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Kenilworth's Harding Elementary School Newspaper Publishes Article 'Behind the Scenes of Willy Wonka Jr'
By Telina Cuppari,
2024-05-22
The cast of Willy Wonka Jr. Credits: Kim C
KENILWORTH, NJ - The seventh issue of Harding Elementary School's newspaper Let's HAWK About It! was recently published. Harding pupils Marco Davis, Marlowe Chua and Santina Rizzo wrote the following article.
I had the pleasure to meet with Mr. Mills and I asked him some questions about the upcoming play, Willy Wonka Jr.
First, I asked Mr. Mills what part of the play he thought was going to be the best part. Mr. Mills said, “I think the best part of the play is a song called, "I've Got A Golden Ticket!" It is my favorite song in the script because it is filled with hope, anticipation of what's to come, joy and promise. Charlie is a humble, kind and good character and he possesses all the qualities that make someone honest and true.
I asked Mr. Mills what he felt was the best part of directing the play. He told me that, “The best part about directing the play is working with the talented students in our school. I have always loved theatre, and growing up, I was in many school and community plays and shows. I love to see work with the talented students on stage doing what I am so passionate about.”
I was curious to find out how Mr. Mills and Ms Boomer picked this year’s play. Mr. Mills explained that he “Always puts a lot of thought into the school play, and thinks about who we have that may be a good fit for all of the characters. Ms. Boomer and I think about what is trending and who we have in our school before selecting the play.”
In Mr. Mills’ years of directing the school plays, his favorite part about opening night is “Seeing the auditorium filled with parents, students and love from the community. Every year it is such a treat for all in attendance and I am so happy to offer this to our school and our community. I love the curtain calls and seeing all the cast & crew get the acknowledgment and praise that they so deserve.”
My final question to Mr. Mills was, if he had to choose another play, what would it be? He told me, “If I had to choose another play, it would be Annie or Aladdin. But it all depends on who we have in our school for auditions.” Mr. Mills says that he has been directing plays for 20 years at Harding School and is so impressed with the talent that comes through Harding’s doors.
Thank you Mr. Mills for taking the time to answer my questions. I look forward to playing Charlie Bucket in the play. I appreciate your help with learning my lines and helping me build my confidence.
Stage Set & Crew with Ms. Spony
Written by Marlowe Chua
For this month’s feature we decided to take a look behind the scenes at Harding’s Willy Wonka Jr. production. To get an in-depth understanding of what it takes to create this production, we interviewed one of the people who is significant in helping put the show together. Allow me to introduce the Art Director for the Willy Wonka play, Ms. Spony! She is the art teacher at our school and has a pivotal role behind the scenes. She is in charge of stage crew, props, and the art direction of the show. The following are excerpts from our interview:
According to Ms. Spony, she didn't have too many difficulties when making the set, because she had a really good and creative group of students working on it. The stage crew and Ms. Spony spent some time talking and organizing each scene. After that, they created the backgrounds and other set pieces they needed. “I think the most difficult part is just getting everything done in time so that we would have enough time to practice with the actors,” she said.
There are many wonderful items and backgrounds that the stage crew and Ms. Spony created, but she says her favorites are the Chocolate Room and Charlie Bucket’s house. "I really like how the walls of the Chocolate Room turned out with the windows and colorful candies," Ms. Spony recalls. “ I also liked the worn walls with the exposed brick of Charlie Bucket’s house.”
When the stage crew and Ms. Spony were designing the sets they took some time thinking of ideas and making sketches. They took a look at scenes from the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie and looked at videos of plays performed at other schools. All of those things were inspirations and in the end, the set designs look amazing!
Ms. Spony considered a lot of ideas when making the sets. She expressed, “You can do amazing things with cardboard and paint. My stage crew is really wonderful at coming up with ideas and that makes my job so much easier. With perseverance and hard work, we can do great things.”
Ms. Spony pointed out, “Stage crew allows students to really use their strengths and talents--and together that helps us get things done. Students in the stage crew are really creative thinkers and are really good at coming up with ideas and solutions to any issues. Others are great at drawing or painting. Some have an eye for detail, and some are great at organizing and keeping us on track to get work done each time.” At the start of any play, the stage crew and Ms. Spony worry about how much stuff there is to do and sometimes they think “will it be finished in time?” But, with teamwork, everything will get done! “I've been doing the school play for 20 years now, and I'm always amazed at how it all just seems to come together in the end,” says Ms. Spony. She’s very proud of everyone, both the stage crew and the cast. Thank you Ms. Spony! Personally, I can’t wait to see the play myself.
Our Director-Ms. Boomer
Written by Santina Rizzo
Most of us who saw the Willy Wonka play on April 26th can agree that the cast and crew did an amazing job on it! I got the chance to interview Ms. Boomer and asked her a few questions about the play.
When I asked Ms. Boomer how she decided who got which part in the play, she replied, "Mr. Mills, Ms. Spony, and I all have audition rubrics that we use to rate the students' auditions. We look at a variety of performance aspects, some of which include singing ability/potential (singing the right pitch, pretty tone quality), acting ability (voice use, body movements, facial expressions), how clearly students speak, and how loudly students project their voices. After auditions, we then sit down together and think about which student would be the best fit for each role in the show based upon what they presented during their audition.”
Ms. Boomer vividly explained how she and Mr. Mills chose which play to perform this year. “Many students were suggesting that we produce Willy Wonka at the end of last year and the beginning of this year. We looked at other shows too in order to weigh our options, but ultimately we decided that if that many students really wanted to perform in this show, and we knew we had enough talented students to fill the roles, then why not do it! Really, the students helped us decide the show for this year!”
One thing Ms. Boomer liked most about the play was the humor. “The performers delivered their lines with such comedic accuracy. Their timing and execution was hysterical, and it was never the same!! They always changed how they said things or acted things out, which made the same scene funny every single time, no matter how many times we rehearsed it.”
While discussing the hardest part of the play, Ms. Boomer would state, “Mentally, the most difficult part of the play would have to be managing the many moving parts that go into creating a show, especially in the rush of Tech Week (the week leading up to the show). Finalizing curtain cues to accommodate stage transitions, creating lighting and microphone cues and swaps, editing the sound clips to make them longer, making sure everything is where it needs to be, and making sure everyone is as prepared as they can be is all of the behind the scenes extras that need to be in place. Emotionally, the most difficult part of the play is once the final show ends. There's a lot of build up to that moment when everyone takes their final bow. Once it's over, it's heartbreaking because I just never want it to end once it all comes together!”
In Ms. Boomer’s opinion, the best part of the play would be creating relationships with her students. “We spend many hours working together during after-school rehearsals, as well as extra rehearsals during our lunch. Time flies during rehearsals, and even though I run a tight ship, my favorite part is sprinkling fun and laughter into our rehearsals. That's what it's all about. We're learning how to be motivated, disciplined, dedicated, and self-reflective people who have a genuine care and love for what we do and the people we do it with, all while having an amazing time. Being a member of the Drama Club is like being a teammate on any sports team. With just one person gone for even a little bit of time, it can throw off the whole rehearsal or show. Every single person matters, and I truly mean that. I love each of my students with my entire heart. I'm immensely proud to have watched their growth as performers, and more importantly as human beings, from the beginning of the show to the end. I hope you all know just how much you mean to me. Thank you for going on this journey with me, letting me teach you, letting me laugh with you, and letting me be a part of your lives in this special way. Thank you for being you. "Because I knew you, I have been changed for good." ~from the Broadway musical, Wicked”
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