Fifth & Sixth Grade Performing Arts Students  Produce Original Play: "The Rocky Road Trip"

The play is about an art thief who leads his criminal organization in stealing a famous painting from the Museum of Modern Art as revenge for having been bullied as a young student for his artistic talents and passion for sketching. The heist coincides with a middle school field trip to the same museum and much of the action focuses on the students’ road trip (spoiler: it's rocky) and how they convince the crime boss to mend his criminal ways, choose good over evil and return the painting.

 

Singing, dancing, flashbacks and comedic relief punctuated the sophisticated storyline, keeping the overall tone alternatively whimsical and profound. This was intentional according to Lead Writer, sixth-grader Roman Massey, who oversaw the writer’s room. “It was important that the story operate successfully on two levels; and since the thesis was somewhat heavy-handed —good always beats evil— with undercurrents of bullying, aggression and even despair, I knew the script needed great pacing and injections of humor to keep it light-hearted and propel it forward, thereby keeping everyone entertained.” 

 

Director, sixth grader Aiden Grant, agreed with this approach and sought ways to assist with stagecraft. “Blocking and props became very important to help realize the vision.” Successful tactical decisions included an actress holding a gilded picture frame in front of her painted-blue face to personify the stolen portrait at the epicenter of the action (hilariously improvising comical expressions based upon the action around her), and a field trip sequence in which the students wave their arms in unison to the song “On the Road Again” and then fall off their seats in disarray to indicate an abrupt plot twist.

 

In addition to the original script conceived by the students in four breakout groups, the 45-minute production also featured choreography led by sixth-grader Oliva Back and music direction led by fifth-grader Ben Kelsey which included the cast singing the Broadway show tunes “For Good”  from Wicked and “Waving Through a Window” from Dear Evan Hansen, with a reprisal performed solo by Massey.

 

Despite varying levels of experience, everyone had lines or featured moments and all shared singing and dancing responsibilities. “It was very, very important to me that everyone had a moment to shine,” explained Massey.

 

“To see it all come together, to see people recover from stumbles and classmates helping one another, was just so fulfilling and wonderful,” added Grant. 

 

The full cast included: Luke Amen, Olivia Back, Agnes Bluestein, Natalie Cahill, Elin Charron, Audrey Cime, Clementine duPont, Ansley Gagnier, Lucan Glennan, Evren Gokgol-Kline, Kai Gokgol-Kline, Aidan Grant, Major Hasbrouck, Liam Hobbeheydar, Henry Holland, Lillian Kelley, Benjamin Kelsey, Taylor Kern, Tilden Mann, Roman Massey, Ronan Meade, Hadley Miller, James Nickum, George Passias, Abigail Reilly, Summer Rosenbaum, Makena Stephenson, Michael Suozzi, Dylan Svenson, Max Tangen, Sammy Wagner, and Daisy Winn.

 

Performing Arts Teacher Jake Alrich supervised the ensemble cast along with supporting arts faculty, Isadora Machado and Brian Muller.

 

“The students did a terrific job of working together. They shared ideas and built upon each other’s suggestions. I particularly admired how cohesive the play was while still allowing for there to be so many moments built in for individual students to showcase their unique talents,” said Mr. Alrich.

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