Winthrop Middle School Drama Society Wraps Up an Outstanding Year

The Winthrop Middle School Drama Society performed two productions this school year.  One production was in the fall and another in the spring. Students tried out for various parts and others chose to work behind the scene as crew members.  All in all, there are approximately 100 members of the society.  After students were cast, practices were frequent and long.  Their hard work was clearly visible on stage.

The fall production of “Bye Bye Birdie” was flawless.  Watching sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders perform on the stage of the new Neil Shapiro Center for the Arts – located at the new Winthrop Middle School/ High School – one would think they were at a theater on Broadway, watching the performance.  These students, who are between 11 and 14 years old, the majority of whom have no training are that good.  They are even better than that.

The production transformed the stage to Sweet Apple, Ohio, where the musical takes place.  There was singing, dancing and a whole lot of acting that was no less than perfection.  The cast of 59 student and 35 crew members had flawless performances for all three performances.

I had a chance to ask Drama Club director Brittany Daley why she chose to direct the 1960 Tony Award-winning Broadway production for the Fall musical.  Her response:

“I chose ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ because I want to expose my students to as many varieties of theatre and performance as possible.

This spring the WMS Drama Club performed three, 10-minute, original plays, which were outstanding.  The amazing part of these plays was that not only were they written and performed by students, they were also directed by students.  A friend of my family, Arie Laure, who is a theater enthusiast, comes to many of my son’s performances.  At intermission he came up to me and asked me if the students really wrote and directed the plays.  When I told him that they did indeed, he was blown away.  The titles of the plays are: “Bank Withdrawal Symptoms,” “Because The World Needs Unicorns” and “Middle School Crush.”

The second half of the Spring performance was “Shuddersome; Tales of Poe.”   This is the retelling of some of Edgar Allan Poe’s best works: “The Tell Tale Heart,” “The Raven” and “Masque of the Red Death.”  True to Poe’s works, the actors put on a performance that was scary, creepy and not for the faint of heart … and was simply a wonderful performance.  This production will be presented on stage at the Neil Shapiro Center for the Arts this Saturday, April 28, at the Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild Middle School Drama Fest.  Schools from around the state will be presenting their 40-minute productions.  The festival is open to the, public.  Tickets are $10 each and that allows ticket holders to come and go throughout the day.  There are seven schools competing for the gold, silver and bronze.  The first production starts at 9 a.m.  Winthrop Middle School Drama Society will be performing at 1 pm.  Please come out and support our student actors.  Tickets will be available for purchase at the door.  There will be a concession stand.

Miss Daley has been an amazing asset to the school’s drama program, directing wonderful productions. “My son loves drama and said to me after the first Spring performance “Mama, it feels great to be on the stage again…”  I am certain he isn’t the only student that feels this way.  We, as a community are so fortunate to have Miss Daley; the new performance center; and a town that has a passion for the arts.  A shout out of huge thanks goes out to all of the people that assist in the drama program as it wouldn’t be the success it is without you!”