Classical Theater Comes to Fort Lee

Fort Lee High School did a huge credit to Rodgers and Hammerstein over the weekend with their production of "The King & I." The extremely talented cast included high school students of all ages as well as a few students from the middle school and elementary schools. The entire Academy of Performing arts was involved in the production from the music students, who were in the orchestra, to the dance students on stage, to the actors who brought the play to life. Even at 2 p.m. on a Saturday, the cast brought in leagues of people who had already seen the show once or twice before.

The most overwhelming aspect of the kids’ performances was the pure devotion from each and every one of them. From the perfected accents (English and otherwise), to lead actress Theadora Lecour’s (Anna) faultless timing and delicate expressions, to David Ahn’s (The King) unique ability to make a stern word at once warm, formidable and amusing, and to Louis Fischer’s (Lun Tha) open, earnest, romantic gestures. Christian Lasval, who played Anna’s son, Louis Leonowens, put on an impeccable English accent throughout the entire play, and he’s 12. (Don’t worry, he’s already made up his mind to continue getting up on stage for years to come.)

“This was the best of the three that we’ve done, I think,” said director Cara Picone. “It definitely went past [my expectations]. I mean yeah, they’re high school kids, but they were doing professional work up there.”

It was clear how hard everyone had to work on the production. There was not one person on stage who wasn’t giving it their all, from the eight-year-olds playing the King of Siam’s children to the lead actors. Lecour even shed actual tears during her final scene on stage – now that’s dedication.

"The King & I" is Theadora Lecour’s third time on stage. She didn’t think she’d get the part to play the lead of Anna. The junior said that a lot of “really good” people tried out, so she had come to terms with likely not having the part before the cast list went out.

“I really liked my song ‘Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?’ I get to get down on the floor, and crawl everywhere, and yell a lot,” Lecour said, speaking about her favorite part of her role.

When asked if she would continue acting after high school, she gave a vehement "yes."

“I really loved doing it, and I want to keep doing things that I love, so acting would certainly be a part of that,” Lecour said.

It was nice to see some new faces to the stage as well; David Ahn, a junior, is a first timer to acting. Though he’s in Honors Choir and has actually made it to All State Choir, he’s never actually acted before.

“He came to audition, and he impressed me,” said Picone.

Ahn didn’t have a good reason for having never auditioned for an acting part before, but he’s hooked for now. The eleventh grader said he is “definitely” going to try out for something next year.

“I honestly was so scared at first,” Ahn admitted. “All of the main roles tend to go to actors who tried out that are in like, Acting IV classes…I had no experience. By the end, I grew myself not just as an actor, but as a person.”

Ahn said the most difficult part of all this for him was acting, dancing and singing all at once. He described the famous number “Shall We Dance?” as a “do or die” scene.

His favorite part was his song “A Puzzlement.”

“[The song] really shows off who the king really is,” Ahn said. “He has this outer appearance of this great strong man who really knows what he’s doing, but he’s really just a man like the rest of us.”

Louis Fischer, who was in the Fall production of “Our Town,” with only two lines, returned to the stage with the second-tier role of Lun Tha, Tuptim’s lover. The freshmen delivered his lines and sang the heart-meltingly romantic song, “We Kiss In a Shadow” with a chilling poignancy opposite Karen Nishinaga (Tuptim), whose voice was nothing short of astonishing.

Fischer was humble when asked what his favorite part of the experience was, and said that he loved watching the others perform from back stage.

“We have a lot of good people. I’m definitely not the best one out there. Anna’s really talented – Theadora – David, everybody, they’re all like really good….they’re the more experienced ones, I’m just a freshman,” he said.

As for what’s next for the high school’s fine group of entertainers, Ms. Picone isn’t sure.

“We really haven’t settled on anything yet, but we like to include all the different aspects of the Academy,” said Picone.

The play’s first performance took place on Thursday at 7 p.m. and every night until Saturday. There was a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday as well.

The orchestra included nine professionals, but the rest was made up of students from the School of Music. It was conducted by Cara Picone’s father, Joseph Picone, Musical Director at the High School. All of the dancing was choreographed by Claudia Cutler, the director of the APA’s dance school.