Brooke Foster
In and out of school, Hanover students are leaving audience members wanting more.
Since January 15, senior Abby Pavie and sophomore Kyle Dawson have been preparing for performances of Rothschild and Sons the Musical. The show was put on at the Weinstein JCC directed by Hanover theatre teacher Deb Clinton. This was Pavie’s third time being involved with a production at the JCC, but this was Dawson’s stage debut with The Jewish Family Theatre production company.
“They put on really good productions. It was fun to work with adults and with other actors my age that go to different schools that have the same passion and drive as me,” Dawson said.
Rothschild and Sons followed the story of Mayer Rothschild, a Jewish man in the late 18th century living in a ghetto in Frankfurt. Rothschild sends his five sons throughout Europe to make a life for themselves in the country they occupy. Through banking and stock investments, the Rothschilds become the wealthiest European family by the beginning of the 1800s. However because they are Jewish, Mr. and Mrs. Rothschild are still living in the ghetto. The musical, based on a true story, tells the inspiring tale of how the Rothschilds came to be a household name in Europe through song and dance.
“I really liked the show itself. It goes a lot of different places and the music is really good. The cast was amazing. Even when there might have been plot holes in the text itself, Deb Clinton and the cast worked really hard to fill in those holes with just what we bring to the show,” Dawson said.
The show only had 11 actors in it, and Dawson was one of three high schoolers in the show. Pavie was one of two tech members that were involved with the tech staff for the show. The rest of the cast and crew consisted of adult actors and technical workers.
“It’s so fun because I get to work with adults and people who enjoy what they’re doing and working with adults is a good learning experience because I learn how to work with people of other age groups besides just my peers,” Pavie said. “Some of the people involved I’ve worked with in the past, so that’s always fun to work with them. But also the JCC puts on good productions and it gives me out of school experience for the future.”
The show also featured Hanover students in the orchestra for the show. Senior Aidan Bost and freshman Brynne Severns are both in the school band and played the music for Rothschild and Sons.
“It was really fun for us to be able to do it because we got personally asked to do and that was really neat, but it was really cool to see Abby do all her stage manager stuff and work hard and see kyle do so many things on stage,” Bost said.
During the show, the band sat at the back of the stage behind the actors.
“It was really cool to sit behind the actors and be able to see what was going on backstage and on stage,” Severns said.
The show closed on March 10 and students involved were able to take away educational lessons and memories. Severns, Pavie and Dawson will all be on stage this spring in the school play, The Crucible.
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