The Student Newspaper of St. Joseph's Prep
Vol . 42, Issue V
November 10, 2016
Peter and the Starcatcher Hit s Prep Theat er Friday By Mac Riga '17 and Liam Scot t '17
tomorrow, 11th.
When Mr. Tony Braithwaite took a group of Prep students to see Peter and the Starcatcher in New York in the summer of 2013, he said then and there that he ?could not wait to put it on the Prep stage.? In the years since then, it has been referred to as the perfect example of a ?Prep? show - a show that displays what the Prep is all about. It?s message emphasizes teamwork, youth, brotherhood, and, like every Cape and Sword show, humor.
Auditions were held in early September, and the cast and crew has been hard at work building the set and rehearsing the show ever since. ?It?s been an exciting and fun process,? says Matt
Braithwaite and the rest of the Cape and Sword program were ecstatic to receive the rights to put on the show in Fall of 2016. With a set designed by Joe Binck ?11 Andrew Staub ?12 and a cast ranging from freshmen to seniors, including Claire Montgomery ?17 (John W. Hallahan High School), Starcatcher is ready to open
November
Phillips ?18, playing Lord Leonard Aster. ?I can?t wait for the audience to finally see what we have prepared for them.?
when Mac Riga?s character Black Stache mockingly yells ?And I bet your milkshake brings all the boys to the yard!?
And while the plot of the show in a prequel to Peter Pan, it is purposefully layered with anachronisms, like
The Prep?s production is also stirring up attention in the Broadway community. On
Wednesday, Rick Holmes, the original Lord Leonard Aster who went on to play Black Stache, came to visit the cast. Besides being in the original cast of Starcatcher, Holmes has been in 12 Broadway shows, including Cabaret,
The opening prologue of Peter and the Starcatcher .
performed at the Prep in 2014. Holmes is also a Philadelphia native and graduate of St. Denis and the Haverford School. Out of the kindness of his heart, he took an afternoon away from the bustle of New York to come and speak to the cast and preview a couple of scenes. Celebrated Cape and Sword alumnus Michael Zabel ?96 had seen Starcatcher in New York when Holmes was playing Black Stache, ?I?ve been seeing theater for many many years in both New York and Philadelphia and Rick Holmes? performance of Black Stache was one of the best things I?ve seen on any stage.? ?This show makes the audience privy to every detail about how the boy we all know and love came to be an undying symbol of youth who lived on an Continued on page 2.
If Not Me, Then Who: Travis Manion's Last ing Legacy By Nat han Coul ibal y ?18 In the summer of 2014, all the students at the Prep were assigned to read The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers, a novel that elucidated the realities of what it is like to be a soldier
overseas. During a school-wide presentation on the book, Ms. Cook took to the podium and introduced Ryan Manion, the sister of the fallen soldier, Travis Manion, and the creator of the Travis Manion Foundation.
Starting that year, the Travis Manion Foundation Leadership program was introduced at the Prep and gave an opportunity for sophomores and juniors to meet army veterans and participate in a nine week program, geared
to unveil and strengthen leadership qualities in its participants. Each week a different motto, which encompassed the mission of the day, was presented to the students and aided them in both breaking down preconceived
notions of what it is to be a leader and developing leaderships qualities in themselves. The students are not given a complete breakdown of what exactly the course is, and that simply adds to the experience. No student knows exactly what they are getting themselves into, but every single one of them walks away with powerful knowledge that will aid them in the future. The Travis Manion Foundation Leadership program we have at the Prep is actually the first of its kind in the country. This ?experiment? was tried out at the Prep and was able to plant its roots in the Prep community fairly quickly with the help of its moderator, Ms. Susan Cook of the English Department. She was also a
fundamental piece in the creation of this new program. She reached out to the foundation in 2014 after the English department chose The Yellow Birds as its summer reading novel. Since then, she has garnered an overwhelming amount of interest in the club and has recruited some of her own students into the program. Ms. Cook has been the course?s moderator since its nascence and when asked why she chose to take the position, she said ?I have a big place in my heart for veterans of our country and I possess a deep appreciation for the commitment they make to protect our democratic ideals and our nation.? Thanks to Ms. Cook and the Travis Manion Foundation?s efforts, veterans were able to Continued on page 5.
Travis Manion Foundation, Spring Session 2016 Graduation .