On Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Monroe Township High School’s Latent Thespians will perform "The World Goes ‘Round," a revue of popular Kander and Ebb songs.
By:Sarah Winkelman
The song writing team of John Kander and Fred Ebb debuted in the 1960s.
Since then, they have written songs for musicals such as "Cabaret," "Zorba," and "Chicago."
On Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Monroe Township High School’s Latent Thespians will perform "The World Goes ‘Round," a revue of popular Kander and Ebb songs.
The program will be performed at the Richard P. Marasco Center for Performing Arts.
Deciding to perform a musical revue was a task Director Robert Byrnes thought would be "a really good idea." Coming off the production of "The Boy Friend," he had six weeks to pick a revue, cast the students, get costumes and rehearse the show.
"The World Goes ‘Round" was an easy choice for Mr. Byrnes. He felt it had a lot going for it.
"Two of Kander and Ebb’s shows, ‘Cabaret’ and ‘Chicago,’ are currently playing on Broadway in successful revivals, so we felt that the cast and audience would have some connection to the songs," said Mr. Byrnes in the playbill.
The Broadway version of the show was directed by Scott Ellis and choreographed by Susan Stroman, who won two Tony awards last week for choreographing and directing. The show opened on March 18, 1991, at the Westside Theater in New York and ran for 408 performances. That version had only five performers, but Mr. Byrnes and choreographer Pat Wright McVey decided to cast more students.
"We’ve expanded the show to fit 29 people," Mr. Byrnes said.
"Some of the songs are familiar such as "Cabaret" and "New York, New York," but the arrangements are different and surprising," Mr. Byrnes said.
"There is a lot of clever stuff in the show. Pat, the choreographer, is very creative and inventive. She’s come up with some great things for the songs," he said.
Many of the original songs are in the show, but they have also added quite a bit to it. Songs like "Razzle Dazzle" were added and Mr. Byrnes chose to include narrators to add continuity. The narrators provide background to the songs and shows and give as much history on Kander and Ebb as Mr. Byrnes could find.
Senior Sylvia Nagy is one of three narrators, along with seniors William Costello and Meredith LoBuono.
Sylvia is vice president of the Drama Club.
"The narrators are the only people who speak during the show. Everyone else sings and dances," she said. She added that she knows pretty much everything there is to know about Kander and Ebb because of this musical and the information that Mr. Byrnes found.
"It’s been very stressful to learn and perform the numbers so quickly," said senior Anthony Ventriello, a member of the International Thespian Society.
"It’s really stressful, but a lot of fun," said senior Isabel Del Re. She has a solo in "My Coloring Book."
"Once you know your stuff everything gets better," said junior Lauren Poemer, also a member of the International Thespian Society. She has solos in "Only Love" and "Colored Lights."
"The show is loaded with tons of surprises. It’s very entertaining and fast moving," said Anthony.
The students believe the show will appeal to everyone. The songs are from past generations and will be recognizable to the adults, but Mr. Byrnes and Ms. McVey have added a lot to the show to make it interesting to children as well.
Mr. Byrnes teaches a drama class at the high school and is "the best language arts teacher in the school," said Anthony and Isabel.
"He really pushes you to do more then you think you are capable of," said Anthony.
"If you are afraid to get up on stage he is not a good person to work with. He will rip you apart," Lauren said. She added that he helps students achieve their full potential.
Pulling the performance together has not been easy. The students begin school at 7:30 a.m. each day and have rehearsed until as late as 11 p.m.
There have been conflicts with senior functions that have caused some rehearsal problems. The students said they go home and fall into bed, only to wake up the next day to start all over again. But they are enjoying themselves. It’s been a lot of hard work and commitment.
"I chose this play because I’m nuts. It’s been very frantic. We had six weeks to do a show with 28 songs. It’s been insane but somehow it’s coming together," said Mr. Byrnes.
"This is a good group of kids. They are hardworking and talented," he added.
Lauren, Isabel and Sylvia all plan to continue theater in college, but with an emphasis on vocal work. Sylvia said she plans to be a theater major when she attends college in the fall. Anthony is looking to do more theater work as well, but with the emphasis on acting.
Tickets for the show are $8 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens.