Arts & Entertainment

Washington Ready to Get Sm'Art

Annual school show premieres tonight.

An over six decade Westfield tradition kicks off tonight as parents show that can "Get Sm'Art."

The annual Washington School show, started almost 65 years ago as the Grant School show premieres at 7 p.m. with an art related theme. The show, consisting of parents acting, singing and dancing, is based around a group of Washington fourth graders visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art, with four students investigating Van Gogh's "Starry Night" being stolen.

Based on the film "Night at the Museum," the show was written by Julie Shanebrook, a parent at the school.

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"I came up with the concept about a year ago when I heard an NPR interview with a dance troupe that was interpreting visual art through dance," Shanebrook said. "I thought it would be a great concept for the Washington School Show and be educational."

She said the show will have the art come to life to help the four students investigate the crime. Some of the art that "comes to life" and participates in dance numbers includes a David painting of Napoleon, the Thinker and the Mona Lisa. The show has many of the world's most famous paintings at the Met as part of a traveling exhibit of famous paintings.

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The show is staged by a group of parents who take on a variety of roles both on stage and behind the scenes. Mary Claire Givelber, Carl Pansini, Josie O'Brien and Tom Fuccillo are the producers this year with Charlie Bowman and Linda Habgood serving as the directors and Mitch Slater being the musical director.

Habgood paid tribute to the art committee, Barbara McIhelny, Dirk Busse and Francine Hyland, for their work in bringing some of the world's most famous paintings to life.

"We have 20 dedicated and fabulous “human” cast members," Habgood said. "You’ll recognize some faces from last year’s production and also see talented newbies—Josie O’Brien playing Mrs. Abbott, Katie Garguilo playing Harper Benoit, Greg Simpson playing Bruno #2 and Marie Guarnuccio playing an Island Lady.  This is also the final appearance for veteran Bill Sickles, who has been an integral part of the cast for many years.  His youngest child is graduating from Washington School this year."

The total parent crew includes 20 cast members, over 20 dancers, 18 participants in the men's number, 18 teachers, 18 in the couples dance, 48 chorus members, a live band of 10 and a 15 person stage crew, along with those working on ad sales and other business functions.

The tradition started at Grant School as skits to get parents involved in the PTO. The show is written annually by parents and has become a tradition in the Westfield schools, with the show being governed by a series of traditions of its own.

Slater, a Board of Education member who has been involved in the show for a decade, said the traditions include that each show include the line "Hiya Muck" wit the band responding with "Hiya Meyer." It is unknown where the tradition came from. He said the producers review a secret document which governs the how many dance numbers are in each show, how many tap numbers and the number of chorus numbers as well.

There is also the tradition of the men's number, which dictates that the men performing need to dress in women's clothing. Slater, who is in his third year as music director, said the tradition remains alive and well as part of Get Sm'Art.

The band consists of Rich Bucci on sax, Brad Scaffer on lead guitar and vocals, Eric Ingbar on drums, Greg Salmon and bass guitar, Rich and Karen Elbert on trumpet and flute and Deborah Schnapf on oboe.

This year's show also includes a personal anecdote about a character created by Shanebrook, who ended up being portrayed by the inspiration.

"Notably, when I wrote the show I created one of the characters based on my husband Josh. He is a technophile, always has his nose in his iPhone and loves facts! I created the character Josh in the show to be just like him," she said. "He tried out for that part and is now also the character Josh in the show (one of the four kids who crack the case). I did not have any role in the casting so I thought the casting was right on! I'm playing Napoleon--a part I'm sure I won because I'm only 5'1."

The Washington School Show starts at 8 p.m. on Friday and 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday at Roosevelt Intermediate School.


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