Interviewed by Malaysia Grant

Photographed by Joseph Trembacz

Mr. Stefani is the Chorus Teacher at AHS.  He is also the Theater Club advisor and his tireless work and effort with the students results in spectacular productions. I sat down to ask Mr. Stefani about his thoughts on the drama club, and the upcoming production of Radium Girls, and he had a lot of exciting things to say.

When asked to describe drama club, Mr. Stefani said, "I think drama club is a fun and inviting place, that's my main goal- it’s to have fun, to be welcoming to everyone.  There are so many things that need to happen in order to put on a production and (to make) the club function; there are a lot of opportunities." Since Radium Girls is set to debut in a few weeks, many think that it is too late to get involved in the production, but Mr. Stefani pointed out that it is never too late.  He said that, "right now we’re in the middle of production for Radium Girls, which goes up in November- so we are always open for people to help with lights and sound-they meet on Wednesdays after school. And then we always need help on set build. We have set build on Saturdays so if anyone’s ever interested they can always contact me! (CStefani@gasd.org) We are always  looking for help on those days. Then when we get into December, we’re going to have auditions for the musical, and we’ll have more information about that, so if you’re interested in being on stage then your opportunity will be then."

As far as Radium Girls goes, I thought it was a play about girls with superpowers, but Mr. Stefani set me straight.  He explained that, "Radium Girls is a true story, it’s based on these young- teenaged, late-teenaged, and young adult- workers in 1918 and it follows their story for about 30 years. In that time, these factory girls who were “dial painters” in a US Radium Corporation factory to make dials for watches, used a luminescent, glow in the dark paint, that was made out of Radium.  The big problem is that they were instructed, in order to keep the tip of the brushes fine for detail work, to lick the brushes after they painted. So, you have hundreds of these girls dying of radium poisoning and a company refusing to acknowledge the issues that radium causes. This play is about one particular worker who takes the company to task in a court case, and it ends up being one of the largest worker comp cases ever. It initiates huge reform in worker and safety protocol in America."

Now that the play is right around the corner, I asked Mr. Stefani if the pressure is on and the stress is building.  He said that this time before the play "can be a great challenge and a great joy,  especially as we move  into Tech Week. Tech Week is a really intense time where we’re putting everything together; it’s our final days before we open, so we’re making sure that not only are the actors ready, but the costumes are ready, the lights are ready, that everything, including the set, is done. The thing about a production is that there is a deadline, like a very strict deadline, so knowing that November 10th is less than a month away? That builds intensity." Yet, even with the pressure, Mr. Stefani still pointed out that the drama club is a lot of fun. "Especially during rehearsal, I think there’s fun moments that happen all the time. We always strive to have fun, we take things seriously, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. We’re serious about what we do but we have a fun time while we do it. We’re focused, and when everything lines up, it's a really good combination."