By Josh LaBella
Voice Reporter
Next week the high school will put on the last musical, Cinderella, in the auditorium of what will become the old high school building. The show will be on March 28, 29 and 30 at 7 p.m. with a matinee on March 30 at 2, which will be free for senior citizens.
Tickets can be purchased from any cast or crew member between 7:30 and 1:00 on school days or from Margaret Maher, director of the theatre workshop. She said tickets cost $12 dollars in advanced and $15 at the door. West Haven students and doctoral students only need to pay $5.
Maher, who is also an English teacher, said it was a magical show and a classic. She said while the show has been rewritten and changed over the years, they went with the original.
“If anybody saw it on television in 1957, this is the one that we’re doing,” said Maher. “It’s a sweet, innocent show.”
Maher said a lot of the costumes for the production were designed and made by Courtney Skeens, who plays the stepmother, and is also in charge of the senior show happening later in the semester.
Maher said there are 38 students in the show and eight people working as back stage crew – including four alumni. She said the show is coming along beautifully and the students are working very hard. As the last show in that space, Maher said it would be special.
“It’s extremely bittersweet,” said Maher. “There’s been so much theater here. It opened in 1963. I was a part of it from 1968 on, in the summer theatre program as a kid.”
Maher said during the show there are no adults backstage at all. The show is completely run by students. She said it has been done that way for 20 years.
Daniel Gallipoli, a junior playing Prince Charming in the show, said he has been involved in theatre since his freshman year and, once he started, he found his family. He said he enjoys being a different person.
“I can be whoever I want to be on that stage,” said Gallipoli. “I can make people feel so many different things. It’s wonderful.”
Gallipoli said when he first found out they were doing Cinderella he was slightly disappointed because, as he put it, “It’s a girl play.” But, as they went through rehearsals, he said he learned to not only love the musical but also the people involved with it.
Cinderella’s stepsisters will be played by twins Hannah and Olivia Coppola, who are in their senior year. Hannah said she loved playing off of her sister.
“We both balance very well together as far as doing acting goes,” she said. “This is the first time we’ve ever done a role together. So it’s really exciting, especially to play stepsisters in Cinderella, which is such an iconic show.”
Olivia said acting in a high school atmosphere is very fun and creative. She said it has been awesome to do theatre there.
Playing the title character of the production is Grace Novak; who said she played a lead in both of her middle school plays at Bailey. She said she enjoys expressing her feelings through acting.
“It’s so much fun because you can grow a bond with every single person on the cast,” said Novak. “Everyone is so nice in this cast. I love it.”
Novak said the show is really coming along and looks like it is going to be “amazing.”