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04/06/2021 12:30 PMThe show will go on, modified of course. The Old Saybrook High School Drama Club will hold a musical review called “Songs of Innocence and Experience” on Thursday, April 8 that will livestreamed at 7 p.m. and then be available to watch the next two days.
Lenore Grunko, the director and drama club advisor, said that the performance consists of Broadway songs from different shows that the students themselves picked. Grunko wrote dialog to connect the songs to make one cohesive story. The show will feature 11 different students performing 19 different songs that run the gamut from solos to duets to quartets.
A link to the livestream will be available at oshs.oldsaybrookschools.org.
There will be an orchestra pit staffed by professional musicians Anastasia Elliot Littlefield on piano, Mark Gehret on bass, and Ryan Moonan and John Gage on drums.
Due to stringent guidelines put in place for the COVID-19 pandemic, no spectators will be allowed to watch in person besides the cast. The performers will wear special clear masks ordered by Grunko so their faces will remain visible while they sing.
“None of this is optimal. It’s kind of a horrible situation,” Grunko said of the lack of an audience.
Still, she knows it could be worse.
Grunko said that last year the club had been all set to go ahead with their spring show, then two days before curtains up the show was canceled due to the pandemic.
“I didn’t want any chance that could happened again this year,” Grunko said.
To avoid another painful letdown, Grunko said the call was made to do the socially distant show. That decision also meant there would be not much in the way of wardrobes or set design. While the circumstances may not be optimal, Grunko said there are silver linings.
Grunko said she is now fully vaccinated against the virus which she said has made her more comfortable being around the kids, and the kids are happy to be back performing for others.
“I’m happy to be doing something. It’s the theater we have, not the theater we want. The kids are certainly happy to be back,” Grunko said.
Even with the reality of COVID, Grunko said the club found ways to cope this year. In the fall the group did an online radio performance of War of the Worlds. The club also filmed a movie, a murder mystery called Show Stopper, in which three cast members were recognized for their contributions by the Connecticut Drama Association at its annual festival. McKenna Roberts and Alice Ponds won awards for acting and Abigail Clifford won an award for her editing work.
Editor’s Note
As in previous years, the Harbor News was invited to photograph a rehearsal after school hours to help share the performers’ excitement for the upcoming performance, similar to our March 18 coverage of the Westbrook High School performance of A Chorus Line; this year, our photographer was denied entry to the appointment by Central Office decree. Neither Superintendent of Schools Jan Perrucio nor Executive Assistant to the Superintendent Trent Gerbers had responded to multiple inquiries about the exclusion at press time.