Students at Memorial High School are singing and dancing to Elvis classics in their new musical “All Shook Up,” which opened last Friday night in the auditorium and will run again this coming Friday and Saturday (March 27 and 28) at 8 p.m. Tickets are $8 and available at the door. For more information, call (201) 553-4110.
“It is a great crowd-pleaser.” – Edwin Escoto
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Directed by chemistry teacher Steven Hempel, the show centers on a 1950s town where public singing and dancing are shunned by the mayor. Then a fun-loving, hip-swinging heartthrob stops in to have his motorcycle repaired and ends up changing everything.
“It’s really a fun show.” – Steven Hempel
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“It’s really a fun show,” he said, “a tough show, but a fun show.” He added that during tryouts, he was surprised by the students’ talent.
“They came in and they auditioned and people got roles that I didn’t expect them to be in,” said Hempel, “but they are living up to their parts.”
Escoto, who plays the young man who shakes things up, said he was very excited to be the lead, after being in the band in previous years.
“I was always the one who missed his cues because I was too busy looking up at the stage,” he said. He added that he is still not sure what he wants to do professionally, but he thinks he will be involved with theater in some capacity.
Student director, senior Cristian Turcios, said he was crazed while trying to help put everything together.
“Every single thing that goes wrong, you try to find the quickest solution and the best solution, and it is just trying to do that while trying to get in your lines,” he said.
Senior Alex Concepcion said that the songs put his vocal cords to the test.
“It was a real challenge for me that really helped out my range,” he said.
One student, Angela Marie Cirillo, a sophomore from High Tech High School in North Bergen, said it was tough for her, a self-proclaimed “girlie girl,” to play “Ed” in some of the scenes. She said that during rehearsals, she often had to remind herself to walk and talk like a man.
Team effort
While putting the show together, students not only learned about themselves and their own abilities, they said, but also how to work together.
“You need every single person here, because without one person, it just all falls apart,” said senior Erika Sosa.
Students said one challenge that they had to take on as a team was moving the heavy scenery, but despite the difficulties, they had a good time doing the show.
“I loved [Elvis’s music] before the show, and singing his songs is almost like a dream come true,” said junior Conrad Orellana.
Students, accompanied by a selection of talented teachers, are also participating in the orchestra, which is conducted by David Osnowitz, the supervisor of visual and performing arts for the school district. The high school’s vocal music teacher, Jiyoung DaSilva, and actor Jimmy Ashmore, have also been critical in the production of the show.
The cast and crew have been working on the show since January, and Hempel said they have all put in a lot of long hours.
Amanda Staab can be reached at astaab@hudsonreporter.com.