John Jay High School Presents Award-Winning Comedy 'Stage Door'

KATONAH, NY — John Jay High School Theatre Workshop presents the award winning play "Stage Door," written by Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman. The production features seniors Bailey Owen, Nick Spink, Isaiah Blum, Jenny Sokol and Barrett Middleton leading a cast of 29.

Performances will be at 7 p.m. Dec. 8 and 9, and at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Dec. 10. Tickets are $10 adults and $5 students and senior citizens, and are sold Dec. 1 through Dec. 6 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the High School theatre lobby. After Dec. 6, tickets will be sold at the door one hour prior to curtain, according to a district spokeswoman.

“ 'Stage Door' is a play about following your dream,” said director Bill Friedman, performing arts teacher at John Jay High School (JJHS). “Should you compromise, and take a safe route in life? What should you be willing to sacrifice?”

The play is about a group of young girls who have come to New York to study acting and find jobs. The setting is Mrs. Orcutt’s boarding house, where the hopes and ambitions of 16 young women are revealed in scenes of comedy.

Terry Randall, the central character, played by senior Bailey Owen, has to decide whether she'll pursue a career acting on stage, which she loves, or give up the stage to take a job in Hollywood, with the chance to be a movie star.

“The play is a huge challenge,” Friedman said. “It's the ultimate ensemble play, with 20 characters living in a large brownstone near Times Square, constantly running in and out. There are so many talented women at JJHS that we felt it was important to find a play that could give as many of them as possible a chance to perform.”

John Jay’s Theatre Workshop is an extra-curricular theater company that puts on four productions a year: the fall drama, the freshman play (performed by nineth-graders; fully designed and directed by 12th-graders), the spring musical and The Evening of One-Act Plays (directed, again, by students).

“What makes our productions truly special are the alumni that continue to return year after year to work on our productions. About 12 alumni are participating in 'Stage Door,' ” said producer Amy Geiger, a music teacher at JJHS. “Many of our workshop alumni have gone on to have successful careers in theatre and we are honored that they continue to share their talents with us and pass the torch to the next generation of students.”

“Our students are very fortunate to live in an area with so many professional artists; there is a tremendous amount of support for the arts in our community,” she said.

Photo caption: The cast of "Stage Door." Photo caption: Courtesy.