"A Little Hotel On the Side" at Westfield High School

DUE TO WEATHER, THIS PRODUCTION HAS CHANGED ITS PERFORMANCE DATES FROM 11/15-17 to 11/29-12/1.

The Westfield High School Theatre Department proudly presents A Little Hotel on the Side on November 29, 30 and December 1. Featuring a talented cast of more than 30 students, A Little Hotel on the Side is a raucous French farce about a group of guests and staff at a Parisian hotel whose attempts at "l'amour" go hilariously wrong.   

Several members of the cast and crew are returning to the Westfield High School stage after the smash success of the school's spring musical, Pippin, which was the top winner at the 2012 Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards. The musical garnered eight of the prestigious awards for Westfield High School -- more than any other school in the state.

Matt Lynn, who was nominated for a Rising Star Award for his role as Pippin, returns as Benoit Pinglet, a middle-aged building contractor who, tired of being henpecked by his domineering wife of 20 years (played by Michaela Tropeano) arranges a rendezvous with Marcelle (played by Nicole Zimmermann), the beautiful but neglected young wife of his business partner and best friend, architect Henri Paillardin (played by Geoffrey Ko, who won a Rising Star award for his performance of King Charlemagne in Pippin).

Over the course of the play, set in turn-of-the-century Paris, the two couples are drawn into a series of hilariously naughty plots -- and subplots -- filled with colorful characters, mistaken identities, double entendres, and French ghosts.

         Adding to the comedy mayhem are Taylor Jackson as Victoire, the amorous French maid; Jack Mustard as Maxime, the bespectacled student who is the object of Victoire's affection; Megan Mulrooney as Bastien, the hotel’s owner; Connor Wynne as Boulot, the hotel clerk; Will Cary as Inspector Boucard of the Department of Public Morality; Fraser Weist as Mathieu, a family friend whose stutter creates confusion galore, and Mathieu’s six daughters played by Kate Capodanno, Lauren Echausse, Allie Hecht, Veronica Murphy, Abbie Paone and Maggie Tanji.

         The show is directed by Daniel Devlin, who won a 2011 Rising Star award for his direction of Sweeney Todd and was nominated in 2012 for Pippin. The director said, "This show is a classic French farce, which means physical comedy, wordplay and a lot of mishaps. It's challenging for our student actors. But equally challenging is the costumes, which must reflect Paris in the late 1800’s, and the set, which requires scenes not only at the hotel, but also at Pinglet's office."

         Behind the scenes support is lead by Lydia Oquendo (Stage Manager), Geneva Gleason (Costumes), Alison Simon and Emma Tabachnick (Stage Design), Alexa Derman and Victoria Guerriero (Hair/Makeup), Mary Kate Miller (Sound), Asher Horowitz (Graphic Design) and Rob Cassie, Benji Schwartz and Alex Ying (Lighting Design).

         The production of A Little Hotel on the Side will be presented in the Westfield High School Auditorium, located at 550 Dorian Road, on Thursday, November 29, at 4:00 pm, and Friday and Saturday, November 30 and December 1, at 7:30 pm.  General seating tickets are available for $10 at the door.  Tickets can be pre-reserved by emailing WHStickets@westfieldnjk12.org.