Theater program begins at West Somerville Neighborhood School

Coplan has played the piano since age 8. Photo courtesy of Lauren Manocchia By Cathleen Twardzik In early February, Stephanie Coplan, a senior at Tufts University, began a program called the Broadway2Broadway Initiative at the West Somerville Neighborhood School (WSNS) which takes place after school. It delves into "musical theater, through the lens of history and geography," said Coplan. "This program helps fill in the gaps by exposing students to singing, acting, dancing, songwriting and improvising," said Coplan. "It also bolsters their existing social studies curriculum by discussing the politics, geography and culture of countries like Austria, England and China." The new program meets two to three Wednesdays each month from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. "The West Somerville Neighborhood School has a fair amount of half-days on Wednesdays," she said. Therefore, "Our program can only take place on full Wednesdays. However, we try to make up for the "missing" Wednesdays by hosting extra events, like taking all the students to a play or hosting an acting workshop at Tufts." So far, three sessions have been held, although more would have taken place, had fewer snow or half days occurred. Although, she "would absolutely love to continue it during the summer, most Tufts students won't be around." All sixth, seventh and eighth grade students at WSNS may participate in this program. Students range in age from 11 to 15 years of age. "We started out with five people and have grown to nine," said Coplan. Fewer than 100 students are enrolled at the school. Therefore, approximately 10 percent of the student body, in that age bracket, currently benefits from the program. Broadway2Broadway was funded by Tufts Civic Engagement Institute at the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, The Civic Engagement Fund, "provides support for students who want to create projects that help the community," said Coplan. "For a two week period in October 2008, she wrote letters to individuals in the Drama Department, Education Department, History Department and Child Development, all of whom provided additional assistance. "People could tell that it was a good idea, and that it had realistic, manageable goals," she said. Coplan submitted her application on October 31. Approximately a month later, she received word that Broadway2Broadway "had been granted every dollar I asked for." "Tufts' student-run musical theater organization Torn Ticket II has donated tickets to their Spring show, Into the Woods, so that the WSNS students can see their first musical," she said. WSNS, does not possess ample resources "to offer a strong performing arts program. These kids are suddenly being encouraged to let their inner actor/singer/dancer shine," said Coplan. "No one has nurtured these talents in a professional way before." She discovered that this particular school was in dire need of a better arts department. According to Coplan, she selected WSNS because the location of the school is ideal, as it lies "around the corner from Tufts." Therefore, the school is within walking distance for Tufts students. Students with various backgrounds participate. "We've got quite a diverse group of people," she said. Many of the students in Broadway2Broadway play instruments in their music classes. However, acting, dancing and singing in-school opportunities are lacking. Participants exhibit a wide-range of acting, singing and dancing ability. Some excel in all three areas. "We have a sixth grader who likes to sing opera, an eighth grade boy who can do amazing impressions - even one of Britney Spears, and an eighth grade girl who can play every instrument and wants to go to Berklee for music production," said Coplan. "The way the sessions work is that we bring in a different Tufts student each week to "lead" the session for the day, focusing on a different musical each week," she said. "For instance, we recently did a session on My Fair Lady in connection with England. Two students, Michelle Wilson ('12) and Carolyn Berliner ('11) came to WSNS and showed clips from the Audrey Hepburn film and discussed the socio-economic breakdown of London. That was the social studies portion." That session began with diction exercises, analogous to those in My Fair Lady. That stressed the importance of enunciation in acting. Tea time followed. Besides tea, biscuits, jam and butter were available to devour. Choreography from "I Could Have Danced All Night" filled out the day. Therefore, "By not focusing on one thing for two and a half hours, everyone gets a little taste of something different," said Coplan. At present, student plays are not in the works for Broadway2Broadway. However, Coplan anticipates that the program will reach that goal in the future. "For right now, we're trying to build basic skills," she said. She hopes that this program will become a permanent after-school fixture at WSNS, and she would be thrilled if other area schools in Somerville and the surrounding area could partake in similar programs. However, that would require additional funding. Since the program's inception, the number of students has virtually doubled. Surprisingly, Coplan is not a theater major, but a Philosophy major. "I have very little background in theater...I starred in a few school plays, but I'm mostly just a musical theater buff," she said. "I started taking [piano] lessons when I was eight, and I've played for dozens of musicals in orchestra pits, as well as jazz bands." "I'm the only organizer, in the sense that I'm the only one keeping track of when our sessions are, what paperwork needs to be done, what reports need to be sent to Tisch College," she said. "Leaders" are rotated each week and really take control of their own session. There is no lesson plan for the volunteer-based program. To date, four individuals have served as session leaders, all of whom possess "a background in theater and music." Samantha Tempchin, ('10,) Carolyn Berliner, ('11,) Michelle Wilson, ('12,) and Stephanie Kreutz ('09) have all filled the role. Although, "We're going to have a member of Tisch College, Anthony DeMatteo, [who has a background in film] run the next one on April 1," said Coplan.

Comments

[Question]

"Fewer than 100 students are enrolled at the school."
~Does this statement refer to the entire school, or to Grades 6-8? If it refers to the entire school I would question why this school is remaining open.

[Acting class Hollywood]

I agree that this program helps fill in the gaps by exposing students to singing, acting, dancing, songwriting and improvising. Keep up the good work.

by: matthew