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Gunn Arts
Theatre Program Kicks Off Exciting Arts Season
The Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center was a hub of activity at the start of the Fall Term, as students returned to the classroom and the stage in person to take advantage of the school’s expanded arts offerings.
“I’m excited to continue to build out the program and have live performances,” said Ron Castonguay, Director of the Arts and Music Director, who is teaching Concert Jazz Band, Vocal Ensemble, and String Ensemble again this year. Castonguay has planned some exciting additions to the music program. “I’m going to have a lot of ensemble collaborations and I’m thinking more outside the box about contemporary music in the ensembles, to expand beyond the standard repertoire.”
Creating a Dance Program
As part of the triple-threat of the Performing Arts, Castonguay is taking steps to create a multi-genre Dance Program at The Frederick Gunn School, adding to his ongoing mission to bolster the school’s music and theatre programs. “I want our students to have the opportunity to learn and experience all genres of dance, from classical and ballet to jazz, tap, and hip-hop,” he said. “We have begun our programming with a Dance Team, open to all students, that rehearses during our newly established evening Arts Block, which eliminates scheduling conflicts with co-curriculars. In October, we brought on a new dance adjunct, Mikki Ferrigno, a top-notch choreographer with more than two decades of experience teaching ballet, tap, and hip hop, to choreograph our Dance Team — and get them off on the proverbial right foot! I am excited to be able to offer quality programming in all three areas of the performing arts — music, theatre and dance — utilizing and engaging our beautiful, new performing arts facility to its fullest potential, and offering a holistic performing arts experience for our students that will create future performers, entertainers, and advocates for the arts.”
Introducing the Art of Stage Combat
The new Arts Block can be utilized for projects, rehearsals, collaborations between ensembles, and to introduce topics such as music theory or jazz improvisation, both of which Castonguay plans to offer. Kent Burnham, the new Director of Theatre Arts, kicked off the first Arts Block of the year by offering a Stage Combat Workshop. The hour-long class introduced students to the art of stage combat, and included how to throw various punches safely, create sounds to enhance the illusion, and how to “sell” the reaction of the hit, just like Dwayne Johnson, Charlize Theron, Keanu Reeves, and Gal Gadot do on the big screen. “We worked on the uppercut, the jab, and the cross punch.”
Burnham, who became a certified stage combatant when he earned his MFA in classical acting from The Shakespeare Theatre/George Washington University, also holds a bachelor’s degree in theatre from Hofstra University, and previously served as Director of Theatre Arts and Chair of the Arts at Trinity-Pawling School, where he taught a popular stage combat class. “There’s a physical component, but also an artistic component. It’s learning about storytelling, connecting to your partner, and it’s rooted in safety,” Burnham said. “It’s the illusion of stage violence, and you’re creating moments that look real.”
Burnham is teaching three classes, Pathways and Public Speaking — The Declaration, which are both part of the Center for Citizenship and Just Democracy’s four-year curriculum, and a new performing arts class, Drama I: Theatre in Practice, which filled quickly. “It’s an overall theatre experience focused on acting, voice, movement, and directing and it will enable students to learn more about theatre and theatre history,” Burnham said. “The class will provide students with an opportunity to explore who they are as well as various characters through acting, improvisation, and scene work. We will watch, discuss, and read great plays. FGS has subscriptions to BroadwayHD and National Theatre at Home, which allows us to watch recent productions such as ‘Pipeline,’ ‘Red,’ ‘The Woodsman,’ ‘Frankenstein,’ and ‘Treasure Island.’ These are fantastic and thought-provoking plays that premiered on Broadway, and in London, and we have an opportunity to watch and discuss them.”
Directing the Fall Play and Winter Musical
Burnham directed the fall play, “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane,”
– Kent Burnham, Director of Theatre Arts
Kent Burnham, Director of Theatre Arts, giving direction to the cast of the fall play, “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane,” on stage in the Tisch Family Auditorium
adapted by Dwayne Hartford from the book by award-winning author Kate DiCamillo, who also wrote “The Tale of Despereaux,” and “Because of Winn-Dixie.” Performances were held in November in the Tisch Family Auditorium. Burnham said he fell in love with the play after seeing the world premiere in Arizona and he was excited to bring it to The Frederick Gunn School for its Connecticut premiere.
“It’s a really powerful and moving play about the 20-year journey of this china rabbit doll, all the people that he meets along his journey, and the different roles he takes on for these people,” Burnham said. “Edward begins a 20-year journey to learn what it means to love, the pain of losing that love, and the courage it takes to love again.”
For the winter musical, Burnham has selected “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” a musical comedy with music and lyrics by William Finn, a book by Rachel Sheinkin, conceived by Rebecca Feldman with additional material by Jay Reiss.
Open Mic Night and an Improv Workshop
During Winterim in December, Castonguay will reprise his Open Mic Night Class, which will culminate in the second annual Gunn Grammy Awards. Burnham is co-teaching “Project Improv” with Kevin Clemente of the Math Department faculty, who trained with the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York and has previously offered improv workshops to students and faculty. “We’re going to introduce students to an intensive on improvisation,” Burnham said, explaining, “The fundamental basis of improv is ‘Yes, and...’ You agree and build and enhance a scene from that offer. You always accept the scenario, listen, respond, and focus on making your partner look good. There are so many things to learn from that in how we deal with things in our daily lives, how we collaborate and connect with others. It would be exciting if we could build an Improv Company here that is similar to that on the college level.”
In the future, Burnham plans to add an advanced acting class to the arts curriculum, along with courses in stage combat, improvisation/theatre games, directing and playwriting. “I want to try to provide an opportunity for every student to be involved in the theatre program, either on stage, backstage, directing, writing, or learning about theatre itself,” he said. “We can get caught up in our own silos and the arts allow us to step into ourselves while stepping out of ourselves.”
Burnham also sees opportunities to engage the community at large in the arts. “There’s such an incredible amount of art and culture in Litchfield County as well as the surrounding area. We have access to some outstanding regional theatre companies — Hartford Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, Yale Rep, Westport Country Playhouse — as well as Broadway, and I’m excited for the FGS community to be a part of that, too.”
