February 20, 2015

Scotch Plains, NJ. Spring, 1972


In my first teaching job out of graduate school, at Union Catholic High School, I was also given the task of directing the Drama Club. Light comedy in the fall, musical in the spring. Instead of standard high-school fare like 'Bye, Bye, Birdie' and such, I chose Rodgers and Hart's 'The Boys from Syracuse.' Book based on Shakespeare, lovely songs like "This Can't Be Love" and "Falling in Love with Love." Yes, there's a whorehouse scene (we turned it into a disco) and the musical director (a nun with a drinking problem worse than mine) kept missing rehearsals and eventually dropped out of the picture leaving us with only piano accompaniment. But we made all our own costumes (dyed bedsheets with potato-printed embellishments) and constructed and painted the sets in a cartoonish way to keep it simple. And the kids got to hear such lovely music and lyrics from the Great American Songbook. I remember everyone laughing a lot and having a good time. So long ago.

1 comment:

  1. Sets and costumes are adorable. I love these new/old photos you're rediscovered.

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