Although High School North is still considered to be a new school, many of the “firsts” happened during the first seven years in existence. A dramatic first will happen on Sunday, November 19, when senior Andrew Lavadera becomes the first student director of a fall drama — in the first for either school.##M:[more]##
“After last year’s show (in which he had a lead role), he took up my offer to all ‘Crucible’ cast members to recommend a comedy for the coming year,” says faculty member and advisor for the fall drama Debbie Goodkin. “Andrew was the only one who made recommendations. And he purchased and read quite a number of plays before ‘falling’ for ‘Flea’.”
“As I searched for large casted comedies, I came across ‘A Flea in Her Ear’,” says Lavadera. “The site (playscripts.com) had a sample of the first two acts and a little of the conclusion. Because I couldn’t finish the play online, I purchased the book and it was absolutely phenomenal. The play was a modern comedy, which I loved, and had a medium sized cast of 14.”
Goodkin, meanwhile, chose a large cast comedy to direct, “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” a large-cast comedy that opened on Thursday, November 16, and will continue Friday and Saturday, November 17 and 18, at 8 p.m. “A Flea in Her Ear” will have two shows on Sunday, November 19. Tickets to all shows are $8.
“My search for a large cast came from the increasing number of students who come to try out for the fall drama,” says Goodkin, explaining her choice of “The Man Who Came to Dinner.” I want to have many roles to satisfy as many auditioners as possible.”
The show has some expandable casting, including a choir that calls for three to six members. “This allows for even more student participation,” she says. “This is not to mention that it is very funny.”
Lavadera’s “A Flea in Her Ear,” written by Georges Feydeau, features an ensemble cast with characters including an anxious wife who believes her husband is having an affair, her best friend, a closeted gay man, a butler, an ignorant doctor, and an identical twin.
In permitting Lavadera to direct his own show, Goodkin also required that “she didn’t lose any of the experienced students to my play and she said that I, along with a couple of other students, had to be in both shows,” he says. “It only made my last high school fall drama experience that much better.”
“I could not scrape the surface of the tremendous amount of time and effort put into a production,” he says. After choosing the set, redesigning the set, he arranged blocking to accommodate both plays. The next step — casting — was the most difficult. “I filled the roles with the people I felt were most naturally similar to each character and create strong chemistry between the cast. I took a huge risk with my cast — eight of the fourteen roles have never been on the high school stage before.”
“I took a risk and so far am not regretting my decision,” he says. “A director can only do so much to help develop a show. The true stars are the cast members. I wanted to finish off my high school fall drama career with a big bang and because of the respect and devotion I receive from my cast, I know that I am going to be able to put on one of the funniest most outrageous shows my school has ever seen.”
His mentor is his older brother, Anthony Lavadera, a member of High School South, Class of 2001, whose stage credits at South include “Cabaret,” “Oliver,” and several Senior One Acts. He graduated from NYU, Class of 2005. He is currently working for a consulting firm as a researcher.
One of Lavadera’s closest friends, Paul Calotta, forced him to attend the last day of tryouts for the fall drama in his sophomore year. He was cast in the role of Benedick in “Much Ado About Nothing,” a role with more than 200 Shakespearean lines including three monologues and an onstage kiss with a senior girl.
“On the first performance, I stood off stage shaking uncontrollably. I wasn’t going to be able to do it. I forgot my lines, began hyperventilating, almost in tears. I couldn’t talk anymore. I stumbled on stage and practically fell into my spot. The scene continued slowly creeping to my first line. I forgot it. I didn’t know it. I was too ambitious. This was never going to work. The audience looks mean. I’m a horrible actor. I wish I could just sit and watch the show.”
“Then my first line just naturally came out of my mouth as if I were a machine with that smug arrogant confidence that the character demanded. Hey, this wasn’t that bad. Slowly but surely, the characteristics of Benedick pulled me out of my doubt and pushed me into a state of total bliss. I became Benedick. The audience laughed at me. It was perfect!
“I was finally funny. The show finished off with the hero getting the girl, the villain getting captured, and the male chauvinist, me, proposes his unending love to the women of his dreams with the most passionate kiss the school has ever seen. Some people believed the kiss to be a little too real.”
He was next in the ensemble of “Once Upon a Mattress,” portrayed Reverend Parris in “The Crucible,” Andrew Carnes in “Oklahoma!” and has been in the two seasons of Senior One Acts including starring in Christopher Durang’s “Business Lunch at the Russian Tea Room.”
Not only is he directing but he plays the doppleganger role of Victor Chandler/Potts for Flea and Mr. Ernest Stanley for Dinner.
He recently finished his Eagle Scout project showcasing the renovation of the September 11th Memorial at the Ron Roger Arboretum. “I helped fund and run a beautification project of more than 150 plants to help finish the already magnificent site.” He is also active in the school’s concert choir and No Scripts, the school’s improvisational troupe.
“While I have tremendous experiences in theater, I unfortunately do not see myself continuing in it as my career,” he says. “If I were to pursue it as a career, I would walk away from the front of the stage into the back as a producer.”
The Man Who Came to Dinner, High School North, 90 Grovers Mill Road, Plainsboro, 609-716-5100. www.ww-p.org. Comedy by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman. $8. Friday & Saturday, November 17 & 18, 8 p.m.
Also A Flea in Her Ear. Comedy by George Feydeau featuring mistaken identity and communication problems. $8. Sunday, November 19, 2 and 8 p.m.
Cast members for “There’s a Flea in My Ear” include Anthony Chang, Taylor D’Avoila, Tim O’Connor, Paul Lavadera, Aileen Yan, Michael Kaish, Mia Calotta, Mike Pfeiffer, Paul Calotta, John Feuerstein, Mike Villastrigo, Tara Lyons, and Jenny Reda.
Cast for “The Man Who Came to Dinner” includes Jenny Reda, Shirley Yuan, DJ Ameen, Richa Agrawal, Paul Blasi, Laura Hitselberger, Vidhi Luthra, Swee Shankar, Andrew Lavadera, Tara Lyon, Osman Aziz, Michael Pfeiffer, Tara Osei-Bonsu, Rollin Say, Paul Lavadera, Joanna Chapman, Anna Boshkov, Andrew Zulty, Sari Forshner, Monika Mastellone, Michael Kaish, Paul Calotta, Tom Chako, Anna Caroline Boshkov, Joey Chapman, Sari Forshner, Paul Lavadera, Andrew Zutty, Michael Villastrigo, and Andrew Zutty. Michael Pfeiffer plays the title role.
The stage crew for “The Man Who Came to Dinner” includes Devin Mejias, Matt Befi, Kevin Hawryluk, Steve Mihalyi, Mira Patel, Brad States, Joe Murphy, Bhavana Dhawan, Chris Adair, Jennifer Lennon, Emily Nowlin, Dave Cahill, Josh Bugge, Alex Waters, Kevin Kostiw, Alicia Bardachino, Joe Squeri, Jon Shedler, Jill Berman, Mike DeProspo, Lisa Melnik, Erika Fields, Christina Dunne, Jimmy Ikeda, Sara Hoge, Ross Berman, Justin Kaplan, Katie Brase, Kate Broughton, and Carrie Bianchetti.
