Setting the Stage for Excellence
Drama And Theatrical Arts
Drama And Theatrical Arts Headlines
HHS Drama Club to Announce Play Soon
A big announcement is coming soon. The Huntington High School drama club expects to announce the name of its fall production in about two weeks.
Mariana Diaz Garners Ken Gilbert Stage Crew Award
Kenny Gilbert is a well-known local musician. He worked at Huntington High School for many years and was the stage manager for countless shows and events. He retired but has not been forgotten by the drama club program.
Huntington UFSD Provides New Opportunity at LI High School for the Arts
The Huntington School District is expanding its academic program and the opportunities it provides to Huntington High School students by affiliating with the Nassau BOCES Long Island High School for the Arts in Syosset.
Huntington Garners 15 Hunting-Tony Award Nominations
The Huntington High School drama club and its actors have captured a staggering 15 Hunting-Tony Award nominations for its fall and spring stage productions of “Humbug” and “Chicago: Teen Edition.”
Drama And Theatrical Arts Information
- HHS Drama Club - 'Humbug' Show Poster
- HHS Drama Club - 42nd Street Show Poster
- HHS Drama Club - The Curious Savage Play Poster
- HHS Drama Club - 'Harvey' Play Poster
- HHS Drama Club - The Thoroughly Modern Mille Play Poster
- HHS Drama Club - The Desk Set Play Poster
- HHS Drama Club Flyer for Cinderella Musical
- HHS Drama Club Show Poster - The Dining Room
- HHS Drama Club's Once Upon A Mattress Show Flyer
- HHS Drama Club The Laramie Project Play Flyer
- HHS Drama Club The Little Mermaid Show Flyer
- Fall Production: 'Don't Drink the Water' Show Poster
- HHS Drama Club Showbill - 'Chicago' - Spring 2024
- HHS Drama Club Showbill - 'Humbug' - Fall 2023
- HHS Drama Club Showbill - 'Seussical' - Spring 2023
- HHS Drama Club Showbill - 'Almost Maine' - Fall 2022
- HHS Drama Club Showbill - '42nd Street' - Spring 2021
- HHS Drama Club Showbill - 'The Curious $avage' - Fall 2021
- HHS Drama Club Showbill - 'Addams Family' - Spring 2021
- HHS Drama Club Showbill - 'Harvey' - Fall 2020
- HHS Drama Club Showbill - Thouroughly Modern Millie - Spring 2019
- HHS Drama Club Showbill - The Desk Set - Fall 2018
- HHS Drama Club Showbill - Cinderella - Spring 2018
- HHS Drama Club Showbill - The Dining Room - Fall 2017
- HHS Drama Club Once Upon A Mattress - Spring 2017
- HHS Drama Club Playbill for The Laramie Project - Fall 2016
- The Little Mermaid - Spring 2016
- Don't Drink the Water - Fall 2015
- Beauty and the Beast - Spring 2015
- The Babbling Brooks - Fall 2014
- Into the Woods - Spring 2014
- Anne of Green Gables - Fall 2013
- The Sound of Music - Spring 2013
- Lady Windemere's Fan - Fall 2012
- Little Women - Spring 2012
- A Midsummer's Night Dream - Fall 2011
- Carousel - Spring 2011
- The Skin of our Teeth - Fall 2010
- John W. Engeman Theater
- Broadway
- Playbill
- The Suffolk Theater
- The Patchogue Theatre
- The Gateway Playhouse
- Broadhollow Theatre Company
- Theatre Three
- The Arena Players
- Smithtown Performing Arts Center
- Dix Hills/Five Towns College Performing Arts Center
- Adelphi University Performing Arts Center
- Stony Brook University Department of Theater Arts
About the Drama And Theatrical Arts Program
A Part of Huntington Since 1928
“The Masque,” as Huntington’s drama club was known for many years, was first organized in the fall of 1928. “The original purpose of this organization was to develop individual talent in expression and artistic ability,” according to the 1931 edition of The Huntingtonian, the high school yearbook.
The early club was led by teacher Julia E. Vail, a graduate of Ithaca Conservatory. In addition to the study and practice of acting, Miss Vail held discussions on music, the art of make-up, book reviews and the merits of European and American theatres.
Early Critical Acclaim
In 1929, months after being formed, the club invited the community to a three act comedy called “The Youngest.” At the time, the club had a policy of presenting a single play a year. In 1930 the production was the fantasy “Prunella.” “Both of these plays were received by the students and the townspeople with acclaim,” states the 1931 yearbook.
The Masque’s symbol was “an Oriental face cut into the semblance of a charm with the letters HHS across the top,” according to The Huntingtonian. Students qualified for the charm by participating in a play production or selling at least a dozen tickets to one.
Masque to Thespians to Drama Club
After the old high school building on Main Street closed and the new one opened at the intersection of Oakwood and McKay roads, the club name Masque disappeared and was replaced by simply Thespian. Eventually, the leading performers were nominated for membership in the National Thespian Society, the honor group for drama participants. The top Thespians teamed up with other students to stage their own production each spring and they supervised the annual Play Festival, which continues to this day.
The Masque of yesteryear is now simply known as the drama club. It stages a pair of productions each year, including a musical. There are still plenty of students eager to challenge and express themselves as each role requires.
Drama And Theatrical Arts Leadership
Michael Schwendemann
Drama Club Faculty Advisor
A graduate of John Adams High School in Ozone Park, Queens, Michael Schwendemann, or “Schwendy” as most students know him, earned a BA at CUNY-Queens College in communication arts and sciences and drama, theatre and dance. He obtained a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Alabama.
Mr. Schwendemann worked as an adjunct faculty member at Long Island University-C.W. Post College in the department of theatre, dance and film from 1996 to 2001. He was in Huntington during parts of 2001-2003 performing outreach for the National Shakespeare Company, but he never envisioned himself as a Huntington teacher.
“It was luck that landed me at Huntington High School,” Mr. Schwendemann said. “I was actually offered a job at Bay Shore High School, where I was student teaching, but the teacher I was to replace changed his mind about leaving. Nina Wolfe, the chair of the English department felt terrible and secured me an interview at Huntington. The rest, as they say, is history!”
Mr. Schwendemann began working full-time at Huntington High School in January 2003 and quickly became a student favorite. He has taught freshmen English along with the elective classes Holocaust in Literature, Bible as Literature, Multicultural Literature, Public Speaking and Theatre Arts.
“I can’t imagine teaching any place else,” Mr. Schwendemann said. “From day one I was accepted into the high school community. I love my colleagues and most of all the kids. Some days they make it hard to love them, but that passes quickly. The support I have received from all parts of the administration is unparalleled.”
Mr. Schwendemann has graced the stages of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, where he worked with Michael Emerson and Norbert Leo Butz, the Roundabout Theatre Company, The Folger Shakespeare Library Theatre with Allison Fraser, The Fringe Festival, Genesis Repertory Theatre and The New York City Opera. He is currently a member of the Airmid Theatre Company with whom he recently performed two shows of Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles” starring Margaret Colin at the newly renovated Suffolk Theatre in Riverhead.
As the faculty advisor to Huntington’s Class of 2006 and Class of 2010, Mr. Schwendemann maintains fond memories of those particular groups of graduates.
The drama club continues to energize the veteran educator. “The club has given me more happy memories than I can count,” Mr. Schwendemann said.
Course Offerings and Listings
Huntington HS
Drama And Theatrical Arts Scope and Sequence
Year by Year course offerings
Courses
- Choose 1 Course from Below
- THEATRE ARTS B: Play in Performance
Courses
- Choose 1 Course from Below
- THEATRE ARTS B: Play in Performance
Courses
- Choose 1 Course from Below
- THEATRE ARTS B: Play in Performance
- THEATRE ARTS A: Modern Drama
THEATRE ARTS B: PLAY IN PERFORMANCE – Seminar or Elective - Course #176-B (½ Year - ½ Credit) 5 periods weekly Offered to grades: 10, 11, 12 NOTE: This course may be taken only once. Students in grades 10, 11, 12 may take this course as an elective. This course develops students’ skills in theatrical performance. Through improvisation and scene work as well as study of theory and utilization of games and exercises, students explore their potentials as actors, gain poise and selfawareness. Students must keep an Actor’s Journal. Students will take children’s theatre scripts off the page and onto the stage. A final project will require students to perform within the school district a play complete with costume, lighting, set and sound design. The creation of a study guide for intermediate and middle school teachers is also required.
THEATRE ARTS A: MODERN DRAMA - Seminar - Course #176 (½ Year - ½ Credit) 5 periods weekly Prerequisite: Successful completion of English 11 Modern Drama explores drama written in the 20th and 21st centuries by major European and American playwrights. Through close reading of the plays, students are brought to an awareness of major schools of dramatic writing such as naturalism, expressionism, and the theatre of the absurd. The course aims to use the plays as a vehicle for the examination of the manor issues of philosophical thought as expressed in the drama. Within a select unit, students work on drafting and finalizing their college essays. A research paper is required.
Middle School Program Information Coming Soon
Intermediate School Program Information Coming Soon!
Drama And Theatrical Arts Videos and Galleries
HHS Drama Club's Presents 'Chicago: Teen Edition'
March 2024
Drama Club Galleries and Slideshows
Fall and Spring Productions
Drama Department Honors
Information Coming Soon
200+
Challenging Academic Courses
14
Academic Departments
30+
Interscholastic Athletic Teams
90+
Colleges and Universities accepting 2020 HHS Graduates