St. Frances Theatre Teen Group performs at Disney World

Theater ensemble wows Orlando crowd

Posted

Guests at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., can enjoy a variety of shows, ranging from Main Street U.S.A. entertainers to blockbuster firework finales.

On March 18, the St. Frances Theatre Group’s Teen Group, from Wantagh, was among those performers, on Disney Spring’s Marketplace Stage. Anchoring a six-act performing arts showcase of musical acts from as far away as Oklahoma and Maine, the high school ensemble offered a 25-minute Disney musical medley for an international crowd.

Matthew Schroh and three other members of the group’s “Disney Dream Team” spent months creating the choreography, mixing the songs and leading rehearsals twice a week. When the performers ended the medley’s first song — “Step in Time,” from “Mary Poppins” — Schroh got a good feeling when he looked out at what he described as a standing-room-only crowd erupting in applause.

“That’s when I realized that this is happening,” Schroh said. “This is becoming a massive success.”

Bringing the Dream Team together

Founded in 2013 by Cathy Scahill and Melissa Swanson, members of St. Francis de Chantal Parish, a Catholic church in Wantagh, the St. Frances Theatre Group now has 160 members, ranging in age from kindergartners to adults, from Wantagh and the surrounding communities. The Teen Group comprises 27 performers.

After the Teen Group’s 2017 Spring show, “Les Miserables,” the St. Frances de Chantal staff pointed the group toward Disney’s Performing Arts Youth Program. The group sent a tape of its performance to Disney, and was accepted into the selective program last August.

“Everyone was so excited to not only be going to Disney,” Schroh said, “but to be performing there is such an extraordinary opportunity.”

Four members of the Teen Group, three high school students and one college sophomore, stepped up to become the Disney Dream Team. Olivia Swanson, a Wantagh High School junior and Melissa Swanson’s daughter, and Dylan Tobie, a Kellenberg junior, two of the Teen Group’s original members, chose the music they would perform and worked out the choreography. Ellie Breen, a Wantagh High freshman, assisted with the choreography, and Schroh, an Adelphi sophomore, helped the team make executive decisions.

The road to Disney World

A few weeks before the group’s trip to Disney, Barbara Breen, the group’s special events and business director and Ellie’s mom, checked in with a representative from Disney, and found that the group needed to record backing tracks.

Pressed for time, they found Lu Vega, a local music producer. After hearing the group’s plea, Vega offered members the use of his studio, and was impressed with their passion. “They were definitely a tight group,” Vega said, “and you can tell that they’ve practiced a lot and were serious about it.”

Vega gave the performers a pep talk after the recording session, and invited back any of them who might want to pursue a career in music.

In addition to the hours of practice, recording sessions and countless phone calls Breen made to Disney, the group also had to come up with about $20,000 in fees and travel costs. They organized numerous fundraisers, ranging from car washes to a fundraising night at the Wantagh Inn. Performers and their families covered the remaining cost.

A magic moment

The group’s only dress and tech rehearsal, in the church’s gymnasium on March 9, was delayed by computer issues. That gave Melissa Swanson a chance to thank the performers for their hard work. Then she surprised the Dream Team with personalized sweatshirts, and in that moment, realized how much their hard work meant to the whole group.

“I don’t think I’ve taken this sweatshirt off in, like, ever,” he said three days later, as his fellow team members laughed along with him. “It was really a token of all of our work.”

Swanson she was proud of her daughter and the group as a whole for their successful Disney performance. “It’s a dream come true for a parent,” she said after Sunday’s performance. “But I feel like I’m a parent to all of these kids, because I love and adore them so much.”

“I’m just so happy for them, because their happiness is my happiness.”