Rumors - June 12 and 13
reserve your seats
Tickets go on sale starting 6/2/21, $5 per person, cash or a check made out to Katonah-Lewisboro Schools. To purchase tickets during the school day, please see Assistant Principal Vincent Bell. Tickets will also be sold after school from 3 - 5 pm at Mr. Bell's office. Questions? Email vbell@klschools.org
Tickets are limited due to COVID restrictions. Seating is every other row with three empty seats between groups.
Live from John Jay Theatre Workshop!
The lights are going up on John Jay High School’s stage in June! Live from John Jay Theatre Workshop is “Rumors,” a comedy by Neil Simon, directed by seniors Paul Newcomb, Scott Weinstein and Caroline Weiss. Shows are Saturday, June 12 at 7:00 pm and Sunday, June 13 at 1:00 pm.
"Rumors" is a feat of student persistence and creativity, driven by love of theater and being together. Because of COVID, the senior-directed Freshman Play was pushed off and the Spring Musical was cancelled. "It slowly hit us that no in-person productions were scheduled before graduation," said Scott. "We decided to try and create an opportunity to spend time with everyone who was always involved in the shows, in person, one more time.”
A Spring Comedy
Two casts involve 18 students total
students persisted!
The trio of would-be directors pitched the idea of a Spring Comedy to Assistant Principal Vincent Bell.
The seniors' proposal included an open call to all high school actors in order to begin rebuilding the community of performing arts students, and ensuring that the actors would wear masks and the audience capacity would be limited. Joanne Cignarella, one of the school’s attendance staff, was on board as the advisor. Caroline’s dad Jesse Weiss, a teacher at the middle school who often works on school productions, said he could help with set build sessions.
Assistant Principal Bell not only agreed, he stepped in to acquire the rights for the play and put through product orders.
completely student led - from casting to cleanup
“Rumors” will involve two casts of 18 students in all—including some who are also in the virtual school play, “Changes, an Ethnodrama,” which begins streaming just two days prior to “Rumors” first show. Senior Michael Murphy is the technical director, senior Emma Oram is the stage manager and juniors Kathleen Birmingham and Delaney Martin are costume designers.
a positive effect on all involved
The students’ choice of play, at the end of a COVID year, seems spot-on.
While “Rumors” is renowned for being a comedic triumph, Simon said that writing it was a cathartic experience after his divorce and son-in-law’s death. It's having a similiar positive effect on the actors in 2021.
"It's made things seem more normal," said Caroline. "It's also giving us closure. We've been doing shows together since middle school. We needed to have this one last show."
