TOWAMENCIN – As spring approaches, so does the annual spring musical at North Penn High School.  Elton John and Tim Rice’s AIDA School Edition opens the last week in April.  The exciting rock opera set in the distant past of the Pharaohs tells the romantic story of the doomed love between the captured Nubian princess, Aida, and the Egyptian soldier, Radames. Each is forced to choose between their passionate love and the loyalty owed to their countries and people.

 Besides the normal dancing, singing, acting, and orchestra rehearsals and the set and costume building, some very exciting projects are also under way led by other organizations and classes at the high school.

Andrea Lee Roney, producer/director of NPHS Theatre met with Kyle Berger, teacher of the Communication/TV classes at the high school and Bob Gillmer, Communication Media Coordinator for North Penn School District, about producing a documentary on the making of the spring musical. Berger realized such a documentary would serve as a dynamic final class project for his Academies Communication Class (renamed for the 2013-2014 school year as Broadcasting and Video Production 2). After discussions with the class and some time spent studying documentaries, especially those that cover the Arts, the class enthusiastically jumped into the project.  Since January, using both photography and video, members of the class have been documenting auditions and rehearsals, set and costume building, and production meetings with the adult and student staff, chronicling all the elements that merge into a fully realized production.  Students have been collecting hours of footage to be edited down to a feature-length documentary. “It’s an incredible opportunity for my students to take part in a project that is – from start to finish – a ‘real world’ project,” said Berger.  “The enthusiasm and excitement that my students are showing on a daily basis in getting footage, editing it, and seeing the pieces of the puzzle come together is very satisfying to see as a teacher.  Giving a project of this magnitude to high school students and letting them run with it is a tough assignment, but it’s one that they have jumped into with both feet.”

Gillmer also secured permission for the project with Music Theatre International which represents the show. Three minutes of the show can be viewed or heard in the final cut.  But the focus of the documentary is not on the show itself, but the hours of preparation and the number of people that needed to bring a show from the “page to the stage”.  The difficulty in the editing room will be making the selections that tell the story of creating a production.

“This documentary is an enormous commitment of time and creativity on the part of the class,” says Roney, “I’m not sure the students realized the extent of the commitment when we first outlined the project. They have been completely professional in unobtrusively recording our work, while enthusiastically supporting their fellow students.  We are all learning doing something well, takes time, sweat, and investment.  We’ve all become engaged in something bigger than ourselves.”  The finished documentary will be a testament to the work of the TV/Communications, Theatre, and Music Programs in North Penn School District and how they impact students’ lives far beyond operating a camera, performing a scene or song, or playing an instrument.

Besides tackling the documentary, Roney also reached out to Linda Westerlund, teacher and advisor for NPHS’s Future Business Leader’s of America (FBLA) organization.  Both women acknowledge that they were determined to build a bridge between their two programs this year after time pressures managing their active programs intervened in previous years.  The result has been a number of FBLA students taking on marketing and publicity for the spring musical, including designing the program, posters, and postcards and branching out to social media networking to a larger North Penn community than usually attends the productions.  Adam Hustad, (senior) immediately saw the possibilities of developing projects to be included in college portfolios –  something digital art students learned a number of years ago when they began designing the logos for NPHS Theatre shows.  Steven Blumberg (junior) jumped at the chance to work with the North Penn High School Thespian Troupe 5464, the members of which support the work of NPHS Theatre, to develop social media opportunities to promote the show.  In their first meeting, Pascal Portney (senior), also Vice President of the Thespian Troupe, who is also playing the male lead in the production and is in the Academies Communication Class, linked up with Steven to provide footage and photography from the documentary and links to the existing social media pages for the Thespian Troupe.  Steven and his fellow FBLA members have vowed to fill every seat in the auditorium for all five performances!

The Knight Crier, North Penn High School’s award winning digital newspaper is also in on the act, providing articles about the production, the documentary, and interviews with cast members and others working on the musical. The Knight Crier also links directly with The Reporter, giving a larger community audience to life at North Penn High School.

All students involved – communication, theatre, music, literary, and business – are realizing the opportunities of sharing their talents and expertise. Each is learning a new appreciation for the different disciplines enriching the growing community producing Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida School Edition. What better educational experience can be imagined than providing students with an opportunity to grow past learning basic skills to applying those skills to real world experiences and realizing their personal potentials beyond the classroom. Roney summarized the partnerships, “Theatre is the  most collaborative art form, combining the abilities and visions of actors, carpenters, musicians, dancers, seamstresses, vocalists, designers, engineers in light and sound, writers, publicists, and, well, the list goes on.”  At North Penn High School, the list of committed individuals producing the musical reaches out to nearly 10% of the student body of 3200 whose talents will reach and entertain thousands in the greater North Penn community.

North Penn High School Theatre will be presenting Elton John and Tim Rice’s AIDA School Edition on April 25, 26, 27 at 7:30 PM and April 27 at 2:00 PM for the Family Matinee.  The popular Gold Card Matinee, free to senior citizens in the North Penn School District, will be April 24 at 1:00 PM. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults and are on sale now.  Download a ticket order form from www.npenn.org then follow the “AIDA” link to the NPHS Theatre website or call 215.853.1352.  Tickets can also be purchased at the door one half hour prior to performances.  Gold and Silver Cards are honored at all performances.  Those interested in supporting theatre arts at North Penn High School can also find sponsorship opportunities by following the “Aida” link from www.npenn.org.