Our Director, Sarah Rosenthal, whose combined teaching, and theatre background worked wonders with our 5th grade cast. She championed the kids when they most needed it, and we think she created the safe and welcome atmosphere that our children deserve. They flourished under her guidance, and we are grateful for her patience and talent.
Our Music Director, Jonathan Rosenthal, who also has a lengthy combined teaching and theatre background. He both played the piano and sang his heart out teaching the songs to our cast. He made the process light and fun, but also encouraged many triumphant moments for our cast who worked so hard to learn their songs.
Our Choreographer, Liz Kenney, who is an educator by day, but an incredibly talented parent volunteer by afternoon, who crafted and taught the numerous dance numbers in this play. It would have been impossible to have these full cast dance routines without her videos, notes, and time spent almost every rehearsal with the cast.
Our Co-Producers, parent volunteers Janine Persechini and Sarah Pawluczonek who were the glue that held the production together. From running auditions to managing the weekly rehearsal schedule to rounding up volunteers and painting tea cup costumes, we are so grateful for everything you did to help make this show a reality and keep the parents informed and the 5th graders excited and engaged and ready for the big show!
We must sincerely thank the Hemenway Elementary School Administration for permitting us to have the play here at the school, giving us space and letting us get quite loud at rehearsals. They also assisted with processing volunteer CORI’s, student dismissals and working with us on numerous (often last minute) requests.
We truly appreciate all of the teaching staff, but especially the 5th Grade team who totally redesigned their dismissal process to accommodate us, helped us distribute and gather copious amounts of paperwork to students, and bridged communication with caretakers. A special shout out to Mr. D’Amico who let us invade his classroom for a messy and furniture rearranging snack time for every rehearsal when the kids were in their most “spirited” mood of the day.
A much deserved thank you to Seth and the Custodial Staff at Hemenway, as they worked tirelessly on logistics with us (very willingly), worked extra hours so that we could be in the school after hours, and were extremely patient about any messes we made.
We need to recognize Demi Akins and the entire staff of the afterschool program, Explorers, who gave up their space in the cafeteria and on the stage. They, without complaint, navigated around our human/backpack barrier as we flooded the front lobby totally impeding their dismissal process. We could not have rehearsed on an actual stage without their generosity.
We would like to express our deepest thanks to our Volunteers, who are the unsung heroes of the whole process. So critical in fact, that we need to break down our appreciation further:
A very special thank you to parent volunteer Kelly Fisher (Aidean’s mom), for her costume design and incredible seamstress skills. Without her, we would have been gluing and stapling cloth together and hoping that it didn’t fall apart on stage (which it likely would have). She single-handedly created the costumes for all six Les Filles de la Villes, and for Maurice, Madame de la Grande Bouche, Cogsworth, and Babette. This was a huge undertaking, and we are so extremely grateful.
A big thank you to Todd Witherow for building the rotating set boxes. They are the frames that hold all the painted scenes, and the craftsmanship is incredible. They are literally the heart of the set.
