By Joyce DeWallace, Contributing Writer
Shrewsbury – Shrewsbury Public Schools’ Performing Arts Department provides students with opportunities to develop an appreciation of both music and drama as well as providing a creative outlet for their talents. Tom O’Toole is the new director of the K – 12 program that encompasses everything from the many instrumental and vocal groups to all the plays and musicals that the school system produces for the community.
Nancy Freeman, the mother of four boys, is the producer of most of the shows. When she moved here from Nebraska in 1998, she became a parent volunteer.
“My oldest boy was very interested in theater and got roles in musicals in high school. They needed help, so I volunteered and it just grew from there,” Freeman said.
Her youngest son is still in high school, while the other three continue their involvement in the theater as college students and adults. She comes to all the rehearsals, oversees the discipline, sews costumes, handles publicity, tickets, programs and getting other parents involved.
“In theater, you’re pressed into doing everything!” she said.
Right now, she is busy preparing for the Sherwood Middle School show and the high school production of “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
The holiday classic, based on the 1940s film, has become one of the traditional shows to see during the Christmas season. The show has a cast of 31 students and a crew of about 20 young workers. It takes almost nine weeks from planning to show time. The students will put in just under 150 hours of rehearsal time.
Directing the production is Jennifer Micarelli-Webb, who started performing when she was 3 years old; later singing, dancing and acting in national and European tours through her 20s, until she got married and moved back to her hometown of Carlisle.
The Concord-Carlisle high school needed a choreographer, and she was back in the theater world again.
“Working with those students, making that personal connection and seeing that growth and development made me realize that teaching was my calling.”
Half the students she worked with are now performing professionally.
She went on to get a graduate degree at Emerson College and then landed the job in Shrewsbury, where she manages five shows on average per year, while also teaching classes. Since 2004, the program has been growing with classes in all aspects of theater. For her superior work, she was honored with the Superintendent’s Award for extraordinary service to the Shrewsbury Public Schools in 2013.
“Because of this program, more and more of the students are attending colleges where their focus is a major in the performing arts,” Webb said. “As a director, I take what’s on the written page and bring it to life. I oversee all aspects of the production. Participating in any of the performing arts teaches 21st century skills. It’s all about collaboration, courage, leadership, resilience and building confidence. It’s a very marketable skill set leading to real jobs.”
“It’s a Wonderful Life” performances will be held in the high school theater Friday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 for students and seniors and $12 for general admission.
Other productions coming soon are “Night of the Living Beauty Pageant” by the seventh- and eighth-graders of Oak Middle School Nov. 14-15, and “The Edge of the Nest” by grades 5 and 6 of Sherwood Middle School Dec. 12-13. For tickets, email [email protected].