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Date: 11/17/2021
SOUTHWICK — It’s been nearly two years since students in the drama club and stagecraft club at Southwick Regional School have put on a live performance. That will change this weekend.
Students will take to the stage in the school’s auditorium for four performances of the classic play “A Little Princess.”
“I’m thrilled to have students back on stage,” said Janet Grunwald, an English teacher who serves as an adviser to the afterschool club, and is the play’s producer.
Each school year, for the past 20 years, the club has produced a fall play and a spring musical. Grunwald said working in person again with both performers and the stage crew “is one of the best ways to know things are moving forward.”
The school’s spring musical was just two weeks away from opening night in mid-March 2020, when the state went into a COVID-19 lockdown, closing all schools for several weeks.
“We had a very large cast with many seniors who missed out on their final production. It was heartbreaking,” recalled Grunwald.
With limited options for in-person extracurricular activities last year, the club produced a radio play production via Zoom of “It’s a Wonderful Life” for the holidays. It also created a series of musical numbers highlighting two decades of productions at SRS.
High school students are typically cast in lead roles. For this play, senior Jillian Lemon has a lead role — her first — playing Sara Crewe, who goes from a “princess” to an orphan.
“I’m so happy. It’s felt so amazing to be back on stage and seeing the few cast members in the audience during rehearsals. I thought, ‘Wow, they’re looking up at me on stage while I’m performing,’” said Jillian.
She’s been a part of the drama club since she was a freshman, when she performed in the musical “Bye Bye Birdie.”
“I’m very excited for this opportunity — I’m very passionate about acting and drama. I’m a little nervous because of all the line memorization I’ve had.”
Auditions for “A Little Princess” began in September. Once 15 students were cast, they and the dozens of students working behind the scenes as the stage crew began meeting once a week after school in early October.
During the past two weeks, students have been working more frequently after school to rehearse their parts, build sets, and prepare various stagecraft elements to bring their production to life.
To make the play ready for opening night this Friday, students worked late into the evening this past week.
In addition to being a member of the drama club, sophomore Brayden Maymon is taking a theater class this semester. He’s learning how to properly portray emotion and get into characters.
Brayden will get an opportunity to take what he’s learned in class and put into action in his role as Captain Crewe, Sara’s father.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been on stage. I’m excited to be back, getting into character and getting ready to give the audience a great show,” he said.
Grunwald said all students in grades seven to 12 are eligible to join the clubs. Students learn all aspects of theater production, from performance and direction to costume, lighting, and set design. She said having seventh and eighth graders working together with older high school students is a good combination.
“High schoolers serve as mentors. Younger students have the benefit of starting in ensemble parts and moving up over the years as they learn from older students — often their siblings. The same is true for stage crew, with younger students learning from seasoned carpenters and artists.”
Stagecraft work is open to students who want to assist with building sets and working on the stage crew during performances. Upper class students who are trained in running lights and sound, also mentor younger students who want to do this work in the future.
Eighth grader Lily Bouchard is part of the ensemble for “A Little Princess” and is also working on building stage sets. This is her first year as a member of the drama club.
“I’m enjoying it. It’s a lot of fun. I’m doing something — and that keeps my brain thinking,” she said.
Lily added that the experience and excitement of being in a play has made her want to do more of it: “I love singing, so I plan to try out for the spring musical.”
Grunwald said this is the first time the club has performed this play during her 21 years as its adviser. Stephen Petit, a member of the production staff at the Majestic Theater in West Springfield, is directing A 2004 SRS graduate, this is his first time directing a play at his alma mater.
While there is some “surrealness and nostalgia” at directing a play in the same auditorium where he once performed on stage as student, Petit said he’s “too focused at the task at hand to wallow in it.”
Petit added that at the end of the day, “it’s a theater like any other, and great theater” can happen anywhere, “but it’s very sweet and fitting to return to where I started out. It’s a really nice theater — not auditorium. I’ve told the kids that when we’re there working, it’s a theater.”
He said it’s been a pleasure to put the show together: “It’s a really nice group of kids — I’m very pleased with their work so far, and I’m proud of them.”
Petit said he originally wanted to stage either Edmond Rostand’s “Cyrano de Bergerac” or a faithful adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein.”
“When I saw that the kids auditioning were 90 percent young girls, I decided ‘A Little Princess’ would be more appropriate — it takes place at an all-girls boarding school, and only requires two male actors.”
“A Little Princess” is a timeless tale of Sara Crewe, who is born into what she believes is wealth, only to become a penniless orphan. The story has been adapted for stage as well as for film and television. Petit and co-author Andrew Eaton original adapted their script from the 1905 children’s novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett for a 2016 production at the Majestic.
“It’s always fun to revisit a show and try to add to it, and try to make it even better. I also love the story — it’s moving, humorous, good for kids and families, and has a great message,” he said.
Showtime for the first performance is Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. On Nov. 20, the curtain opens for a matinee at 2 p.m., followed by an evening performance at 7 p.m. The final show is Nov. 21 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $9 for adults, $7 for students and senior citizens, and $5 for children 12 and younger.
Editor's note: This story has been edited twice to correct the spelling of Brayden Maymon's name (Nov. 18 and 22, 2021).