
This
page (Page #10) has great articles from newspapers and school
newsletters. Check out all these great comments about ArtReach
popular titles: Mulan,Twas the
Night Before Christmas, Alice in Wonderland.

Mulan
the Fighter: ArtReach's Play Performance in Indonesia
St.
John's School, Meruya
We
are an education institution for Pre-School, KG, Primary and High
School, located in West Jakarta.
Working
with ancient civilizations, 5th grade took us back in time to
ancient China with their performance of The Legend of Mulan! This
timeless ballad, originally told orally long before the Tang Dynasty,
beautifully highlights themes of working toward a goal, teamwork,
defying gender expectations, embracing your true identity, learning
the importance of using one's voice, taking risks, and finding inner
power. Just like Mulan perseveres through all her struggles, our
students persevered through a windstorm and the Thanksgiving holiday
break, returning ready and recharged to deliver a wonderful performance.
"Mulan
perseveres through all her struggles."

ArtReach's The
Legend of Mulan - St.
John's School, Meruya, Jakarta
After
a long hiatus, out of covid 19, the annual musical drama performance
from Saint John's Meruya came back! Mulan, the girl who disguises
herself as a man to fight for her country and for her family, was
chosen as the act. The students and teachers struggled to get this
performance presented. As Covid 19 was still around the corner, the
practice, rehearsal and grand performance were the result of hard
work and good cooperation as a team.
"The
result of hard work and good cooperation as a team."

ArtReach's The
Legend of Mulan - St.
John's School, Meruya, Jakarta
Nadine
Abigail, grade 11, played Mulan beautifully. Nadine, who was
performing in several of Saint John's annual musical drama
performances, showed her talent in singing and dancing. Richelle,
grade 7, attracted the audience with her performance as the rabbit
who accompanied Mulan in her journey to win the war. A ninth grader,
Gabby, also showed her talent by playing the dragon. There were more
performers who acted out that night. Even Pre-K and Kindergarten
students also performed their parts.
"Proud
parents and their families were also supporting them."

ArtReach's The
Legend of Mulan - Eastside Community
School, Issaquah WA
-St. John's School Jakarta
Primary
students who took wushu as their extracurriculars were also
performing martial arts in the War Dance. Each part of the show
presented Saint John's students with their talents and their bravery
to perform on a public stage. Proud parents and their families were
also supporting them from the audience.
Aside
from the story of Mulan, the musical drama this year also showed how
Saintjohners from Saint John's School Meruya fought the fear of Covid
19 and were able to present a great on-site show. It was a great
experience and it marked the courage to enter the new year 2023 with
more achievements.

Annual
holiday production has delightful shenanigans
ArtReach's
Twas the Night Before Christmas
Sandy
Strickland, The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville
The
Abominable Snowman was sprawled on the tile floor solving a
crossword puzzle. But when he stood up, his shaggy white fur causing
his palms to sweat, he tried "to look mad, really mad."
The
glowering was a way of psyching himself up to kidnap Santa's
signature red-nosed reindeer. Santa, meanwhile, was cooling off with
a hand-held fan as dance teacher Debra Rankin adjusted his flowing
white locks and chest-length beard. It was getting a little steamy
inside his padded red velvet suit.
"It
felt like I was in the hot sun," said Santa, alias 9-year-old
Dylan Emerick of the Northside. Meanwhile, dancers were doing
impressively agile splits. Elves and reindeer were working on
geography lessons or putting puzzles together. As show time neared
for the annual holiday production at Pine Forest Elementary School of
the Arts on the Southside, the 70-member cast and crew passed the
minutes in a variety of ways.
"I
like doing plays. I
got
to act silly."

Richmond Hill Community
Theatre, Richmond Hill GA
"At
rehearsal, we encourage students to bring classwork that they're
missing and do it during their down time," said Jill Herkel,
director and head drama teacher at the Grant Road school. "We
always want them to understand that performing in these productions
is a privilege, and academics do come first."
The
show is 'Twas
the Night Before Christmas, Kathryn Schultz Miller's adaptation
of Clement Clarke Moore's classic A Visit from St. Nicholas, telling
how the poem came to be. There are shenanigans afoot as the Moore
family prepares for Christmas. It seems that the Abominable Snowman
captures the family mouse, Izzy, as well as Rosie the reindeer, in an
effort to ruin Christmas and prevent them from arriving at the North
Pole to save the broken toys.
You
see, there are three misfit toys - a toy soldier that marches
backwards, a Chatty Cathy doll that speaks gibberish and a purple
lump of Play-Doh.
The
cast of fourth- and fifth-graders performed the play for the student
body, parents and community. This month, the dedicated magnet arts
school, a feeder to LaVilla School of the Arts, is taking the show to
Crown Point and Greenland Pines elementary schools in Mandarin.
Matthew
Johnson, a 9-year-old Arlington resident, said it was fun playing
the Abominable Snowman. It was a pivotal role: he got to chase his
friend around the stage and laugh and joke with classmates.
"I
like doing plays. I like acting, and I got to act silly," the
fourth-grader said. "I love Christmas. It's my favorite season
of the year." For Dylan, Santa is the ultimate role. Even when
he wasn't in costume, classmates recognized the brown-eyed
fourth-grader and told him what they wanted for Christmas. "I
had to tell them I wasn't Santa Claus anymore," he said. Though
he'd never heard of Moore's poem, Dylan dubbed the rhythm "really
cool" and said the words matched brilliantly.
The
show is a team effort. Music teacher Terri Wester worked with the
singers, Rankin the costumes and choreography and Herkel the
directing and technical end.

ArtReach's
'Alice in
Wonderland' at St. Francis-St. Hedwig This Weekend
Break
a leg to the very young performers who will present this musical
play fo families
Naugatuck,
CT
St.
Francis-St. Hedwig School Drama Club will be presenting their
colorful production of 'Alice
in Wonderland' at the St. Francis of Assisi church hall on April
22 and April 23, 2017 at 2:00pm. The show is based upon the 'Alice'
books by Lewis Carroll with a script adaptation by Kathryn Schultz
Miller. The young performers in grades two through eight at the
school are under the direction of Wanda Mascola with musical
direction by Michael Petruzzi. Marianna Vagnini-Dadamo was the vocal
coach and will be the accompanist.
I
was invited to attend the final dress rehearsal along with several
other theatre people to offer feedback to the students. It was a
treat to see what the students had managed to put together in a
relatively short time.
"For
young performers in grades two through eight."

ArtReach's Alice
in Wonderland - Trunkey Public Schools, NSW, Australia
The
really adorable and colorful set was designed by Jennifer
Capozizello and Pedro Pires. The set fills the large space and the
little plastic slide that Alice slides down into the rabbit hole was
a fun touch. Jennifer Capozziello was in charge of the whimsical
props and Neil Mascola was the child wrangler backstage. Ms.
Capozziello also served as the stage crew along with Aiden
Capozziello and Reeya Desai.
The
cast includes Anthony Barbieri in the role of Lewis Carroll. The
young ladies playing the role of Alice include Angelina Pires, Brooke
Marchlewski, Emelia Dooling, Jailynn DiPasquale and Justine
DiPasquale sharing the part of Alice #4 and Adrianna Biros. The large
talking flowers are played by Alexandra Hein (Blue,) Tara Fitzgerald
(Green,) Faith Lally (Red,) Layla Wyant (Orange,) and Chloe Tome (Yellow.)
"Really
adorable and colorful set, whimsical props."

Trunkey Public
Schools, NSW, Australia- Booker Fine Arts Club, Dallas, TX
Kathlyn
Freitas plays the role of the large White Rabbit and the head of
Caterpillar is played well by Luke Reilly. Mama Pigeon is Phoebe
Criscuolo, Pigeon Pete is Mason Baehr, and Pigeon Pat is Olivia
Edmonds. Ella Glorioso smiles in the role of the Cheshire Cat and
Julia Dumont is very cute as the Dormouse. Ashley Galvao is the March
Hare and Connor McColl is super convincing as the Mad Hatter. Also
convincing as the Queen of Hearts is Angelina Gregory.
Rounding
out the cast is Mackenzie Baranoski as Digger, Akaya Karlsen as Herb
and Hailee Biros as Flora. The adorable members of the chorus include
Fernanada Freitas, Ciara Gallagher, Alexis Happy, Taylor Hennessey,
Madelyn Scully, Naima Seeley, Lauren Scully, Ava Wilmot and Caroline Youcher.
The
students will present two performances this weekend, Saturday and
Sunday at 2:00pm in the church hall next the school.
