Setting the stage for new traditions
Drama Club's first production at PAC dedicated l'chaim
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP Staff Writer
Middle School students have set the stage for new theatrical traditions to take place in the Millstone Township School District.

ERIC SUCAR staff Members of the Millstone Township Middle School Drama Club perform "Tradition" in their production of "Fiddler on the Roof Junior" in the middle school auditorium April 9.

The 95-member Drama Club lit up the new auditorium this past weekend with the comical and poignant exploration of ethnic heritage, community, cultural traditions, tolerance and faith that is "Fiddler on the Roof Junior." The production, complete with stateof the-art lighting, sound and scenery and a full chorus and dance ensemble, was the students' first on the new stage, which opened to them with the school in September 2007.

Jessica Gazzani, a sixth-grader who portrayed Bielke in the play, said, "We're all very excited about our new performance center. It's amazing."

The new Performing Arts Center (PAC) lent itself well to the Drama Club's production of one of Broadway's greats, which was specially adapted for the young performers - abridged to 60-80 minutes, with music transposed into keys appropriate for young voices.

ERIC SUCAR staff Members of the Millstone Township Middle School Drama Club perform during the production of "Fiddler on the Roof Junior" in the middle school auditorium April 9.

Dedicated l'chaim (to life), the play covered the full spectrum of human emotions and presented the young thespians with unique acting challenges - especially Colin Kochenash, an eighth-grader who starred in the leading role of Tevye.

Colin said 20 boys auditioned for the part, which he considers to be a robust character.

"He's a poor milkman with five daughters who has no one to talk to, so he talks to God about his problems and his life," Colin said.

In the story, Tevye lives in the little village ofAnatevka as a poor dairyman. He tries to instill in his five daughters the traditions of his tight-knit Jewish community in the face of changing socialmores and growing anti-Semitismin Czarist Russia.

Colin, who was featured in almost every scene of the play, said it took him a long time to learn the vocal aspects of the emotional character and tomemorize all of his lines.

"I practiced every night," he said. "I have a lot of dialogue and a lot of songs. It tookme a long time to get everything down."

Colin said the directors at the middle school have helped himprepare to further his career in theater and "are the best in the world."

"I could not have asked for more," he said. "They are amazing."

Many of the students in the Drama Club performin the school's productions every year of their middle school experience and either have aspirations of furthering their careers as thespians or using their acting talents toward other careers. The students feel more supported than ever this year as the community has given them a $3.1 million, 1,200-seat auditorium to develop their passions in.

The auditorium has features like those in Broadway theaters with seating that rises from orchestra level to the rear, an acoustic systemof baffles that hang down fromthe ceiling at different levels to stop the travel of sound and to deaden noise,mechanical scene drops, a second-story lighting gallery and a catwalk.

"It's huge,"Marc Ferre, an eighth grader who portrayed Motel the tailor, said of the new auditorium. "It's such an improvement over last year. Last year we didn't have this fancy equipment. Now we have all of these lights coming down on us and special mics and speaker equipment."

Cast members said the new microphones, which are used like headsets over an ear, give them more freedom to use their bodies when they act. The oldmicrophones, which they had to hide in their costumes, were cumbersome and distracting, they said.

Castmembers also commented that the new sound system allows them to hear themselves on stage. They said in prior .performances the cast could not hear if they were loud enough or on-key and some chorusmembers, who didn't have microphones, went unheard altogether.

The Drama Club used to rehearse and perform on the stage in the former elementary school on Schoolhouse Road. When the middle school was housed in the building onMillstone Road students had to walk to the other school for the after-school program.

Mary Toth, who portrayed the part of Yenta thematchmaker in the play, said, "We walked through the rain, through the snow. We walked through all the muck and mud."

She said not only do students no longer have to traipse through all types of bad weather but have a much bigger stage for their productions.

"We used to perform in the cafeteria at the former elementary school, " she said.

The children thanked the community for helpingmake their first production in the performing arts center a huge success. Special thanks went to the Perrineville Jewish Center for helping them with their costumes.

Trevor Kapit, a seventh grader who portrayed the rabbi and a Russian soldier in the performance, said his grandfather lent himthe talus he was wearing and that the rabbi at the local synagogue donated others as well as yamakas for the production.

Kapit noted that the main theme of the play is family. He said the production also helped students learn that "that being rich is not the most important thing in the world."

Jessica said students also learned a lot about Jewish traditions from Fiddler.

"The Sabbath prayer is really important in the Jewish religion," she said. "Jewish people are very spiritual."

Hannah Shaffer, a sixth grader who played the part of Hodel, said that although the play dealt with the Jewish culture it had universal appeal.

She said her character, Tevye's smart daughter, bucked tradition and did what she wanted, mainly because she fell in love.

"You don't have to be Jewish to understand that," she said. Beyond what the themes of the play conveyed to cast members, Hannah said the family-oriented aspects of theater itself teach a lot.

Thomas Russo, who played the part of Mordcha the innkeeper, said he's been participating in the drama club since sixth grade because it's fun working with friends and meeting new people.

Rachel Kozak said in theater, "You get to be anyone you want to be. It's like Halloween except it's everyday."

Other cast members included Nicholas Cassera as the Constable, Jospeh Gullace as Fyedka, James Sweeney as the fiddler, ErinMurphy as Golde,Meredith Greenberg as Tzeitel, Danielle Rivas as Chava, Jenna Postiglione as Shprintze, ChristopherAnselmo as Perchik andMichael Shelton as Lazar Wolf.

Ryan Burnett said the stage crew consisted of 40 students for this production. The stage crew designed the well and the fireplace used in the production but the school'sArt Club, under the direction of advisor Frank Igleisas, created the majority of the scenery used in the production.

The students were directed by Christie Robinson,Marcelle Mele, Kerri Kapulski and Danielle Welch.

Mele said the cast and crew worked hard since January to put the production together.

"They've done a great, wonderful, wonderful job," she said. "I'm very proud of them."

In their new venue, the Drama Club hopes to continue its old and create new traditions.

As Colin said as Tevye, "After all, without our traditions we are as shaky as a fiddler on the roof."