkness.” The song “I Feel So Much Spring” would serve as the finale.
As the students got started on rehearsals, DeLucia “planned the technical side of things,” with help from Wilbur Cross’s recording arts teacher Kendall Alderman and film teacher Jim Bellantoni. “We’re essentially making a music video,” DeLucia said. Alderman helped the students make a quality recording of the music beforehand. With all the audio complete, it was down to shooting the video, with DeLucia handling the camera, thanks to his collaboration with Bellantoni.
So as always, the Lights Up production was a team effort. “We each have our own area of expertise, and we trust each other, so things grow — things that could be good become amazing.”
The students completed a take of the first verse of the song.
“That was beautiful,” Bazinet said of their performance.
DeLucia agreed. “I want to do it one more time,” he said. “Once I get the shot I want, I always do one or two more. We have what we want. It can only be better.”
They did another take. The performance was even better. They made plans to move on to shooting the next verse, which would involve them first bursting out of the doors of the rehearsal space and into the hallway — and then out of the school itself, and into the spring sun.
“Even in the worst darkness, there’s always a glimmer of hope,” DeLucia said.
A Light in the Dark will be broadcast June 4 and June 5 at 7 p.m. Visit Lights Up’s website for tickets to the broadcast, which are $10.
The Wilbur Cross High School Dramatic Arts Department
& Lights Up! Drama Club proudly present ...
2019- 2020
HALO
Nominations and WINNERS!
WINNER!!! BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL:
Wilbur Cross High School: Manny Gonzales as J.B. Biggley in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL:
Wilbur Cross High School: Millie Carlson as Hedy LaRue in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL:
Wilbur Cross High School: Eli Wells as Bud Frump in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
WINNER!!! BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEADING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL:
Wilbur Cross High School: Brandon Oliveras as J. Pierrepont Finch in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEADING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL:
Wilbur Cross High School: Kate VanTassel as Rosemary in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
Wilbur Cross Dramatic Arts Dept & Lights Up Drama Club actors shine with 5 HALO nominations for "How 2 Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"!
Big Business Never Sounded This Good!
Nominated for 5 HALO AWARDS* and WINNER of BEST LEAD ACTOR in a musical and BEST FEATURED ACTOR in a musical 2020.
*https://sevenangelstheatre.org/high-school-halo-awards/halos-tuesday-june-23rd-nominations-winners/
WINNER!!! BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL:
Wilbur Cross High School: Manny Gonzales as J.B. Biggley in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL:
Wilbur Cross High School: Millie Carlson as Hedy LaRue in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL:
Wilbur Cross High School: Eli Wells as Bud Frump in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
WINNER!!! BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEADING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL:
Wilbur Cross High School: Brandon Oliveras as J. Pierrepont Finch in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEADING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL:
Wilbur Cross High School: Kate VanTassel as Rosemary in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
Wilbur L. Cross
High School Dramatic Arts Department Thanks!!
The Jamie Hulley Arts Foundation
The Jamie Hulley Arts Foundation was created in 2002 in memory of Jamie Alaine Hulley. Jamie was a creative soul who had the gift of seeing the world as a thing of beauty and of making all who knew her feel special. Jamie’s curiosity was insatiable, her laugh infectious, and her love of taking artistic risks unlimited. Sharing a love of the arts and providing opportunities for others to develop their artistic talents and pursue their dreams is a perfect legacy for Jamie.
For more info visit:
www.jamiehuleyartsfund.org
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