Director's Note
Making a musical is never an easy task, and making a musical during a pandemic is a special type of challenge. As you'll see today, the students rose to that challenge in every way. From rehearsing through covid quarantines to performing in a mask, the cast of Pippin stayed engaged and motivated. This cast of twenty-four 8-12 graders, in addition to learning dialogue and songs, is responsible for keeping track of a seemingly endless list of set pieces, props, banners, curtains, and costumes. Try and notice how many moving pieces are on the stage and you'll quickly lose count.
In addition to the performers onstage, Pippin had a small army of students working backstage. Take a look at the crew pages of this program and you'll see something special. In addition to seeing just how many different types of artists staging a musical requires, our crew page includes both professionals and students. They work side-by-side to create and support everything you'll see today. From costume pieces to set pieces to lightbulbs, students are involved in every aspect of our musical productions. Students designed and painted banners, students identified and selected props, and students dug in and physically built the set, all working under the guidance of theatrical professionals. I think the results speak for themselves.
Speaking of theatrical professionals, CGPS is lucky to have an incredibly talented and experienced team working with our student theater-makers. Jason Maracani, Drew Nellessen, John Fischer, Alicia Austin, Luke Lourigan, Kai Gross, and Olivia Salzano are all true professionals. They bring expertise, innovation, enthusiasm, and a truly impressive array of theatrical experience to their work. Most importantly, they all know that the purpose of their jobs is to help the students, both onstage and backstage, shine.
Pippin is in many ways a perfect show for high school students. Pippin's quest to find meaning and purpose is timelessly relatable, and so are the lessons he learns along the way about what really gives our lives meaning. We hope you enjoy the show!
- Kary Haddad
Special Thanks To...
Bill Donohue
Rey Fernandez
Scott Wilson
Eric Conrad
Sarah Cusick
Reba Mehan
Paul Baly
Dorothy Meyer
Landon Wickham
Jake R. Morgan
