Closing out the 2017-2018 Performing Arts Season, the students at Hopewell Valley Central High School will perform The Drowsy Chaperone, the five-time Tony Award winning “show within a show” that takes place in the apartment of a theater-loving man who narrates the plot of his favorite 1920’s musical that shares its name with the production.
As he begins to tell the story, the show comes to life in his apartment and features a cast of wacky characters, including a famous showgirl leaving the stage for marriage, gangsters masquerading as pastry chefs, the glamorous titular chaperone, and a bumbling Latin lover.
The cast includes Thomas McLaughlin as the Man in Chair, Donovan Kazakoff as Aldolpho, Caroline Herbert as The Drowsy Chaperone, Janet Van De Graaff as TaylorRae Carter, Owen Harrison as Robert, Kolter Erickson as George, Koko Kovalev as Mrs. Tottendale, Caleb Briggs as Underling, Madeline Carleton as Trix, Tim Granzow as Feldzieg, Maeve Merzena as Kitty, Emmie Collins as Gangster No. 1, Jimmy Waltman as Gangster No. 2, and Yezad Nakra as Superintendent.
Featured in the ensemble will be Alyssa Roman and Camille Ladendorf (dance captains), Shelby Allen, Butterfly Barnes, Azhaneet Blackwell, Gretchen Cyriacus, Olivia Gross, Shayla Moon Hermann, Molly Higgins, Julia Kizar, Chloe Lamond, David LaRaus, Alex Lehman Borer, Olivia Levin, Yash Malushte, Brad Modzelewski, Morgan Schragger, Genevieve Shaftel, Sachi Siyal and Nettie Strunk. The Drowsy Chaperone will run two weekends: Friday and Saturday, March 2 and 3, and Friday and Saturday, March 9 and 10 at the Performing Arts Center in Hopewell Valley Central High School. Shows will start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for students and seniors. They can be purchased in advance at showtix4u.com.
Vox Central Jazz takes third in Berklee festival
Hopewell Valley Central High School’s Vox Central Jazz Choir took third place in the their division at Boston’s Berklee College of Music High School Jazz Festival on Feb. 10.
Vox’s 23-member choir, directed by Central High School Choral Director Randy White, placed third among 13 schools competing in the large-school vocal division of the competition.
Vox performed four pieces: “All Night Long”; “It Could Happen to You”; “Blackbird”; and “One Day I’ll Fly Away.”
CHS junior Jimmy Waltman took away two individual prizes; a Judge’s Choice Award within his group, and an Outstanding Musicianship Award. The musicianship award went to only three performers in the large-school division.
Vox will next perform March 24 at the Roxbury Invitational in Succasunna, where they were last year’s Grand Champion. That will be followed by the 2nd annual New Jersey Association for Jazz Education State Vocal Jazz Festival, to be hosted at Central High School from 4 to 9 p.m. on April 27.
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