Spokesman Volume 59 Issue 2

6
ARTS
Behind the Scenes of 9 to 5: the Musical
Felicity Kapstein, XI
STAFF WRITER
From February 23–25, members
of the PDS community flooded
the McAneny theater to watch the
production of 9 to 5: the Musical. For
80 minutes, the audience was brought
back to the late 1970s, when women
had to fight to have their voices
heard in the workplace, not much
unlike today. The powerful message
of independent women making their
way through a male-dominated world,
mixed with amusing choreography,
hilarious dialogue, and outstanding
singing, made the show successful.
The cast and crew worked
tirelessly from morning until night
over President’s Day weekend and
rehearsed for many hours each day
after school to ensure the show would
be ready for performance in time.
Director Stan Cahill said they did not
have much time to rehearse on the
stage, stating that “to work efficiently,
the cast and crew need to have time to
work together on the stage …. We had
a fairly simple set but needed to add
extra set shift rehearsals to work out
the kinks.” Junior Sumaiyya Malik,
who worked on the set, shared how
the crew overcame technical issues,
commenting, “We created a run sheet
that detailed all the set transitions…
after that was created and as we
rehearsed, we figured out all our
transitions and got them done in a
timely manner.” Days of extensive
rehearsals dedicated to working out
the technicalities of the show certainly
paid off; during showtime, seamless
transitions kept the audience engaged
and enthusiastic. Malik expressed
that “everything went really well!”
The actors’ chemistry on set was
another aspect that made the show
so enjoyable to watch. The musical
was a bonding experience for cast
members, as they became closer
friends on and off stage. Sophomore
Ryan Falconi, who played Doralee
Rhodes, shared, “my favorite part
of doing the musical was getting to
perform alongside all of the talented
individuals who were involved … I
absolutely loved getting to know each
and every one of them.” Falconi’s
charming Southern character and
extremely believable accent were a
joy to watch. Furthermore, director
Stan Cahill expressed that his
favorite moment from the show
was “when the cast, crew, and
musicians were working together in
the scene shifts … I don’t think the
audience will ever realize how hard
it was to choreograph the transition
sequences.” Everybody involved
put much effort into the musical,
and the final product displayed their
hard work wonderfully. The show’s
end was met with a standing ovation
from the audience, demonstrating
just how much the PDS community
and beyond enjoyed watching our
school’s rendition of 9 to 5: the
Musical. r
(Photo/Umang Sharma ‘26)
(Photo/Umang Sharma ‘26)
(Photo/Umang Sharma ‘26)
Arts Department Update: Fine Arts
Kayla Zhang, XI
STAFF WRITER
A s we approach spring (and,
slowly, the end of the second
semester), the Fine Arts classes
continue their journey, learning
and creating in ways made possible
only by their Fine Arts teacher and
Gallery Director Gwen Shockey.
The Intro to Fine Arts class is
currently engaging in an exploration
that enhances their skills in precision
and consistency and, less obviously,
their balance. You may see your
classmates lugging boxes of various
sizes, labeled with measurements,
that contain carefully placed
objects. The artists composed these
packaged dioramas which they now
sketch. The current unit is a direct
application of the previous, which
was a study of shading; dozens of
sketches of cubes, cylinders, cones,
and spheres are tacked up on the art
classroom’s wall. This unit allows
artists more freedom of expression;
freshman Kristine Wang’s diorama
contains a miniature statue of a
huntress, complete with real moss
and dead leaves, while freshman
Amy Lin placed a bottle of hand
sanitizer near a multicolored stuffed
rabbit wearing a face mask.
Presently, the Advanced Fine Arts
class progresses through their third of
four units, all of which are connected
in some way. Their first unit was an
exploration of the collage medium,
where they constructed their dreams
(in every manner of the word) with
bits and pieces of art or photographs
from other sources; these finished
products can be seen in the science
hallway, right outside of the physics
classroom. The second unit was the
abstraction of these collages using
paint. They currently line the walls
of the arts atrium, so that we can
view the student artists’ canvases.
Now, the class is bringing their
creations into the world of three
dimensions. They are allowed to use
just about anything: some people
are using objects they found and
modified for their piece, while others
bought supplies made specifically
for sculpting. None of the positions
for where the final pieces may be
displayed are concrete except for
the ceiling-piece in the arts atrium
hallway, which you can sneak
glances at while in the math classes.
It seems that the artists have free
reign to express their dreams.
Senior Elizabeth Sun said that
this was a nice change of pace,
since sculpting was a medium that
she rarely engaged in before. She
is excited to use various tools such
as foam, foam coat, and acrylic for
her project. Junior Elena Sichel
explained that the last unit will
be “Performance. It can be pretty
much anything, and it’s mostly up
to interpretation.” I can only assume
that the trend of the dimension of
art being presented corresponding to
the unit number will continue, and
that the year’s end unit will yield
designs that transcend our plane of
comprehension. r