High School Archives - Page 45 of 78 - Western Wayne School District

Pictured is the cast of Western Wayne School District’s Once Upon a Mattress. From left, row one, seated: Angelina Tornillo, Brenna McGlone, Rebeccah King, Adriana Barcarola, Julia Phillps, Becca Boots, and Ava Compton. From left, row two, standing: Jenna Frable, Lilly Morcom, Gavin Toy, Brandon Davis, Nate Conway, Anthony Martin, Juliana Kurent, and Ashley Marsh. From left, third row, standing: Chanya Graham, Larissa Ellsworth, Joanna Regalbuto, Amanda David, Karina Booths, Haley Strocchia, Alyssa Donnini, and Mrs. Jessica McLaughlin, director. From fourth row, standing: Alex Fullone, Cassia Sheehan, Lily Visceglia, Andie Solimine, Honour Shaffer, Sydney Peet, Alex Taylor, and Rhonda Fenkner. Absent from photo: Joseph McNeill and Jacob Jones.

Western Wayne Musical Drama Club students had the opportunity to perform pieces from their 2020 musical Once Upon a Mattress at Western Wayne RDW’s Read Across America Night on Thursday, March 5. The Drama Club presentation was one of a variety of experiences available for the children that evening.

The students entertained children and their families with a few scenes. Senior Honour Shaffer served as Master of Ceremonies for the event and also plays lead role Prince Dauntless the Drab.

The musical Once Upon a Mattress is a retelling of the classic tale of the princess and the pea. However, in the musical version, there is much humor added to the tale revolving around how Queen Aggravain has set a decree in the kingdom that no one will wed until her son Prince Dauntless does.

The catch is that the Queen does not wish her son to marry and will stop at nothing to come up with impossible tests for each princess suing for his hand in marriage. However, throughout the course of the musical, the unique Princess Winnifred the Woebegone, played by senior Andie Solimine, proves she is more than ready to pass the Queen’s test.

At Read Across America Night, the cast first previewed the Prologue scene with the musical number “Many Moons Ago” sung by Cassia Sheehan, minstrel. In “Many Moons Ago,” the minstrel tells a beautiful rendition of the princess and the pea tale. Ava Compton, prologue queen; Haley Strocchia, prologue princess; and Gavin Toy, prologue prince, reenacted the minstrel’s song in a ballet for the audience.

Next, Alex Taylor, Sir Harry, and Rhonda Fenkner, Lady Larken, performed “In a Little While.” Harry and Larken dream of getting married and starting a family, but have to wait for Dauntless to find a bride first. Harry vows to Larken that he will help to find the perfect princess for Dauntless, so that then they may be married.

The crowd was then entertained by the song “The Minstrel, The Jester And I” performed by Cassia Sheehan, minstrel; Lily Visceglia, jester; and senior Joseph McNeill, the king. In the song, the group reflects on some fond memories they have had together getting into a variety of mischief. Their song is told in a unique way because only the Minstrel and Jester can speak. The King has lost his voice due to a curse, but he pantomimes his thoughts in this song and throughout the show in a very comical way.

The fourth number performed for the RDW audience, was “Sensitivity” by Senior Sydney Peet who plays Queen Aggravain and her trusty side-kick the Wizard played by Alex Fullone. In the song, the Queen comes up with the plan to test Princess Winnifred for sensitivity by placing a pea under twenty mattresses. Sydney and Alex bantered about their plan throughout the song to entertain the audience.

The audience was also treated to the musical number “Normandy.” In this piece, Larken, Minstrel, Jester, and King returned to the stage. Larken is trying to flee from the kingdom alone. Her friends the Minstrel, Jester, and King offer her assistance to get to Normandy where she can be safe and taken care of.

Finally, the cast performed “The Swamps of Home.” In this comical piece, Fred tells Dauntless and her ladies in waiting played by Julia Phillips, Amanda David, Haley Strocchia, Adriana Barcarola, Alyssa Donnini, Joanna Regalbuto, Karina Booths, and Ava Compton, about what it was like to grow up in a swamp kingdom. At first, the group is unsure of their opinions on Fred, but as the song continues the ladies, Dauntless, and the audience fall in love with Fred and her quirky ways.

The crowd enjoyed the musical preview at the Annual Read Across America Night, and the Western Wayne Drama Club is grateful to RDW for inviting them to perform at this annual event for the past several years.
The directors of the show are very proud of the entire cast, crew, and pit band of Once Upon A Mattress and especially wish to acknowledge the years served in drama club and future plans of senior members.
Senior Dakota Beavers, Senior Head Stage Crew/Lights, has been a member of drama club for three years. After graduation, Dakota is considering college, and would like to work in music or theater production.
Senior Brandon Davis, knight, has been in drama club for three years. Upon graduation, Brandon plans to attend Johnson College for carpentry.

Senior Victoria Davis, stage crew, has been on crew for one year but has also assisted in set production for other Western Wayne plays. After graduation, Victoria plans to become a dog trainer at Star Mark in Texas.
Senior Allison King, Senior Head Stage Crew, has been a five-year drama club, stage crew member. After graduation, Ally plans to begin her own photography business.

Senior Rebeccah King, ensemble, has been a five-year drama club member, serving as the club’s historian for three years. Upon graduation, Becca has plans to study massage therapy.

Senior Joseph McNeill, who plays the King, came to Western Wayne this year. This is Joseph’s second time playing The King in Once Upon a Mattress, having also played this role at his previous school. After graduation, Joseph would like to enter the Air Force and then plans to enter a law enforcement program to become a game warden.

Senior Abygaile Milewski, stage crew, is a two-year drama club member. After graduation, Abygaile will attend Wilkes University and study communications.

Senior Andrew Oudshoorn, pit band, trumpet, has been in the pit for two years among many other band accomplishments and positions. After high school, Andrew has been accepted to Penn State Scranton for their undergraduate pre-med program.

Senior Sydney Peet, the Queen, is in her third year in drama club, currently serving as the club’s president. After high school, Sydney plans to major in economics in college.

Senior Honour Shaffer, Dauntless the Drab, is in his fourth year in drama club. He serves as the vice president of the club. Upon graduation, Honour plans to join the United States Coast Guard Reserves.

Senior Andie Solimine, Winnifred, has been acting since the third grade. Andie came to Western Wayne as a sophomore and has been in drama club ever since. Andie is planning to pursue a degree in music education at Marywood University.

Senior Nathan Taggart, pit band, trumpet, has been in the pit band for four years among many other band accomplishments and positions. Upon graduation, Nathan will attend Penn State University Park for chemical engineering.

Senior Brad Wood, pit band, trumpet ¬, is a first year pit band member, although he has been in band throughout high school and has many music accomplishments. After graduation, Brad plans to attend Mansfield University to pursue a bachelors’ degree in history, with a goal of earning a Ph.D. in history.

The directors of the Western Wayne Musical Drama Club are proud of the performance done by cast members at RDW as well as the many accomplishments of all of their students, especially the seniors, and would like to thank the district and community for their continued and consistent support of performance arts.

From left, first row: Allison King, Emily Brophy, Abygaile Milewski, Abby Lopez, and Hailey Robbins. From left, second row: Ash Mangieri, Damon Martzen, Jonatan Stanley, Nate McCollum, and Logan Smith. Absent from photo: Taylor Altenhofen, Jake Beavers, Olivia McCue, Estevan Mendoza, Darrell Schramm, Kiersten McDonald, Jocilyn Brungard, Asia Mendoza, and Olivianna Dendy.

Seniors Honour Shaffer and Andie Solimine play lead roles Prince Dauntless the Drab and Princess Winnifred the Woebegone in Once Upon a Mattress. During this scene, Winnifred studies for a test that Dauntless’ overbearing mother wants her to fail. Dauntless offers Winnifred encouragement that she will indeed pass and be his bride one day.

From left: Lily Visceglia, jester; Honour Shaffer; Prince Dauntless; and Andie Solimine, Princess Winnifred. In this moment, the Jester gives the shy Dauntless a push in the right direction to interact with Princess Winnifred who could be his future wife.

From left: Lily Visceglia, jester; Rhonda Fenkner, Larke;, and Cassia Sheehan, minstrel. At this point, Lady Larken wants to leave the Kingdom because she fears she will never be able to marry Sir Harry. The Jester, Minstrel, and King try to convince her to not leave alone. They promise to help her get to Normandy where she will be taken care of.

Sir Harry played by Alex Taylor and Lady Larken played by Rhonda Fenkner. Harry and Larken dream of getting married and starting a life together after Princess Winnifred passes Queen Aggravain’s test. The Queen will not allow anyone in the Kingdom to be married until her son is. Harry and Larken pose by lattice panels that they dance amongst in the number “Yesterday I loved You.”

From left: Cassia Sheehan, minstrel; Alex Fullone, wizard; and Lily Visceglia, jester. The Minstrel and Wizard engage in an elaborate handshake ritual because they both belong to the same performers’ guild that their fathers once belonged to as well. The Jester looks on pleased that the two are getting along.

From left: Ava Compton, prologue queen; Haley Strocchia, prologue princess; Gavin Toy, prologue prince; and Cassia Sheehan, minstrel. During the Prologue, the Minstrel sings the story of the Princess and the Pea while the dancers act it out in a beautiful ballet. However, the Minstrel tells the audience that the actual story in the play is not as pretty but still highly interesting to hear.

Queen Aggravain Sydney Peet and Prince Dauntless Honour Shaffer. The brash Queen scolds her son throughout the play. She very much wants to be in charge of his life and will do anything to make sure he does not find a suitable princess to marry. In this scene, the Queen delivers an elaborate monologue in which she gives Dauntless a lot of advice.

Wizard Alex Fullone and Queen Sydney Peet pose in the musical number “Sensitivity.” The Queen during this song must come up with a seemingly fair test for Princess Winnifred. She decides to test Fred for sensitivity by placing a pea under twenty mattresses. The Wizard, of course, agrees and wants to help his Queen achieve her goal.

From left: Brandon Davis, Gavin Toy, Andie Solimine, Nate Conway, and Anthony Martin. In this photo, knights pose around Princess Winnifred who has just swam the moat to get to the castle to meet Prince Dauntless because she was very anxious to meet him. Winnifred is like no princess the kingdom has ever seen.

From left: Gavin Toy, jester’s father; and Lily Visceglia, jester, pose in the musical number “Soft Shoes.” During the song, the Jester remembers how her father would entertain the court and dreams of following in his footsteps. The two dance a tap number together in a dream-like sequence with many fun props including canes and a never-ending handkerchief.

From left, row one: Honour Shaffer. From left, row two: Julia Phillips, Andie Solimine, and Amanda David. From left, row three: Haley Strocchia, Adriana Barcarola, Alyssa Donnini, Joanna Regalbuto, Karina Booths, and Ava Compton. During the song “The Swamps of Home,” Fred tells the story of her life in a kingdom that is within a swamp. In the picture, they all listen for sounds of the swamp after Fred has thrown Dauntless to the ground to hear it. The number is quite comical.

Sophomores & Juniors:

Please see the email that was sent to your school email regarding two wonderful opportunities.

Sophomores: Tomorrow’s Leaders Today (TLT)

Juniors: Leadership U

Applications are available on www.LeadershipLackawanna.com.

We have been sending students to TLT for years (Leadership U is a new program) and everyone involved always says what a great experience it is. Please look to apply and let your school counselor know if you have any questions.

Leadership Lackawanna is extremely sensitive to the current situation of our country, however, we would like to proceed forward with accepting applications for our youth initiatives – Tomorrow’s Leaders Today and Leadership U. Both have an application deadline of May 15^th. These programs are not scheduled to begin until July and mid-October, however, we do have the technology in place should we need to teach remotely.

Tomorrow’s Leaders Today program develops the leadership, interpersonal and managerial skills of high school juniors and provides real-world experiences in the areas of philanthropy, non-profit organizations and community service. Sessions are held one full weekday each month. Leadership Lackawanna’s Tomorrow’s Leaders Today Program accepts applications from sophomores who attend high school in Lackawanna County or in the Lackawanna Trail and Western Wayne school districts.

Leadership Lackawanna and Penn State Scranton are proud to offer a new, collegiate-level initiative called Leadership U. Participants will gain leadership and community engagement skills in the areas of public speaking, S.T.E.A.M., historical awareness, financial literacy and career exploration. Leadership U will be held July 1 through August 12, 2020. Sessions are held each afternoon on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. There is no class July 6. This Program accepts applications from juniors, with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher, who attend school in Lackawanna County or in the Lackawanna Trail or Western Wayne school districts. If selected, the student must be a senior to participate. Upon successful completion, participants will receive three college credits to Penn State. The credits are for a general education, 100 level class and are transferable to most institutions.