Snow White—

NHS Drama Club’s Fall Production Is A Fairy Tale

By Larissa Lytwyn

The Newtown High School Drama Club is presenting Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, based on the Grimm brothers’ classic, on Friday, November 19, at 7:30 pm, Saturday, November 20, at 3:30 pm, and 7:30 pm, and Sunday, November 21, at 2:00 pm. 

Every fall, the school offers audience a virtually student-run production; in addition to the actors, the director, stage manager, and crewmembers are all students.

“It’s a great play for children to see,” said student director Margaret Riley, a sophomore. “It’s been a lot of fun to put together.”

Margaret said that the production spices the traditional story with an edge of contemporary sass.

“The Queen is very modern,” she said. “She’s very jealous, a very strong personality, but something unique [about this production] is her contemporary, sarcastic sense of humor.”

Likewise, the Magic Mirror, portrayed by freshman Stewart Tabler, will also be a lively source of sardonic wit.

“It’s been great working with this cast, and being part of something like this,” said Stewart. “I’m excited!”

“While we couldn’t infringe on the Disney trademark regarding the names of the dwarfs, the names and personalities they have are a strong reflection of the Disney ones,” explained stage manger Alicia Tollson.

In the Newtown High School production, the dwarfs are Wheezy (Kayla Koschel), Good Time Charlie (Kelly McPhee), Roscoe (Sarah Parker), Milquetoast (Maia Jacoby), Opie (Diana Curcuruto), and Lazy (Katrina Morgan).

“We have a very small, very special cast,” said Margaret. “Everyone is really energized. The cast is incredibly talented and I’m very excited about this production. It’s going to be great!”

She laughed as she recalled the casting process.

“We had about 40 students audition, and about 35 of them were female,” she said.

The students chose the play out of a book of fairytale theater adaptations, said Alicia. “[Drama Club Advisor] Tom Swetts recommended that we try a fairytale this year,” she said. “We thought Snow White would be a lot of fun. It’s a story people are especially familiar with.”

Snow White, played by Sydney Russell, a freshman, is generally the same quiet, polite young woman she is depicted as in the Disney and Grimm story.

“There isn’t a lot of deviation,” she said.

Sydney said she was looking forward to playing the lead in her first high school production. She played major roles in plays performed during her two years at Newtown Middle School, most recently, last spring’s For Whom the Tinkerbell Tolls.

Nikki Kaza, who plays the Queen, said she auditioned for that particular role because it seemed like the most fun.

“The villains are always the most fun, the most interesting, to portray,” she said.

Additionally, she said, the Queen’s frigid, jealous personality is a distant cry from her own.

“It’s fun being someone you totally are not,” she said.

Brandon Leon-Gambetta will portray the huntsman. Nick Petrovich plays the Prince.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for students, $5 for children under 12 and $5 for matinees. For more information, contact Becca Gellis at 240-0848.