HHS Drama Club to Present Humbug on December 8-9

Rehearsals have started, the Huntington High School drama club is abuzz with holiday cheer as Christmas carols fill the air in the high school auditorium as Eleanor Scrooge awaits the arrival of those that will try to save her from herself.

Mark it on your calendar; The Huntington High School drama club has a holiday present for you this year. “On Friday, December 8 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, December 9 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. we will be unwrapping ‘Humbug’ by John Wooten – ‘A Christmas Carol’ with a modern day twist,” said Michael Schwendemann, the high school’s drama club advisor and the director of the show.

‘Humbug’ follows the story of Eleanor Scrooge, a ruthlessly ambitious Wall Street executive who has an aversion to Christmas and an insatiable appetite for power. “Locked in her office on a snowy Christmas Eve, Eleanor is determined to finish a corporate-takeover proposal until three ‘advisors’ provide her with an eye-opening new appreciation for the holidays and the spirit of Christmas.” Mr. Schwendemann said.

An upbeat and moving adaptation of Dickens’ holiday classic, ‘Humbug’ is one for the ages. “With a contemporary flair, it is a tale the whole family will enjoy,” Mr. Schwendemann said.

Tickets priced at $10 for all shows will be available at the door. Senior citizens (65+) will be admitted free to Saturday’s matinee.

Michael Schwendemann

A graduate of John Adams High School in Ozone Park, Queens, Mr. 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 UFSD 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 for 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.