Players Club Musical Announcement

The time of the year has come around for the Eastchester High School Players Club Spring Musical to be announced, and the result was surprising for most in attendance. John Gwardyak, the advisor of Players Club and the director of the shows, announced that the club will be putting on Urinetown: The Musical in mid-April. Leading up to the announcement, many members of the club had a different show set in their minds as a prediction.

“I feel like it’s most likely Mary Poppins because that’s what has been on his mind for a really long time” stated club publicity manager Juliana DeDomenico. “I think the musical is going to be Mary Poppins because that’s one of John’s favorite shows” guessed senior Meghana Viswanathan. “He has expressed that he wants to do it before he retires”.

Other guesses included Grease, West Side Story, and Something Rotten. However, one person got it right on the money.

“Based on what I’ve heard from John, I’m pretty sure that he’s decided on Urinetown or Mary Poppins” predicted Players Club president and veteran Amy Cartolano. “Unless he decides to throw a curveball and pick something entirely different, which is very plausible knowing John".

Mr. Gwardyak’s process in picking a show revolves around three key questions;

1. Is it going to be fun for the ensemble?

2. Does it have enough parts to be able to give the vast talent pool a shot at one?

3. Will the audience enjoy it?

“I start considering musicals over the summer. Every show's a possibility, though I prefer musicals that haven't been performed here, so Urinetown wasn't in the original pack” stated Gwardyak. Urinetown will be Gwardyak’s first spring musical that he repeats, as the club put on the show back in 2009.

Gwardyak goes through dozens of musicals before ultimately picking a final one. His decision-making process has a large part to do with the rights to the show, as he has to make sure he can obtain the rights before announcing it as the musical. Many club members close to Gwardyak believe he wasn’t fully decided on Urinetown until the morning of.

Once the name of the musical was announced, a murmur of mixed reactions filled the crowd. Many in attendance did not know the show too well, but are hopeful they will enjoy the show they spend 4 months of their year rehearsing for. Gwardyak assured the group that Urinetown is one of the most fun shows he has ever been apart of.

“I’ll be honest, I wish I knew enough about it, but I don’t. However, I know once I listen to the soundtrack and read the script, I’ll get excited” explained senior member Alex Jutt.

“I know it’s a good play, and I’m glad it has enough parts for everyone” said junior John Ferrara.

Right now, Gwardyak and company are more focused on the upcoming fall comedy, Leading Ladies. The Ken Ludwig written show is being performed by the Players Club on Friday, November 22nd and Saturday, November 23rd at 7PM. Tickets are $8 for students and $10 for adults. Auditions for Urinetown will be in the middle of January, with an official date being announced closer to the end of 2019.