Nyack High School Makes Broadway Local

You'd never know the students who performed The Drowsy Chaperone at this past weekend were high school students. They sang, acted and danced like they were performing on The Great White Way.

The Drowsy Chaperone was recently on Broadway starring Sutton Foster. It highlight how the musicals of the Jazz Age affected people, and why some consider it the golden age of theater.

The show follows the Man in the Chair—the narrator—on a day he's feeling blue. As a remedy, he begins listening to his favorite fictional show: The Drowsy Chaperone. The show within a show is a crazy mash-up of miscommunications and disguises, perfectly mixed into a hilarious and classic Broadway plot.

Director Joseph Egan did a fabulous job at coordinating everything so that the show was smooth and effortless. All of the students involved proved talented triple-threats, properly trained and taught by choreographer Greg Baccarini. 

As always, the set and stage were immaculate. Lighting—designed by Andrew Gmoser—was perfectly fitting, especially the backlighting.

The crew was professional and never seen, just as stage crew needs to be, with the exception of a small microphone problem. However, issues of any sort are so rare during Nyack productions that they sorted the problem out quickly and nothing was lost.

Every cast member stood out and worked together to create a seamless show. Bianca Albanese, as Kitty, stole the show every time she was on stage with her funny and cute demeanor.

Martin Reinharden, who played the Man in the Chair, was the perfect nervous narrator. He knew how to balance the lively show occurring around him with his own character's dilemmas in "real life."

The audience laughed and clapped throughout the production and everyone left smiling.

Ericka Fichtner, who has gone to see every Nyack production, said that she enjoys the shows and always writes the cast and crew a letter telling them her impression, adding that she has no complaints about Drowsy Chaperone.

"I'm the number one fan of the Nyack HS drama club," Fichtner said.

Nyack High School junior Klarissa Armada said that although she has friends in the show, she came because she heard the buzz.

"Everyone in school is saying how good it is so I wanted to see it," she explained. "Plus, my English teacher is giving us extra credit."

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Nyack High Sschool presented The Drowsy Chaperone at 8 p.m. on April 1, 2 and 8 with a matinee at 2 p.m. on April 9.