Huntington High School drama club members will take the stage this weekend for three shows of the group’s production of William Marchant’s comedy, The Desk Set.
The actors and stage crew members have perfected their roles during weeks of rehearsals under the discerning eyes of drama club advisor Michael Schwendemann and his team of professionals.
The curtain goes up on Friday, November 2 at 7:30 p.m. and again on Saturday, November 3 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the door priced at $10 for the general public and $5 for senior citizens, faculty and staff members and students with ID cards.
The cast includes (in order of appearance) Keenan Lyons, Sarah Biernacki, Isabella Cahill, Catherine McCooey, Natalie Ciccone, Abby Semelsberger, Joshua Avidor, Robert Jean-Gilles, Charlotte Simon, Brenden Garcia, Ryan Aguirre, Joshua Youngquist, Rebecca Hoffmann and Katherine Eichenberger.
“Party revelers” include Chloe Buffone, David Canas-Granados, Erica Flaherty, Maggie Imperato, Gabe Moskovitch, Devlin Starr, Chloe Wheeler and Faith Youngquist.
The production’s stage crew features: Lighting: Christopher DeVeau (stage crew manager/lighting), Andy Ulloa (board operator) and Drew Spina; Sound: Olivia Perez, Tati Feliciano (board operator) and Jazmynn Clark; Set build/paint: Andrea Delcid Ayala, Sylvia Belanger, Jazmynn Clark, Collin Garcia, Beth Heffernan, Christina Hornstein, Sofia Lopez, Sophia Matheus, Harrison K. McKenna, Olivia Perez, Samantha Perille, Allison Quinn, Jonathan Ramirez, Jack Semelsberger, Rashiem Sexton, Joe Tropeano and Emma Vaughn.
Theater-goers are in for a real treat this Friday and Saturday. The high school auditorium has sensational lighting and an exceptional sound system. It’s one of the premier facilities on Long Island with an enormous stage. The drama club’s productions have taken a giant leap forward over the past decade and this week’s show is not expected to disappoint.
“At first blush, The Desk Set seems like a cut little romantic comedy about two people seemingly miles apart set against the backdrop of the dawn of the computer age,” Mr. Schwendemann said. “It now seems almost prophetic in its prediction of people being replaced by computers and a computer being responsible for bringing two people together. What once was an anomaly now seems to be the norm; the fear of computers taking over our lives has now become reality. We have given ourselves over to a power greater than ourselves. How many of you are currently checking your social media in lieu of chatting with the person seated on either side of you? Have we lost our humanity – our human connection – and become slaves to a keyboard and the perfect picture of ourselves? The electronic age has changed us all, but has it changed us for the better?”
The actors and stagehands are all approaching the show with a remarkable degree of professionalish, even though the teenagers are really all amateurs. Audiences won’t be disappointed this weekend.
