After practicing twice a week since October, junior high students across the district came together and performed a musical production called “Raise Your Voice” on November 15 and 16, 2024. They showcased their singing, acting and dancing skills at the theater in the Elmont Public Library, demonstrating their passion for performing and experiencing the theatrical arts.
“Raise Your Voice” is a one month junior musical-theatrical program that promotes singing and theater, and the end result is performance of a musical. The musical consists of 14 songs from various types of theater and media, featuring songs like “Step in Time” from “Mary Poppins,” “Part of Your World” from “The Little Mermaid,” “Beyond These Palace Walls” from “Aladdin,” “So Much Better” from “Legally Blonde” and more. One of the songs from the musical called “Sister Act” shares the same name as the program, “Raise Your Voice.”
“‘Raise Your Voice’ is the name of the musical revue, and it’s all different songs from different types of musical theater. We have some classical musicals, we have some Golden Age musicals, we have some modern musicals, and ‘Raise Your Voice’ gives the students a chance to experience theater from all different time periods,” show director Ms. Carolyn Popadin said. “I think it’s a great show for the amount of students we have.”
Students gathered every Monday and Wednesday at the Elmont Public Library to rehearse under the guidance of Ms. Popadin. The musical had a duration of 50 minutes.
“So it was a lot of fun, and basically everyone helped make tech week just a very relaxed and well done process that kept us on our toes for the performance, but also calmed us down a lot,” said seventh grade actress Marisa Canese. “The final production went amazing. Yes, we had a few sound issues here and there, especially on the second night, but it was probably one of the best musicals I’ve ever done.”
After a series of musical numbers, “Raise Your Voice” ended with outro music and all the students taking turns bowing in rows, then finally together. They received enthusiastic applause from the audience.
“I love acting because it makes me feel like I’m not in this world. It makes me feel like I’m somewhere else, where I can be anything I want to be,” seventh grade actress Bea Isaac said.
“Raise Your Voice” was an opportunity for young actors and actresses to inspire and demonstrate their passion and talents in dance, singing and theatre, whilst bringing the Sewanhaka Central High School District together in an energetic and lively musical.
