Eastchester Youth Council Stages “The Music Man” This Weekend

The Eastchester Youth Council will publicly present its 26th annual large-scale dinner theater production at the Lake Isle Country Club Ballroom on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. For this year's program, the students will perform the classic American musical, The Music Man.

The musical is produced by Eastchester Youth Council Executive Director Bunny Rappaport and directed by her daughter, Susan Rappaport, co-executive director of the Pathway School for autistic children.

The duo has assembled a polished two-act production featuring approximately 100 actors, technical assistants and orchestra musicians in just four and a half weeks.

The cast list ranges from a seven-year-old playing Winthrop to a pair of seniors from the Senior Center at Lake Isle. But Susan Rappaport says the core of the production revolves around the 13 to 22-year-olds that comprise the Eastchester Youth Council. This includes recent high school grads like Sam Brown and Dana Celestino, who are playing Professor Harold Hill and Marian Paroo respectively.

"The [Eastchester Youth Council] shows the seniors we have good kids in town," says Bunny Rappaport. "Sometimes seniors are wary, and it even works the other way around–sometimes teens are equally wary of seniors."

The Eastchester Youth Council was initiated in 1985 as a response to the Eastchester, Bronxville, Tuckahoe community's requests for teen-oriented programs. Since then, Bunny Rappaport has facilitated the council's growth to encompass nearly every corner of the area.

"The Council's current Board of Directors represents all facets of the community such as business, education, and parents," said Bunny. The Board also boasts 10 program alumni.

The Village of Eastchester pays the Council staff's salaries while the expenses incurred via the annual dinner theater production are supplied by a grant from The Community Fund, as well as ticket sales and program ads.

The collective effort results in a tuition free program for adolescents that currently live in Eastchester, Bronxville or Tuckahoe. Parents are only asked for $10 per student to cover the cost of t-shirts.

"These kids should be recognized for the good stuff," says Susan.

In this situation, the "good stuff" refers to a summer dedicated to a sophisticated theater production. Auditions took place in May so as to not coincide with middle and high school finals, and rehearsals have been held four days a week since July 5th.

In addition, the program's participants were responsible for set design, technical work organized by John Gwardyak (who doubles as auditorium manager at Eastchester High School), learning choreography with Vinnie LoPreto and polishing harmonies with vocal coach Michael Tsayger.

The Eastchester Youth Council's production of The Music Man boasts a total running time of approximately two hours. Tickets are nearly sold out for Friday night's performance, but many seats remain for Saturday evening and the Sunday matinee showing. Contact Bunny Rappaport at 914-235-3056 to RSVP.