The Drama Club’s Newest Production Will Rock You!

The TYROS drama production team has been working on something incredible for the last few months. Led by Ms. Ann Smith, the students have put together and performed an off-broadway spectacular, We Will Rock You. The cast, crew, band, and faculty have worked nonstop to make this play one that will go down in the history books.

Performances were held from April 20th to the 22nd and then again from April 27 & 28th to close this season’s performances. When asked about the performances I heard nothing but rave reviews. “It was a great experience and so fun! Everyone was so talented and they all had such great chemistry.” (Angelica Galasso ‘25 a member of the crowd). Our leads, Erin Lake ‘23 as Scarmouche and Joseph Nitti ‘23 as Galileo Figaro had an incredible final performance. Erin has spoken out about her experience performing with her TYROS family and co-star Joseph, she says “I’m very grateful I got to be a part of it.  There’s no one else I’d rather share the stage with for the last time”. Killer Queen, played by Anjali Moti ‘23, stunned the crowd with a powerful performance. Her talent and voice are truly outstanding, there’s no doubt she’s going to big places in the future. Annalisa Tuttolomondo ‘23 gave an incredible performance as Ozzy Osborne, one that no one will ever be able to forget. “The seniors this year did phenomenally, I think it’s gonna be a huge loss for us losing such talented people I’m truly gonna miss them, Annalisa was my bestie off and on stage she’s truly a professional actor and singer, I think she did amazing” (Gianna Termine ‘25 a member of chorus and choreographer). Though our seniors are leaving us, there’s still plenty of talent here getting ready for next year’s show. Freshman Adrian Arceo dominated the role of Khashoggi this year, and we look forward to seeing him in shows to come!

Of course, any great thing wouldn’t be great until it’s had a few bumps in the road. Luckily our bumps were evened out by Giuseppe Puccio ‘23 who stepped up this year to be our Musical Director. He never stopped pushing for the band and singers to do and be their very best even after the performances were complete. I asked Giuseppe about his experience in the band, he answered saying “I think my two years of guitar playing have made me a better musician, but more importantly a better person. Reluctant as I was to get involved, I’m very glad I did. I also had the privilege to lead the band this year, something I am very proud of since it turned out so well. I want to thank everyone involved for believing in me, and I’d like to send a special message of thanks to Ms. Smith, who has consistently looked out for me since I began playing for her shows”. Our all-McClancy band played every song for the show, there were no recordings and no background tracks involved. 90% of the piano heard was played by David Dojlidko ‘24, one of the most talented people here at McClancy. The rest of the piano was played by Christina Acosta ‘25 and Mavin Peroche ‘24 who both shine with potential. Accompanying them on bass was Megan Smeal ‘23 and graduate Kevin Mallorga. James John Piccone ‘23 can be found rocking on his drums and two members of McClancy’s mathematics department Mr. Michael Lacovara and Mr. Thomas Hopkins play rhythm guitar.  “The band is the best group of players I’ve ever heard and most are students,” says Virginia O’Connor ‘24 (a stage crew member). 

The show would be nothing without the amazing crew behind the magic. Our choreographers Chloe Kebbe ‘24, Gianna Termine ‘25, Kate Devlin ‘23, and Zoe Attard Portelli ‘24 worked endlessly to make sure the performers sparkled. Lighting led by Matthew Amatulli ‘24 and Corina Chung ‘24 played around and learned their way through a brand new lighting board this year in less than 36 hours! “The new lighting board was amazing to use, it was fun yet challenging but we enjoyed every moment of it and it had an amazing outcome in the performance” (Matthew Amatulli ‘24). Of course, you cant forget sound led by our good friend Mr. Kevin Cavanagh and our art and set design led by Mr. Michael Savoca. Students sacrificed days and nights to help make this show the best it could be. Lastly, there’s the stage crew who are the arms and legs of any show. They work diligently to make sure everything goes smoothly for every show. Our stage managers Joe Torre ‘25 and Alyssa Hilli ‘24 had to know the show front and back before most of the actors even had to. Members of the crew like Virginia O’Connor ‘24 gave up hours during spring break to make sure sets and props were ready to be used. A huge shout out to Ms. Smith who made all of this possible, without her this show (or any show) would just be a dream. She makes dreams into realities. In the end, everyone’s hard work paid off because the final piece was truly breathtaking.

So what now? Well, you better believe this amazing crew isn’t done yet. On May 12th at 3 pm in our gymnasium, Ms. Smith and our McClancy band will host a rock concert open to all to watch. They’ll be performing some songs from not only this year but last year’s production, as well as a few rock classics. Please stop by, listen to a few songs, and rock out!