From Stage to Sea, Broadway andBeyond

Senior School

Musical: Big Fish: School Edition

The opportunity to perform as a student at Sewickley Academy is an essential part of the education process. Many alumni have appreciation for the lifelong benefits they have received from first getting on stage as an Academy student. On average, Sewickley Academy students benefit from more performance opportunities than traditionally found in regional schools. This year was no exception.

On February 15, the annual Student Recital included performances by seven Middle School and eight Senior School students in Hansen Library. Displaying talents in voice, violin, piano, cello, guitar, flute, and viola, the performances included songs from Broadway shows Beauty and the Beast and Dear Evan Hansen and various classical pieces from notable composers such as Rachmaninoff and Vivaldi as well as more contemporary work by LinManuel Miranda and Bruno Mars.

The season was launched with SA’s annual All School Piano Recital, held in Rea Auditorium on Wednesday, October 12. A total of 14 student performers across three divisions shared the works of Frédéric Chopin, Aram Khachaturian, J.S. Bach, Billy Joel, and Scott Joplin, to name a few.

Ibrahim Khan

Performed in March, the show featured a small-but-mighty ensemble who worked incredibly hard to pull off a piece that travels to a wide variety of locales and walks a fine line between reality and fantasy. Cast members were challenged to learn new skills such as walking on stilts, tap dancing, and stage combat as they portrayed everything from werewolves to swamp witches to circus performers. Senior Ibrahim Khan and junior Max Peluso played the leads as a father and son who struggle to connect with one another over the course of their lifetimes. Audiences were treated to a production that was

Top left: Karl the Giant and Amos Calloway (circus ringleader) played by junior Logan Carlson and freshman Ben Holsopple.

Right: Ibrahim Khan ’23, performed as the lead, Edward Bloom, in Big Fish Photos by Chrissy Olson, Portraits by Sal & Bella

The Little Mermaid, Jr.

The students of the Middle School performed The Little Mermaid, Jr. this past November. The cast had a great time bringing the Disney classic to life while putting their own spin on it. In addition to the well-known characters from the movie, ensemble members had the opportunity to embody ocean waves, stormy winds, and creepy tentacles as part of the sea chorus. Highlights of the show included crowd pleasing numbers such as “Under the Sea” and “Kiss the Girl,” as well as the lesser known songs sung by the mersisters and seagulls. Visitors during Grandparents and Special Friends Day were able to preview the performance before it opened to the public. Overall, there was great audience turnout, and it was lovely to welcome so many community members into Rea Auditorium.

Arts Fest

Arts Fest will take place June 1-3, 2023. It will be a celebration of student’s visual and performing arts with a focus on student-written and directed theater and music ensembles as well as student-curated visual art exhibits. Student proposals include fashion shows, musical theater showcases, stage combat, and interactive art galleries. For performance details and tickets, visit sewickley.org/tickets.

Trifles & Tomfooleries

In October, the Senior School performed Trifles & Tomfooleries (a collection of comedies by George Bernard Shaw). The cast rose exceedingly well to the challenge of performing Shaw’s languageheavy pieces and enthusiastically explored melodrama as a genre of theater. In addition to stellar performances by the cast and crew, seniors Claire Cable and Rinnie Jardini put together an incredible lobby display detailing the historical relevance of George Bernard Shaw and the context of his dramatic works. Some of the cast later traveled to the PA State Thespian Conference where they performed one of the pieces, “The Dark Lady of the Sonnets,” for an audience of their peers. Their performance was lauded both by the other Pennsylvania theater students and by the adult adjudicators.