Riverwood International Charter School’s Performing Arts Department Proudly Presents:

The Wedding Singer

Book by Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy Music by Matthew Sklar

Lyrics by Chad Beguelin

Directed by Mary Beth van der Hoek Pit Band Direction by Carlos Rodriguez

Musical Direction by Beth Shugart and Greg Smith Choreography by Beth Sibert

THE WEDDING SINGER takes us back to a time when hair was big, greed was good, collars were up, and a wedding singer might just be the coolest guy in the room.

It's 1985 and rock-star wannabe Robbie Hart , played by senior Jake Berne, is New Jersey's favorite wedding singer. He's the life of the party, until his own fiancée Linda, played by senior Mila Freeman, leaves him at the altar. Shot through the heart,

Robbie makes every wedding as disastrous as his own.

Enter Julia, played by sophomore Callaway Powlus, a winsome waitress who wins his affection. As luck would have it, Julia is about to be married to a Wall Street shark named Glen, played by senior Chad Hellem and unless Robbie can pull off the performance of a decade, the girl of his dreams will be gone forever. Other senior cast members include Rachel Epstein as

Holly, Edward Vear as Sammy and Ben Heller as George. The cast is supported by a top notch ensemble of over 30 cast members who sing and dance in many of the rockin ‘80’s

numbers in the show. The pit band is led by Carlos Rodriguez, with musical direction by Beth Shugart and Greg Smith. Innovative choreography is by Beth Sibert.

The musical will be presented at the Riverwood International Charter School Auditorium

March 13, 14 and 15 at 7:00 pm and

March 16 at 3:00 pm Tickets are $8.00 for students and $12.00 for adults

Tickets may be purchased at Riverwood from 11:30 to 2:00 starting March 10th and at the box office 45 minutes before curtain

DRAMA NEWS

Notes & Props March 2014

Departmt

Notes & Props

The Wedding Singer

Cast

Jake Berne………………………Robbie Hart

Mila Freeman…………………………...Linda

Callaway Powlus…………...…Julia Sullivan

Chad Hellem……………………………..Glen

Rachel Epstein………………..Holly Sullivan

Edward Vear………………………….Sammy

Ben Heller…………………………….George

March 2014

CHORUS NEWS

Notes & Props

All State Chorus FEBRUARY 20-22, 2014

THE CLASSIC CENTER

ATHENS, GEORGIA

The 2014 All-State Chorus Event was held in Athens, GA this year for the first time in over two decades and was a great success!! The event was previously held in Savannah, GA. This year's choirs were reduced in size by 20%

from previous years due to the change of facilities. But, the experience was amazing for those involved!!

Students were selected as the top 4-5% of choral musicians in Georgia. Two difficult auditions that included multiple sight-singing examples, a music theory test, music audiation and error detection, performing an Arts song solo, multiple scales and more were used to find the brightest and best in the state. The reward was an amazing weekend with world-renowned choral conductors and clinicians and a culminating performance that ranks Georgia as one of the finest All-State Choral programs in the nation. Six students represented Riverwood this year. In the photo, from left to right: Callaway Powlus, Ellen Murray, Matthew Boatwright, Jasmine Smith, Carolyn Wright and Abby Gibson.

CHORUS NEWS

Drama and Chorus Events -

Chorus Blog Sign up to receive emails of chorus related announcements. The blog is at: www.riverwoodch.wordpress.com. It contains information like calendars, chorus handbook, make-up policies, recordings, information about deadlines, and much, much more!!

January 2014 Governor’s Honor Program - RICS Semi-finalist Auditions and Interviews: The Chorus and Drama departments had several students who participated in the second round of auditions and

interviews for an opportunity to become a GHP scholar this summer (Georgia Governor's Honors Program). See Notes & Props - The Back Page for more information.

February 2014 GMEA Reading Chorus: Congratulations to Callaway Powlus for being selected to the GMEA Reading Chorus! Callaway is the first student ever selected from Riverwood for this event! For

more information, click here.

Callaway Powlus

Notes & Props

CHORUS NEWS

Drama and Chorus Events –

February 2014, continued Thescon: Riverwood thespians attended the annual Georgia Thespian Conference held

in Columbus, GA in February. They attended in many workshops to enhance their

performance skills.

March 2014 The Wedding Singer: Our Spring Musical, The Wedding Singer, begins Wednesday,

March 13th through Sunday, March 16th. For more information, see the front page of the

newsletter.

April 2014 Bahamas Cultural Exchange Performance Tour: Mr. Smith will sponsor a cruise trip to

the Bahamas for the Riverwood choruses on April 3rd through April 7th. See the chorus

blog at www.riverwoodch.wordpress.com for more information.

P R E S I D E N T S’ C O L U M N

Hello PABA members!

Thank you for your support of our Performing Arts Programs at Riverwood!

A few highlights from our first quarter 2014:

21 students and 4 faculty and parents attended 2014 Georgia Thespian Conference in

Columbus, Ga. A great learning time was had by all!

PABA (through a very generous donation) was able to purchase a large mirror that is now

hung in the drama classroom. This is a great new addition (along with the pipe and drape)

to help our students during dance and drama rehearsals.

We have commissioned a fantastic musician by the name of JD Frizell to compose a special

piece for Riverwood choruses. The piece will be ready for practice and performance next

school year.

We have approximately 30 students and chaperones scheduled for the Bahamas cultural

tour the first week of April.

Over 50 students are actively involved in the musical, “The Wedding Singer”. They are

busy back stage, working sound and lights, finding props and costumes, helping with set

build and of course performing on stage.

Thanks to our wonderful students for working hard to represent Riverwood’s performing arts.

Our amazing teachers and special “coaches” are UNBELIEVABLE. It is their dedication, sweat,

stress and love of our students that truly let’s all of our stars shine.

As you know, we had crazy January and February schedule interruptions due to the snow and ice

storms. Due to the storms and other unforeseen circumstances, our Cluster Concert had to be

cancelled and our choirs did not participate in the Large Group Performance Evaluation event.

Also, our musical students and teachers missed 16 hours of valuable rehearsal time. They are all

working like crazy to put together a fabulous show by making up the lost time with extended

after school rehearsals and additional weekend work.

We have submitted a preliminary grant request to the Sandy Springs Society and will keep you

informed of our progress as we move forward.

Please continue to show your support through participation in our various spring programs,

including the Musical and the Spring Concert. We have many upcoming volunteer opportunities.

Also, as always, we appreciate your financial support. We hope we have highlighted some of the

exciting things we are doing to enhance our programs with your donated resources.

We look forward to seeing you all at the show!!

Ilsa Mendoza Jackson and Kaye Mulkeen

2013-2014 PABA Co-Presidents

Governor’s Honors Program

The Georgia Governor's Honors Program (GHP) is a four-week, summer residential program designed to provide intellectually gifted and artistically talented high school students challenging and enriching educational opportunities not usually available during the

regular school year. The program offers instruction which is designed to provide students with the skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary to become independent, lifelong learners. The GHP is a great program that provides a unique learning experience for students. In January, the semi-finalists attended state level interviews and auditions. The

finalists will be announced later this month. Riverwood’s Drama and Chorus semi-finalists are:

Theatre Max Kantor, Sophomore

Gina Karsaboom, Junior Stephi Piefke, Junior

Chorus Lucy Mulkeen, Junior

Ellen Murray, Sophomore

Callaway Powlus, Sophomore Madeleine Sibert, Junior

Jasmine Smith, Sophomore

Congratulations and good luck to all of our semi-finalists!!

Notes and Props - The Back Page

To join PABA, pick up a membership

form at one of The Wedding Singer

performances or visit Riverwood’s website:

www.riverwoodics.org

Print the membership form and mail it

along with your check to the school

Make your check payable to: Riverwood PABA

For more information or to volunteer,

contact the PABA Co-Presidents:

Ilsa Mendoza Jackson

ilsamj@bellsouth.net

or

Kaye Mulkeen mulkeenk@bellsouth.net

Riverwood PABA is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt

organization

2013-2014 PABA Board Members

Ilsa Jackson: Co-President Kaye Mulkeen: Co-President

Beth Sibert: Treasurer Standrea Payton: Secretary

Jennifer Lagrange: Chorus Liaison Claire Holley: Chorus Liaison Felicia Berne: Drama Liaison Edye Cohen: Drama Liaison Cindy Piefke: Drama Liaison

Debra Smith: Public Relations

JOIN PABA TODAY!

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR OUR

OUTSTANDING CHORAL AND

DRAMA DEPARTMENTS AT

RIVERWOOD INTERNATIONAL

CHARTER SCHOOL!