The drama club at MacArthur High School in Levittown has been gearing up to bring an Elvis-themed rock ‘n’ roll revival to life.
The club’s fall production of “All Shook Up” will run for two nights — on Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 5 p.m. — in the auditorium at the high school, 3369 Old Jerusalem Road. Tickets are $15 apiece.
Set in the summer of 1955, over the course of 24 hours in a repressed Midwestern town, “All Shook Up” is a jukebox musical that features Elvis’s hits like “Jailhouse Rock,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Hound Dog,” and “Don’t Be Cruel.”
The plot centers around a mysterious, guitar-playing stranger named Chad, who rolls into town, bringing with him a spirit of rebellion, romance and rhythm.
“He comes to this very sleepy town, a depressed town,” Lisa Levenberg, the show’s director and music teacher at MacArthur, said. “And he wakes them up.”
Loosely based on Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” the show features cross-dressing, various couples finding love and mistaken identities, as they defy the town's traditional stances.
“They passed a law in the town that they’re not allowed to dance,” Levenberg said. “They discover love, and they discover they like to dance and sing. Chad brings life to this otherwise sad, depressed town.”
The musical's title comes from the 1957 Presley song, of the same name. Senior Megan Gorey plays the lead role of Natalie Haller, who falls for Chad — and hatches a scheme to get closer to him by disguising herself as a man named Ed.
Gorey said the audition process began early in the school year. “You have to learn all the music, all the boy parts or girl parts, and you audition in front of everyone, and all the directors,” she said.
After two more rounds of additions, the cast was finalized and rehearsals began for the more than 50-student cast almost immediately and have continued nearly every day.
“We’re there pretty much almost every night of the week, except for Sundays,” Gorey said, “usually from 6:30 to 9 p.m., and then on weekends, 9 to 12.”
Matt Saco, a 16-year-old junior, plays Jim Haller, Natalie’s father. “I’ve always loved performing,” he said. “Entertainment has always been a big thing, and being able to just do what I love makes it a lot easier to go on a stage and do it for other people.”
Reflecting on his favorite part of preparation, Saco chose a choreographed dance he got to do with one of his close friends. “Practicing lines with him and being on stage with him,” Saco said, “is a lot of fun.”
Vincent Decicco, a 15-year-old sophomore, described his part in the musical as his first “really big role.” He is playing Dennis, a sidekick character to Natalie's main love interest, Chad.
“It's a lot more work than usual, but it's worth it,” he said, adding that one highlight while preparing for his first show at MacArthur was being “with a bunch of my friends and having a good time.” Created by Tony Award-winning writer Joe DiPietro, the musical premiered at the Palace Theater in New York City on March 24, 2005.
The cast of over 50 students has been rehearsing almost every day for the show since the start of the school year.
Courtesy MacArthur High School
As opening night at MacArthur approaches, the students agreed that the pieces are finally coming together, and all their hard work and preparation are paying off. Decicco, Gorey and Saco all encouraged the school and community members to attend the upcoming show.
“It's all Elvis's classic songs,” Decicco said. “You're gonna know at least like half the music.”
“In the beginning, it was just bits and pieces,” Gorey said. “Now it’s all glued together, and it’s starting to form an actual musical.” Beyond the music and movement, students agreed that their time in the drama club has shaped their confidence and helped them grow.
“Theater has definitely helped me with speaking,” Saco said. “Whether it be presentations or just being able to speak with anybody — it’s helped me a lot with confidence and being able to get your words out how you want them to.”
Gorey, who has performed on stage since third grade, said, “They bought tickets to come see you. It’s not like they’re gonna boo you off the stage.” Tickets for the show are available at SeatYourself:
MacArthurTickets.com.
