Nearly 40 Princeton Academy students danced and sang their way into the hearts of hundreds last weekend in Princeton Academy’s fifth annual musical production.
This year, 39 actors from the Academy and four actresses from its sister school, Stuart Country Day, performed “Bugsy Malone” on Jan. 24 and 25 at Stuart’s Little Theater. The cast brought the audience back to the Roaring ‘20s in its film noir spoof of the Prohibition Era and its gang rivalries.
“Theater arts is truly educational,” said Princeton Academy music teacher Jonathan Britt. “Not everyone has the experience at this age to participate in a full-scale production; the boys are truly blessed to have the opportunity to learn what it takes to put on a musical.”
Despite losing valuable rehearsal time due to the recent snowstorm, the show still went off without a hitch. Aside from the dynamic teamwork, Britt attributed much of the success to the hard work and determination of the cast, crew and production company.
“Most importantly, the cast thrived on bringing out the show's silliness,” Britt added. “They seemed so comfortable and relaxed on the stage.”
Britt considered “Bugsy” Princeton Academy’s strongest musical production yet, thanks to the help he received from Dina Christie, of Princeton, and Princeton Academy alum ’05 Brad Wilson, of Montgomery. Christie had helped with the choreography, while Wilson served as the stage director.
Helping his alma mater’s musical was a first for Wilson, 22, who described as “remarkable.”
"The show had tons of parts we came up with together that I think are just totally weird and hilarious and great," Wilson said. "My favorite part was getting to actually know the kids, which taught me how to help them."
