Category: A&E

Every Christmas season, voices of Lower School students fill the Performing Arts Center during their annual Christmas concerts. Because of COVID-19’s restrictions, Lower School music teachers, Mrs. Maureen Woeltge and Mrs. Adrienne Johnson, have had to make some adjustments to these traditional festivities. 

Amidst the musical changes of this year is the new format of this year’s Christmas concerts. Rather than performing live in front of an audience of parents, each Lower School class recorded a video of some Christmas carols. Students recorded their songs six feet apart in the Performing Arts Center, with masks on. Some of these festive songs included Joy to the World, Deck the Halls, Silent Night, White Christmas, and Here Comes Santa Claus. The videos will be sent out to parents for an at-home viewing of the virtual concert. 

Mrs. Beth Reopelle, a fifth grade teacher and parent of fourth grader Camille Reopelle, commented, “Every adult can remember performing in concerts or Nativity plays growing up, and as parents, we long to have our children make those memories.” She continued, “I think that parents are encouraged to see Christmas through the eyes of a child as they watch performances.”

Students prepared for their concerts in creative ways that go beyond singing. Like the performances, classes are largely similar to those of past years, yet students rehearse six feet apart and there is minimal singing. Students also participate in musical games, one of which involves boomwackers, which are musical instruments that help students practice the rhythm of a song. Mrs. Woeltge, the second-fifth grade music teacher, reflected,“It’s challenging not always singing in class. We have some singing, it just is never the focal point.”

In another effort to keep the Christmas spirit alive, Mrs. Woeltge’s students are also learning about the Nutcracker and will have an opportunity for a Christmas sharing day, where students can share music with their classes.

Despite the difficulties of this school year, there is still a heavy presence of learning and fun in the classroom.  Mrs. Johnson, who teaches kindergarten and first grade music, stated, “My favorite part of teaching in general is watching the excitement of the students as they discover new songs, learn lyrics, play games and just plain have fun in the music room.”

Johnson also commented, “Lower School music classes are singing our way through the pandemic and having a jolly fun time singing holiday favorites.” Her classes are taking this time to discover new and exciting songs, one of which is called, “When Santa Got Stuck in the Chimney”, and has become a classroom favorite. 

Between Christmas carols and musical games, the Lower School is surely singing its way through the Christmas season here at PA.

Secret clues, hidden house leaders, scrambled words, and running around the school; what else could high schoolers approaching finals week need? House period last Wednesday, December 2nd brought all of these exciting activities to the Upper School.     

During the last period of the school day on Wednesday December 2nd, each of the eight girls’ houses were given clues to 11 locations around the school. After solving a clue, the girls rushed to each location, where they found a house leader waiting for them. The house leader then gave each group a letter and the clue to the next location in the scavenger hunt. 

Ms. Julie Behrens, math teacher and Beta House Advisor exclaimed, “It sounded like a herd of elephants running through the halls as they were giggling and enjoying themselves!”

After going to 11 locations and finding all 11 letters, each house had to unscramble the letters in order to find out what words they spelled. “G-R-E-E-N-E-’S R-O-O-M” was the golden ticket to victory. These words led each house to the final location of the scavenger hunt, the classroom of Ms. Erika Greene, the Head of Women’s House. 

Upon reaching her classroom, the girls found a flag with their house name on it. They then had to bring the flag to Mrs. Kate Gregg’s office in order to win. 

“It was really exhausting because we ran up and down so many flights of stairs! It was a good team bonding experience for our house, though,” Marie Heyda ‘23, Epsilon house member, commented.

Beta house came in first place, going to all 11 locations and retrieving their flag the fastest of the eight girls’ houses. They won the grand prize of 100 house points, which will contribute to the points needed to win the house competition at the end of the year. 

“People were actually smiling and enjoying themselves, which is so important, especially with finals coming up,” Liv Klammer ‘21, Beta House Leader, reflected.

At this time of year, houses would normally be gathering together, making Christmas cookies, and enjoying sweets. However, planning activities looked a lot different due to distancing requirements this year. It required adaptability and resilience, which the house leaders enthusiastically used to bring excitement back into house.

The girls’ house leaders spent two weeks brainstorming ideas for an exciting final activity before semester exams. After sifting through several ideas, they finally landed on the scavenger hunt. 

“There’s just something about running around the school together and solving clues that brings people closer,” Klammer commented.

Both house members and leaders had a blast, making the scavenger hunt a huge success. It truly did make up for the loss of some Christmas activities this year.

It’s show time! The day of the show is usually a bustling and busy couple of hours of final preparations. The backstage area of the PAC is abuzz with spontaneous karaoke sessions, hair and makeup crew members are attempting to bribe reluctant fashionistas into putting on less agreeable costume and makeup, and the air is thick with an undeniable energy and excitement.

Last weekend, however, didn’t bring the same atmosphere. New actors and veterans alike were thrilled to be back in the swing of things, but there were no costumes to be had, not even a set. Instead, the eight members of Providence Academy’s fall show took their place at a small configuration of seats with microphones and tried their best to make the story of Blithe Spirit come to life with their voices and a few key sound effects.

In response to the recent COVID 19 pandemic, the Upper School theatre department made a major change in order to have their show. They decided to take the fall play, which was already slated to have a small cast in order to remain in COVID restrictions, and make it a radio show. This meant that there would be no set or costumes, just the actors sitting and giving their lines. One student  provided all of the sound effects that would have otherwise been visualized under normal circumstances. Some were simply audio files utilized when the script called for it, like glasses breaking or a record playing. Others, like the sound of tapping on the table or the table falling over were created live by the actors.

For several of the actors, this method of acting was an entirely new approach in the sense of characterization and how they were going to bring these ghosts, mystics, and hopeful authors to life. 

“After all, they can’t see me,” leading man Joseph Uzelac, ‘22, reflected. “I have to find ways to convey in my voice that I’ve sat down or that I’m pacing. It puts far more pressure on me as the actor to create just as memorable of an experience for the audience.” 

Director Melissa Simmons agreed with this statement with one of her final notes before recording day. “This is an entirely different skillset that we’ve had our players learn and experiment with,” she stated. “It’s not at all what we expected to be doing this year, but everyone involved has done an excellent job of adjusting accordingly.” 

Another major deviation from traditional plays that sets radio plays apart is the inclusion of a narrator to read the lines of stage directions, things that would otherwise be acted out by the actors onstage. This was a bit of an adjustment for actors, who were used to skipping the stage directions in the readings of the show, but it gave the cast a chance to truly understand what was going on in any given scene. The addition of a narrator also allowed a new character to be introduced to an already small cast and another voice to be added.

One of the hardest things about doing a show during COVID is the limited number of people who can be involved with the show. While PA theatre works hard to include everyone who wants to be a part of the show, it’s not always possible to cast everyone who tries out. In order to compensate for this, there was a second, shorter show that was put together with the actors who weren’t a part of Blithe Spirit. This ensured that everyone who wanted to share their talents could, and made a new experience for audience members to enjoy.

Overall, the show was a great success, in spite of the different situation of this year. Audience members were able to enjoy the hard work of the Providence Academy players from the comfort of their own homes, and there was the added bonus of no paid admissions.

“This probably wasn’t at all what these kids were planning to do for their fall show, but they did an awesome job with what they were given,” one audience member, a neighbor of one of the cast members of Blithe Spirit enthused. “I’m so glad that I was able to listen to and enjoy the show in spite of everything.”

Though it was by no means the ideal method of having the fall play, the radio play of Blithe Spirit was the perfect thing to get people back into the swing of something normal. Though the virus has changed so, so many things this year, it was a beacon of hope to know the old saying remains true: the show must go on.