Centre Stage production pays tribute to decade of shows

Hundreds of audience members watched as students of all abilities, dressed in sparkling white and pink garb, danced to the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” during the opening number of the South Side High School’s 10th Centre Stage performance.

Celebrating a decade of the district’s inclusive theater program — dubbed by some as “the heartbeat of South Side High School” — this year’s Centre Stage participants put on a memorable show on May 17 and 18 that commemorated the performing group’s history.

Centre Stage unofficially began in 2008 when Bryan Nesdill, a 10th-grader at the time with special needs, wrote a play in one of his classes based on a story he had read about the Titanic. After performing it for a small crowd during school, the idea for a program that would consist of general education and special education actors performing together was born. Nesdill teamed up with schoolmate Catherine Mackey the following year to dream up another show, and the productions grew each year.

Last week’s play, “Centre Stage the Musical,” featured Nesdill and Mackey, played by Caleb Taran and Colette Brancaccio, and their return to South Side. As they toured the school, actors performed dance routines and scenes that paid tribute to past Centre Stage shows, such as “High School Musical: South Side Style” and “Camp Rockville.”

“It just couldn’t have gone any better, and when you do a production like that, that takes a full year with everyone working together, sometimes at the end you just have to give it up to the magic of the theater,” said Ellen White, who has helped write and direct the productions for years. “Every year, it seems to get better and better.”

An eruption of applause followed a violin solo by Linda Langton, a spirited duet between Sean McGowan and Samantha Gross, who performed “You’re The One That I Want” from Grease, and Quinn Wilson’s rendition of Phil Collins’ “You’ll Be in My Heart.”

Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder, who played the Wizard of South Side, and County Executive Laura Curran, who played Glinda, made guest appearances, and a montage video of the last 10 years of Centre Stage followed the performance.

“Every single actor had a moment to shine and they certainly made the best of it,” White said. “…The confidence that these kids get by stepping out there on the stage with their friends is priceless.”