By Ivie Drogin ‘25, Arts and Entertainment Editor

Image Courtesy of James Worrell

The 2021-2022 school year was a breakthrough for NA’s school spirit. The infamous “Mamma Mia Student Section” will go down in history. But just because Jackson Derman ‘22 and Luke Waskow ‘22 left for North Carolina should not mean that our school spirit leaves with them. In the coming months, the NA Arts department has planned plays, concerts, and galleries featuring work from dedicated and talented students. 

On November 3, 4, and 5, the Newark Academy Theater Program will be putting on a production of Clue. The play will feature seniors Yasmeena Sharif ‘23, Ben Glickman ‘23, Evan Samaro ‘23, Marina Chernin ‘23, Elena Koestel ‘23, and Ada Wright ‘23 as part of the  ensemble cast.  Clue is a comedic take on the popular murder mystery board game. Currently, the cast and crew are rehearsing with full sets in the Coraci Performance Hall. 

Although we’ve only heard one song from Chameleon so far, at the morning meeting, students will have the opportunity to hear more on November 16 at 7:30 PM. The cafeteria will be transformed into our very own Jazz Club, with music from the middle and upper school jazz groups and food for the guests.

If you’re looking for an encore, students will also have the opportunity to hear Chameleon perform at the Dance Concert on December 9 and 10 at 7:30 PM. For the first time in five years, the IB, Advanced, Intro, and Middle school dance students will showcase their fall term routines in the Coraci Performance Hall to live music. 

The day after, on December 11, the Choral Program has a winter concert at 3:30 in the Coraci Performance Hall. Academy Voices will be singing songs from a variety of different cultures: a Bollywood piece, an Estonian song and a Spanish song with Sephardic Jewish roots. Concert Choir will be singing “1000 Beautiful Things” by Annie Lennox and “You Will be Found” from the hit Broadway show Dear Evan Hansen.

LumeNAtion is preparing for the The Varsity Vocals International Championship of High School A Capella, their main competition for the year, starting in January. Featuring senior soloists Evan Bulan ‘23, Claire Waskow ‘23, and Yasmeena Sharif ‘23, the a capella group hopes to bring home an “Outstanding Soloist” award for the second year in a row; Evan Bulan ‘23 won this award in 2022. 

On October 13, Manjari Sharma’s work in the art gallery will be replaced with the work of artists Paul and Irene Aspell. Paul, a ceramicist, was the ceramics teacher at NA for 16 years    from 1987-2002, and his wife Irene is a printmaker. The husband and wife duo will be giving gallery talks to the IB and Advanced art students before their work is taken down around Thanksgiving. In December, the gallery will display the works of the IB and Advanced Art students, and after winter break it will be converted to exhibit the Upper School Art Show, themed “Beneath the Surface.” All upper school students are welcome to submit work to the exhibition, regardless of enrollment in an NA arts class. 

There are plenty of opportunities to show support for NA’s art students this fall. Whether you attend a music or dance concert, play, or visual art exhibit, the NA arts events are never disappointing. Hopefully this year, despite many of our loudest student voices now cheering for the Blue Devils, the spirited “student section” at arts events will not be lost “beneath the surface.”