Written by Tim Sun
Next week, students and staff will convene to perform the annual choir-staff musical to raise funds for the choir’s June concert tour in Ireland. The show will run three nights this year: Tuesday through Thursday from Feb. 7 to Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. Due to construction on Spangenberg Theatre, the musical is being held in Paly’s new Performing Arts Center.
The location change brings challenges such as transportation and communication, but choir director William Liberatore is excited about the opportunity to perform in a different venue. “It’s physically difficult,” he said. “We have to figure out how to get over there to rehearse [and] we have to get the audience to understand to go there to see it, but to get to perform in such a beautiful, new space is nothing but cool.”
Senior Matthew Golub is also looking forward to the opportunity to perform for different audience members. “Hopefully we’ll get some people from Paly there to support us,” he said. “Maybe we’ll be able to build some stronger community ties.”
In addition to forcing the choir to perform at Paly, the construction means that upperclassmen will no longer have any more performances in Spangenberg. Junior Bryce Jacoubowsky has spent many years in the theatre and knows he has finished his last show in the venue. “It’s definitely going to be sad not ever being able to perform in Spangenberg again,” Jacoubowsky said. “My dad used to work here, so I’ve been to Spangenberg so many times, even before coming to Gunn.”
Golub also has sentimental attachments to Spangenberg, but he believes that the experience will be enjoyable no matter where the show takes place. “The most fun and important part about choir is just the people you’re performing with,” Golub said. “So regardless of where we perform, it’s always going to be fun.”
With the show coming up, choir has been working hard to finish learning the dances and rehearse as a group. Last weekend, students went on an overnight retreat in Camp Jones Gulch to prepare for the show. For sophomore Valerie Ruelas, this retreat is her favorite aspect of the experience. “It’s really fun to work with everybody on the retreat,” she said. “Even though the preparation can be stressful, everyone gets really close at the end.”
Jacoubowsky also enjoys the collective energy and mood as over 150 students put in hours of work toward a single show. “I just enjoy having the atmosphere of everyone being excited about something we all get to do together,” he said. “It’s really fun because we have tons of different dances and songs that we have to sing along to and choreograph.”
The title of the show is “And Then There Were Nuns,” and features Dorothy and Toto as they make their way to New York City to audition for a Broadway musical. Liberatore says the musical is full of laughs and urges students to watch. “It’s outrageously funny,” he said. “It’s two and a half hours of hilarious. [You will] definitely want to see what happens.”
