By Laura Lane
Even so, it was gutsy for the chairman of the Performing Arts Department, Jim Hoare, to choose "The Laramie Project" this year. The emotionally charged play, which comprises a multitude of monologues, requires 25 actors to take on 82 roles. And the subject matter, which tackles the hate crime that claimed the life of gay college student Matthew Shepard in 1998, is not the type a Roman Catholic high school usually delves in.
However, "The Laramie Project" is not a play that deals with
the issue of homosexuality. It is instead an investigation, a probing into the human souls of people living in a community considered very typical and representative of most quiet locales in America. The
monologues, reenactments of the more than 200 interviews of Laramie, Wyo., residents that were conducted by members of the Tectonic Theatre Project in 1998, are raw.
The play's goal is relentless -- to discover through area shopkeepers, teachers, students, bartenders and social workers how
a hate crime could happen in so unlikely a place. Heavy stuff for a group of teenagers, and yet, it was apparent very early on in the production that each cast member had been personally touched by the material.
"The kids talked among themselves during the process, and you can't help but see the change in them from the beginning to now," said Lenny Motsinger, religion teacher and costume designer for "The Laramie Project". "The play is very powerful. These are the actual words of the people of Laramie. They talked about how horrible this crime was discussing the healing process that came to
the town."
Could these discussions among themselves be the reason
why the teens seemed so connected to the material and able to become totally immersed in the agony of the piece for hours?
Part of it was indeed good acting, but there seemed to be more to it. For teenagers to experience emotion so freely, to be so dangerously vulnerable, and, in one young man's case, to visibly cry while reciting a monologue, seemed unusual.
Hoare's assertion that "The Laramie Project" is one of the most-common plays put on in colleges seemed to only heighten the confusion. How did the teenagers at Holy Trinity manage to do this play?
"We have an extensive program at Trinity, a Regents sequence in fine arts, and the faculty here is so dedicated to the students and gives to them," said Jesse Halpern, the assistant director . "Through the amazing spirit in this building the talent was brought out."
A representative from the National Association of Secondary Theatres came by to see one of the performances. After the show, he invited Holy Trinity to perform in the National Invitational Theatre Festival in June.
This was quite an honor, since only four high schools from the East Coast are chosen each year.
However, if one looks back a few years, this should come as no surprise. After all, in 2001 Holy Trinity was the first high school to perform "Les Miserables," hand picked by producer Cameron Mackintosh.
"I had seen 'Les Miserables' many times in the early 90s and mentioned to the president of the Music Theatre International [a company which licenses productions] that the play was a young persons musical," Hoare recalled. "A year later, the show was released to us, and Cameron sent the conductor's score from Broadway. He came to see the show on May 17, and I was told he was the first person to lead the standing ovation and said the play was 'miraculous.'"
Mackintosh, the famed producer of not only "Les Miserables" but also "Miss Saigon," met with the teens after the show. Hoare said the Broadway producer told cast members that because of them, maybe their grandchildren could do "Les Miserables." Now it is the
most-produced play on Long Island.
When asked how he is able to unleash such extraordinary talent in his students, Hoare did not pause. "There are talented students in every school, but you have to challenge them. And everything overlaps here," he said. "I hand out a study guide weeks before the show. I know in history they studied hate crimes, in religion, tolerance and acceptance, and in government, hate crime legislation. Also, our seniors go to the city all the time to see shows."
Many of Holy Trinity's alumni have gone on to professional careers in the arts. Graduate Dennis Stowe performed on Broadway in "The Man of La Mancha." Rebecca Kupka, a recent graduate, was the lead in "Saturday Night Feverâ" while alumnus Jim O'Doherty is the new head writer for the "Tracy Morgan Showâ" and was a writer for "Third Rock From the Sun."
No doubt, Holy Trinity High School has the formula for
success. Perhaps that is why so many attended "The Laramie Project" who were not from the area, people who knew no one in the cast.
"This piece was necessary for the environment we live in," Halpern said. "All high schools should do it regardless of whether they are Catholic or public. It's a piece about human rights not gay rights."
