The Junior School production of "Hopeful Youths," an original screenplay written by Hopkins Junior School students delighted crowds on May 13 & 14 in Lovell Auditorium.
The play presented scenes from noted moments in Hopkins history from 1660 to today, from the one room schoolhouse on the New HAven Green, to Hopkins during times of War, to the merging of Hopkins Grammar School with Day Prospect Hill. Congratulations to the Junior School actors, writers, and HDA director Mike Calderone on a job very well done!
To see photos from the performance, click here.The following is the program from the production.
Hopeful YouthsThe Cast
Boys7th Grade Jackson Kleeman
John Josephson
Sam Berry
8th GradeCorey Chang
Jack Greenberg
Joshua Furth
Nathaniel Peters
Owen Prum
Girls
7th Grade Anna Ayres-Brown
Isabel Balcezak
Maraya Clark
Chelsea Cutler
Rose Etzel
Karma Masselli
Kyra Post
Dory Warner
Rosabella Ziou
8th GradeAgapè Cogswell
Jenny Ibsen
Miela Mayer
Alisa Pasichnik
Abby Shrader
Taegan Williams
Susan Zea
ScenesIntroduction
Schoolhouse on the Green – by Christopher Peters
A Scene on West Rock
The Fallow Years
1791 – A Student’s Memory of Latin Class
Hopkins During a Time of War
Peace and Love – a poem by Rosabella Ziou
1872 - Big Trees
1876 - Tall Desk Tale
1877 - The Excuse
1927 - Boys With Cheese
1959 – Prom Announcement
Prom Scenes I & II
Memories of the Day Prospect Hill School by Rosabella Ziou
Quotations from Chairman Male
HGS - DPH – by Elizabeth Peters
Girls’ Lacrosse at Hopkins
The Baseball Star’s Girlfriend – by Lucie Ledbetter
The First Computers At Hopkins – by Dutch Waanders
2010 - A Hopkins April Fool’s Day – by Jenny Ibsen and Susan Zea
2009 - Commencement Speech– by Hillary Hoffman
The Hopkins Alma Mater
Director’s NotesWhen considering what production I could direct for the Junior School in this anniversary year, I knew I wanted to do something uniquely “Hopkins.” Of course, the play had to reflect the 350 years of Hopkins’ existence.
Having the students write a play based on their own school’s history seemed like the best way to get what we wanted out of this anniversary performance. I did not want to limit the writing to the members of the cast; therefore, I put out a request last autumn to anyone in the Hopkins community to submit scenes, monologues or poems based on Hopkins history from the point of view of the students. I wanted to impress on the cast and our audience that no matter what our illustrious alumni accomplished in their adult lives, they were, at one point, no more nor less, what our students of today are: Hopkins students. Who knows what the students of today will accomplish in their lives?
Some of the scenes and stories are based on archived anecdotes mined from alumni autobiographies. Yes, some of our most celebrated alumni disrupted class, got into fights, and hoodwinked classmates. These true stories can be identified by the year in which they took place projected on our screen and our Scene Listing in this program. A few of these are lifted directly from the archives, written by alumni when they were students on the hill, or another hill in the case of the young women from Day Prospect Hill School.
Other scenes, written by the cast and a few High School students are based on moments of time the history of the school, New Haven, or the country. We realized early on, and hope you recognize that we can neither cover every era nor every personality who graced the halls of our school. We did have an amazing time researching the school: its locations; its alumni; its teachers. Plus, we enjoyed the process of piecing together our different scripts. I was personally guaranteed a good belly-laugh each rehearsal and look forward to working with this committed, talented group of artists in the future. Although I am far from being a youth, I HOPE you enjoy the show!
~MJC
Please Note: This production has a running time of 70 minutes without an intermission.
The CrewCostumes Judy Lenzi-Magoveny
Stage Manager Lianne Yun
Asst. Stage Managers Symren Dhaliwal & Dani Gorton
Sound Operator and Designer Harry Kane
Lighting Operators Lindsay Blake & Angus MacMullen
Projection Operator Annie Hughes
Poster and Program Design Annie Hughes
Special ThanksThe Calderone Girls, Thom Peters, John Roberts, Hope Hartup, John Anderson, Clem Kuehn, Jennifer Lane, JS Visual Arts, JS Science Dept., JS Athletics, Alisa Davis & Penny Ratcliffe, Donna Fasano, Peg Vermilya, The Snack & Dinner Parents, The Cage Crew, Gerard Casanova, Corey Chase, Kristin Taurchini, Lars Jorgensen, Julie Roberge, The IT Team, The Mighty Men of Maintenance, And anyone else we may have overlooked.
Thursday Night
Please join us in the Lower Lobby after the performance for light refreshments.
Friday Night
Please join us in the Heath Commons for a Junior School Ice Cream Social (if you or your child is in the Junior School!)
Hopkins Junior School Drama 2010
Presents
Hopeful Youths
Written by the Students of
Hopkins School & Day Prospect Hill School
May 13th and 14th at 7:30 pm
Lovell Auditorium
All Tickets $5
Directed by
Michael Calderone
