NCCS News Stories
Middle School Drama Students Fall “Into the Books”
Middle School drama students became their favorite childhood storybook characters— Harold, Wild Thing, Petey Bunny, the Cap Peddler—for their Winter Musical production. Inspired loosely by the musical “Into the Woods,” the original production was conceived, written and performed entirely by students. (view the photo slideshow)
In the play, two students fall into a magical storybook. With the help of the storybook characters, the students have to outsmart evil monkeys who have wreaked havoc on their stories. For example, Harold must recapture his purple crayon for all to be well in the world.
For 10 weeks, 18 fifth and sixth graders worked feverishly to write and stage the play. They wrote lyrics to songs, choreographed dance numbers and made props.
“In addition to crafting a story, the students had to learn how to work together in a productive and enjoyable way,” said Faculty Advisor Kathy Kravec. “They put all the mission skills into practice— teamwork, curiosity, creativity, resilience, ethics and time management.”
Writing a script as a group was not an easy task. The students engaged in several weeks of brainstorming and flow-charting, went through countless Post-it notes and became glued to their shared Google doc. When the students couldn’t agree on a plot twist, they voted.
“At first, everyone wanted to know the idea of the story right away,” said fifth grader Lexi McCall who played Maxi from “Where the Wild Things Are.” “We had to understand that it was going to take time, a script just doesn’t magically appear overnight.” Lexi spent many nights reviewing the script over and over looking for holes.
The Middle Schoolers also practiced empathy. The group dismissed popular stories like “Harry Potter” and “Inside Out” from being a part of their play because they wanted young students to recognize their favorite books. “We were thinking about the audience all the time,” said Benjamin Herdeg who played the boy in “The Giving Tree. “We also made sure not to give away the story endings, just in case a child hadn’t read them yet.”
For sixth grader Maggie Ruvinsky, who played the Librarian, putting together the play was about self-discovery, as much as it was teamwork.
“I learned that I was more outgoing than I thought I was,” said Maggie. She knew the play so well that she became the defacto Assistant Director, feeding people their lines, finding props and queuing members of the cast. “I really cared about it turning out well.”
Lexi was new to Country School this year and the play allowed her to bond with other drama students. “It was hard to walk into a room where I didn’t really know anyone. By the end of the show I felt like we were all a family. I felt so supported.”
The Cast:
JB Barr: Will
Paige Davis: Wild Thing 3
Menna Delva: Corey the Monkey
Lila-Vivi Fagel: Grandma Bunny
Daisy Fichthorn: Harold
Daniela Galik: Wild Thing 2
Alanna Gribin: Tree
Benjamin Herdeg: Boy
Bridget Keogh: Petey Bunny
Ari Lerner: Head Gym Teacher, Hair Stylist
Alexandra Mathews: Retired Librarian
Lexi McCall: Maxi
Nina Paolini-Rota: The Peddlar
Maggie Ruvinsky: Current Librarian
Dylan Seth: Grace
Anna Sheridan: Dakota the Monkey
Ella Zea: Wild Thing 1
Mason Zea: Fitzer the Monkey
Mr. Andy Johnson: Evil Master Monkey
New Canaan Country School
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New Canaan Country School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin and are afforded all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, or disability in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, financial aid policies or any other school-administered programs.