2011 Stuyvesant Sing!

By Joyce Szuflita
Seniors Win!

It was not a fait accompli. The first performance was an unmitigated disaster by all accounts but they tightened the timing and changed the ending and by the last night it was a rollicking good time!

At Stuyvesant there are 3 Sing! contenders, Frosh/Soph, Juniors and Seniors. The Frosh/Soph theme of "searching for a theme" may have proven to be too "meta", and the snappy little quest script was high jacked by a sub plot about the evil Juniors stealing their "Fairy Tale" premise and making it Junior Nursery Rhymes. Considering that they are just dipping their toes into this amazing tradition, they did admirably well.

The Junior's Nursery Rhyme show was full of clever scenery. Jack and Jill's house with the fall away front was very original. The singing was strong and the characters were clever (although I didn't figure out that the narrarator with the puffy pants sitting on the piece of "Alice in Wonderland Wall" was Humpty Dumpty). My bad. In the end, the pacing was just too slow and I never really got down to enjoying the ride.

I am sorry, but from the moment the curtain went up on the Senior's Monster chorus dancing through the smoke in Dracula's castle, I forgot about where I was and that I had to be nervous about my kid in the tap and swing numbers (no need to worry, see above left). This show, which was very funny (good work Sam! Wesleyan class of 2015 - congrats!) followed the fate of Big Foot (born to humans, "look at him! He will never get into Harvard, Yale or Colby!" line reading by Ben: Colby class of 2015 - congrats!) and raised by Dracula and his wife, Bride of Frankenstein (?). Frankenstein, usurped by Big Foot as the heir to the Monster throne tries to entrap him with a lovely human girlfriend. Many snappy dance numbers (including swing and tap, choreographed by an exceptionally talented individual who happens to be related to me) and many amusing and well performed songs later, they brought the house down.

When my daughter was a Freshman the Seniors won with a "Brain vs. Heart" battle of the sexes themed show. It was the standard by which all Stuy Sings have been judged. This year - better than "the Body"!