Darien Theater Students To Hit The Big Stage In Stamford On Sept. 24

DARIEN, CT — A handful of students in Darien High School's Theatre 308 program will have the chance to perform on the big stage this week with several accomplished actors and musicians.

On Sept. 24, DHS students Kate Miller, Molly Shields, Jasmine Skowronski, John Raskopf and Grace Sandoval will participate in a gala celebration of the newly-branded Orchestra Lumos at the Palace Theatre in Stamford.

The event will feature musical theater champion Maria Friedman, who will perform a selection of works by Sondheim, as well as Marvin Hamlisch and Michel Legrand.

This will be Friedman's only performance in North America this season. In the fall, she will direct an off-Broadway revival of "Merrily We Roll Along," starring Daniel Radcliffe.

Friedman will be joined Broadway veteran Todd Ellison and vocalists Ross Lekites (Tina, from "The Tina Turner Musical") and Lewis Cleale ("The Book of Mormon"), along with students from the King School theater arts program in Stamford; and the Staples Players from Staples High School in Westport.

DHS Director of Music Colleen Thompson said she recently received a surprise phone call from Marvin Hamlisch's widow, Terre Blair, who lives in Rowayton.

"She called me and left me a voicemail. She said, 'I've got a performance coming up, and we'd love for your students from Darien to participate.' That was a really cool phone call to get," Thompson said.

Thompson believes the opportunity for the five DHS students on Saturday will be impactful.

"This will take the students from a school stage to a professional stage and allow them to see how performing and practicing in their school environment can lead to professional opportunities," Thompson said. "Hopefully this inspires them to continue performing and it shows them that if they work hard, maybe they can go on to study theater professionally and perform."

The Darien students will perform a Hamlisch piece from the musical "Smile," called "In Our Hands," in the finale of the production.

Raskopf was chosen by Thompson to perform a monologue that he wrote titled "Power Of Music," in the middle of the finale.

DHS's Theatre 308 program is a co-curricular club and extension of the normal school day. Students who are in chorus or take drama during the day put on plays and musicals throughout the year.

Theatre 308 empowers students to develop their own unique artistic identities through direct collaboration, a strong sense of community, and exposure to both contemporary and classic dramatic texts.

The five students who will perform on Saturday volunteered and went through an application process.

They then started to rehearse and learn the repertoire for Saturday's big performance.

For tickets and more information on the Sept. 24 gala celebration, click here.