By Fenrir Lewin
It’s October, and while that may mean something different to everyone, for HHS Drama it means that Fall Play season has begun! This year’s fall play is called Leading Ladies, and while we can not tell you exactly what it is about, the cast can certainly give you a good idea. For this article several cast members from the play were interviewed such as sophomore Eli DiPaolo, who is playing the role of Leo; senior Michela Leiser, who is playing the role of Audrey; freshman Naomi Schicker, who is playing Bubbles; and several others. We also interviewed the drama club’s stage manager, junior Skyler Sarnoski, and assistant stage manager, senior Allyne Kureshepi. Rehearsals for Leading Ladies have begun, and although they are not very far in yet, the drama club is committed to putting on their best performance possible.
Q: How would you summarize the plot of this play?
Eli DiPaolo: “There are these two guys and they’re bad at acting. They read the newspaper and they get the opportunity to get a bunch of money and it involves some drastic measures, and they take those measures! I’m still not really sure if they get the money or not.”
Eli is a sophomore who is new to Hackettstown High School and HHS Drama Club. However, he seems to be fitting in just fine in the role of Leo, the determined actor willing to drag his partner into any shenanigans necessary to reach their goals. Eli has been involved in theatre since fourth grade, especially enjoying “how theatre allows you to connect with people through this other medium that lets you reach through this world and connect with a person in this area, and get to know them even though you probably wouldn’t have done that otherwise.”
Kaylee Babiak: “Without trying to spoil, I would say this is about two men who are struggling financially who will go to any length to take a fortune that isn’t theirs with some hijinks and love stories along the way.”
Kaylee is a senior playing the role of Meg, who is the theatre-loving fiance of a pastor. Kaylee transferred into Hackettstown High school in September 2022 and has since made herself a prominent member of the HHS Drama Club. She has been involved in theatre since she was about eleven, and has been involved with a company called Drama Geek Studios since seventh grade. She and Michela will be in their upcoming production of Mean Girls at the Crescent Theater in Sussex Borough from October 13-15 and October 20-22. When asked about her love for theater, Kaylee responded, “I love making people feel. I wanted to study psychology growing up and I think I connect with theatre the most because of how it impacts people. The messages in a show, even as absurd as this, still ring true to anybody in the audience that understands the base material of the show. I want to go into this for a living because I want to make people feel things, I want to tell people stories, and I want to change the way people think. Not necessarily in an activism way, but I want to impact people emotionally and spiritually and I think theatre is one of, if not the best way to do so.”
Grace Bielski: “It’s like a sitcom/romance. Almost like Friends, but way wackier.”
Gracie is a junior and has been doing theatre since seventh grade. What she enjoys about theatre is: “The people. They’re like my family. I came into this school barely knowing anyone and after theatre I flourished into a much better person.”
Q: What do you like most about your character?
Michela Leiser: “I think what I like most about Audrey is that she’s genuinely kind and sweet, but she’s also very sure of herself. She’s intelligent and doesn’t dumb herself down, she knows she wants to go to college and is willing to work for it, and she isn’t a pushover. She comes off to me as very comfortable and confident in her own skin, and that’s a trait I really admire.”
As previously mentioned, Michela is playing the role of Audrey. Michela is a senior who has been doing theatre since she was nine, and when asked where that love for it comes from, she replied with, “I love theater because I get to embody someone else. I’m a very analytical person who’s in my own head a lot, and when I’m able to really get inside a character’s head and figure them out, it’s both a relief and a fun exercise in analysis. I can befriend my characters and apply their philosophies and mindsets to my own life. Every character I play teaches me something about who I am and about who I want to be.”
Naomi Schicker: “I like how gaudy she is. Mrs. Higgins says she’s a gangster, so I’m excited to explore that.”
Naomi is a freshman who has been doing theatre since seventh grade, and is new to HHS and HHS Drama. She likes that theatre is “very expressive and it’s a safe space.” Naomi is playing multiple roles, such as Bubbles, who she is specifically talking about in her response, as well as a train passenger and a moose man.
Ethan Freedley: “He’s a real silly guy, I gotta be honest. He gets very flustered and gets very defensive about himself and I feel like it’s funny and I can have a lot of fun with that.”
Ethan is a senior who has been doing theatre since middle school. He plays Duncan, a skeptical priest who is not as big a fan of the theatre as his fiance. He enjoys theatre because “It’s just very silly and [he] get[s] to have much fun and get into many shenanigans.”
Q: What about this show do you think people will connect with?
Ethan Freedley: “I think mainly the humor, I think people are really going to enjoy it. It’s a silly show, you come to have a good time and you watch it and you’ll be like ‘That was a really good show, I had a really good time.’”
James Scalera: “I think the love part, definitely. And the part about not hiding who you are for someone else to love you. And it’s a comedy! So I think people are really going to laugh and it’s going to be really funny.”
James is a sophomore and has been doing theatre as long as he can remember. James recalls “Me and my friends would put on plays in our backyard and then I started doing school theatre in 1st grade and I’ve been involved in community theatre and online theatre and now high school theatre ever since,” he explains. What he appreciates about theatre is, “The fact that you can just shut off your life for an hour or two and just become immersed in a completely different world. If you’re onstage or offstage. Theatre is an escape for me from the normal world.”
Eli DiPaolo: “The dynamics between the characters, the friendships and how they build into these greater relationships from starting as ‘Oh hey, I just bumped into you on this train!’ to ‘We’re in love!’”
Q: What do you like most about this show?
James Scalera: “I love how it has so much heart. You can tell that the playwright really put a lot of emotion and thought behind writing this show, and I think that our cast is going to bring it to life.”
Michela Leiser: “Something I love about this show is that it’s really, really funny. It’s a bit more risqué than some other shows we’ve done, but it’s done in a way that doesn’t take away from the inherent goodness of the characters, and it’s absolutely hilarious.”
Grace Bielski: “The fact that it is funny and lighthearted, yet mature and a really good show for our school.”
Ayeza Malik: “I like how funny it is, there’s a bunch of lines that are really funny.”
Ayeza is new to HHS and HHS Drama as a freshman and has been doing theatre since eighth grade. She plays various roles such as a policeman, a train passenger, and a moose man. What she fancies about theatre is “how you can act as someone else onstage and how dramatic you get to be.”
So far, all of our answers have come from our cast, but what does our crew have to say? In addition to acting opportunities, HHS Drama also provides opportunities for helping backstage. While auditions for this play are over, you can always ask Mrs. Higgins to join as a crew member. If you’re interested, we highly recommend hearing what the club’s stage manager and assistant stage manager have to say.
For the Crew Interview, Click Here