It's easy to see why 1954 could be somebody's "Favorite Year." There was a convergence of the performing arts as television crept into everyone's home, borrowing from Vaudeville, radio, and the movies. You could see it all, from the news to the biggest Hollywood epics (with a few commercials), from the comfort of your home.
And we get to see all of those media at their best in this show.
What's more difficult to understand is why "My Favorite Year" is such an unknown. The music is specific and memorable. The characters are well-drawn. The jokes land perfectly (and even the bad ones are successful), and there are nice thematic touches about fathers' responsibilities and the way the celebrities that awe us are actually quite different in real life.
So the Guilderland Players are happy to bring you a show that you may not know, but will probably enchant you in surprising ways. As always, the cast is phenomenal. Their voices soar when they have to go big, and soften when they feel vulnerable. The performances are sincere and believable. And they've worked so hard on the dancing that it looks effortless.
Let's also say a few things about the crew. In a few moments you'll see a pretty spectacular set. They worked hard to make it structurally sound, and harder to make it modular enough to move on and off stage while we shared the space with the Music department. And in the last couple of weeks, they've worked hard to make it do the cool things that it does. For much of it, they had blueprints. For much of it, they did not. And they solved every problem that came up, on their own and without much (if any) help from the teachers involved.
Congratulations to last year’s Fred Heitkamp/Guilderland Players’ Alumni Award winner: Hazel Regan, who was a creative force behind every show she was part of.
Special thanks are due, as always, to the parents and families of The Guilderland Players for their patience and support; Dr. Marie Wiles, Superintendent, and her administration for their support of this program and the Arts in general; Board president Blanca Gonzalez-Parker and The Board of Education; Mike Piscitelli, high school Principal; Alex Finsel, English Department Supervisor; Bob Winans, Music Department Supervisor; Ann Marie Holmes, Crystal Martin, and Brian Mazza, Assistant Principals; Ryan St. John and the administration at Farnsworth; Craig Lipps and the Transportation Department; and of course the administration and staff of Guilderland High School. Special thanks are also due to Cliff Nooney and the district Maintenance staff; Melissa Drislane, Lauren Mahar, and Mitch Carkner, and the rest of the high school custodial staff.
