Theater performers in the Bayonne School District will have a lot to live up to when they come back in September.
Last year, Bayonne High School received the 14th Annual Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards in the area of Educational Impact, although students from throughout Bayonne were involved – not just the high school. The awards recognize excellence in school plays around the state.
The play provided students with an opportunity to study themes such as social awareness and prejudices.
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The Rising Star Awards are modeled after the Tony Awards. Paper Mill’s program reviews 100 entered productions from high schools. The 2009 Rising Star Award ceremony was held at Paper Mill Playhouse on Tuesday, June 16. The nominees performed and the award recipients were presented with a crystal award from Rising Star Award partner Tiffany’s & Co.
Since their inception in 1996, the Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theater have ignited the careers of many notable performers, all of whom attended high school in New Jersey. Among early nominees and winners are Tony Award winner Laura Benanti, who starred on Broadway opposite Patti LuPone in “Gypsy,” and Academy Award nominee Anne Hathaway.
In addition, Bayonne High School alumna and member of the Bayonne Public Schools music department Meghann Zervoulis is on the Paper Mill Playhouse staff. She was also the musical director for “Beauty and the Beast.”
Meghann’s mom, Donna Zervoulis, accepted the award on behalf of the high school. Her poetry students had participated in the Educational Impact award along with Joanne Squitieri’s students and P.S. 14 art teacher Marcia Singer’s students.
“Sitting in the audience last night, I was most proud to hear Bayonne High School announced,” commented Mrs. Joan H. Rosen, director of music and art for the Bayonne Public Schools. “This was the second time that our school has won this award. First with Drama Director Shia Saltzman and now with the new innovations of Director Tim Craig,
Bayonne was nominated in two categories, with BHS student Anthony Duffy nominated in the Student Achievement category.”
P.S. No14 School teacher Joanne Squitieri said art, history and other educational elements were involved with the play, so that people involved learned the history of the time period, while researching the appropriate décor: Coats of arms, stained glass windows, and elements of design. The lobby outside the auditorium was decorated to fit in with these themes.
The play itself provided students with an opportunity to study themes such as social awareness, prejudices, and other elements. The district also assigned essays related to the play, as well as poetry and coloring contests.
Craig said the idea was to tie the production into other areas of curriculum, and to get the students involved on various levels.
“What is most important is the tie-in with education,” he said. “This was not just entertainment, but had a strong educational element.”