SIMSBURY, Conn. — Story by Nathan Cournoyer, Jack Sherman, Vaughn Marecki
With the COVID-19 pandemic finally starting to calm down, students are able to continue one of Simsbury's theatrical traditions. Every winter, Simsbury High School has a musical, but that musical turned into a film during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We never were in the in one room all together. Everything was done online we rehearsed online, we wrote online, and we would film in person but again it wasn't everybody. We did not use masks the only way we could do that was to have one person in one room, another person in another room, and another person in another room. We would put our masks on to rehearse and then we go to our perspective rooms and we had a zoom link going between the room so we can hear each other,” said Music teacher and creative director Dr. Stuart Younse.
After not being able to perform on stage for almost two years, Simsbury students are back and better than ever. “It's the story of Pippin who's our protagonist and it's kind of a coming-of-age story. He's trying to find meaning and fulfillment in the world and he's being guided by a group of players through this journey that we see him through, "said Musical director, Anna Ricciuti.
“There are obviously more differences than last year but coming out of COVID we still have to retain some of the COVID precautions that we had last year such as face masks. We're going to be performing with face masks. Even with some of the COVID limitations, I'm so so grateful for what we have and it's going to be a great great show.” said Alex Vargas, student, in the cast of Pippin.
Rehearsing, building, and even paper mache, the set is coming along will be ready soon. “Our set designer created this large trunk that we were using and it has two platform slip stages that pull out of it which becomes a way of Storytelling. It becomes different scenery throughout the show,” said Musical director, Anna Ricciuti.
With opening that just around the corner, Simsbury Students are giving it their all to make this play one to remember.
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