NKHS Production of "On the Town" Offers Sizzle for a Frigid Winter

The staging of Leonard Bernstein’s “On the Town” starting March 6 at North Kingstown High School promises to be a “fun, uplifting show with lots of verve,” according to director Norma Caiazza.

Consider student actor Natale Toland’s role as Hildy, a promiscuous taxi driver. Or Abby Dufresne, who plays Claire De Lune, a man-obsessed anthropologist who deploys the art of seduction in this musical romp about three sailors on leave from their ships in New York City in 1944.

“The story starts out funny, but it ends up being a sweet love story,” Dufresne said.

The high-energy and high-hormone musical will include about 20 dances.

“It’s a really dance heavy show,” Toland said. “There’s never a dull moment. It’s a rollercoaster — really exciting.”

The production will also feature senior Nick Hammond, who plays one of the three sailors eager to find a lass during their brief respite in wartime New York City and he also gets a credit for designing the sets.

The project, which included research into the city’s historical skylines, resulted in a period-correct depiction of the city in the 1940s. He also studied the sets at the “On the Town” production on Broadway with most of the reset of the cast in a recent trip to New York to get ideas for their performance. In the end, he gets senior project credit and yet other design credit on his resume — he was picked by Caiazza in part after she saw his designs in “High School Musical Jr.,” and logo for “How to Succeed in Business” from his time with Rhode Island Youth Theatre. He also had made set renderings as one of his AP art projects for Beauty and the Beast.

Hammond also created the logo for the ”On the Town” program.

“We are very proud of Nick and his sets for ‘On The Town’ are terrific” Caiazza said.

Another highlight in the production will be a remarkable dinosaur puppet created by teacher Robert Shaffer, which can move like a puppet and can fall apart and come back together again.

Getting ready for the production proved challenging for the students, who were delayed by all the snow and cancellations that occurred all February. The extreme weather prevented the hanging of a large banner across West Main Street to announce the show.

But their worries were calmed after “we’ve really rallied together and finished rehearsing some 20 dances over a short winter break, powering through,” Toland said. “It’s going to be a great show. We’re really excited.”

Tickets are available at North Kingstown High School, Dave’s Market in Wickford and Quonset, the North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce and Baker’s Pharmacy in Jamestown. Tickets are $12 in advance and $16 at the door. Shows are March 6 at 7pm, March 7 at 2pm and 7pm and March 8 at 2pm.

The students have even created a video advertisement for the show. See below.