Andona, a local fundraising organization, is holding an Andover Kids Artwork Contest in honor of its 70th anniversary. All Andover residents under the age of 18 are eligible to participate.
Participants can submit original hand-drawn work based on their experience in Clown Town or how Andona has helped them. Artwork must be submitted along with their submission form at Memorial Hall Library or mailed to Andona, PO Box 256, Andover, MA 01810 by October 15, 2021 at 5 p.m. The submission form may be found at https://andona.org/artwork-contest.
“The purpose of the artwork event is to provide children the opportunity to express their thoughts, memories, and experiences with Andona or Andona’s Clown Town,” according to a press release from Andona.
The organization is looking for artwork of the participants’ favorite game, ride, or memory from Andona’s Clown Town. They would also like to have some art representing how Andona has supported youths or their clubs, teams, or organizations.
Andover High School teacher Kristen McDonie opened an independent bookstore in Lowell this August.
McDonie, who teaches French, initially opened Lowell Book Company in November 2020, running the company online. She now has opened a physical bookstore in Mill No. 5 in Lowell, where she lives. She manages the store and also has two part-time employees.
Opening a bookstore has been McDonie’s dream for the last few years. “I love teaching,” she said, “but there has always been a part of me that wondered if there were other things that I could do.”
STAFF PHOTO / Avi Shapira McDonie in her bookstore on the grand opening day.
Before and while running the online store through bookshop.org, McDonie did a lot of research on running a bookstore. In addition, she took part in a business accelerator program over the summer to learn more about the business side of bookstores.
McDonie expressed that running a business from home was overwhelming. “[Y]ou have to make a choice to mentally disengage from the business because it’s all in your home,” she said. “[Y]ou have to work really hard to… be relaxed and present with your family. Having a bookstore is nice because it’s actually the physical space. I’m not always looking at everything.”
Today, many people buy books online instead of in stores, due to the wide selection available and lower prices. However, McDonie decided to open a bookstore because people still have an interest in purchasing books in-person. “[The physical store] gives you the whole experience of handling a book,” she says. “Being able to [physically] handle a book before you commit to it… makes you love the book even more at the end.”
Opening a business is about filling a need in the community. At this time there are no other local, independent bookstores in Lowell, and the nearest Barnes & Noble is in New Hampshire.
The store carries both new and used books, and books by local authors. Poetry is especially popular—Lowell has a strong tradition of poets, including Jack Kerouac, a famous 20th century poet.
STAFF PHOTOS / Avi Shapira Lowell Book Company on grand opening day.
McDonie hopes to be able to host events in the shop, and has already partnered with the Lowell Reads program run by the local library to host a writing workshop in a coffee shop across the hall.
McDonie plans to continue work as a teacher in the future in addition to running her bookstore. She finds it exciting to run a business because she has a lot of say in what’s happening. “My favorite thing is knowing that I’m building something from the ground up, building something from scratch, leaving a legacy for my family, for my children. Building something that can grow and having the ability to control the direction that it goes,” McDonie said.
Mill No. 5, where the store is located, is a refurbished textile mill where the 4th and 5th floors have been converted into storefronts for small businesses. The mill is located at 250 Jackson St. in Lowell. The shops in the mill are only open for limited hours: 5-8 p.m. on weekdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. This makes it easier for McDonie as it means she is never teaching when Lowell Book Company is open.
You can learn more about Lowell Book Company at their website, lowellbookcompany.com, or by visiting them in Mill No. 5. One upcoming event in the store is a Q&A and reading with local author Tracy Guan on October 24. More information about this and other events can be found on their website.
STAFF PHOTO / Alana MacKay-Kao A banner created for the comic that features two of the main characters on the right hand side, with a couple of glowy creatures known as entities floating nearby them.
Do you like comics? How about wholesome stories? Amazing character design? Or perhaps… giant chickens? Then Entity will definitely be the story for you.
Entity is a soon-to-be-released webcomic made by AHS students Alana MacKay-Kao and Abby Chou. The story is about a girl named Apollonia (Pollie) Agro, who lives in an isolated but tight-knit community.
The two seniors have been playing around with this idea for a long time. It all started last summer when Chou saw the concept art for Pollie and Zitto, her giant chicken companion, in one of MacKay-Kao’s sketchbooks. The drawing Chou saw is the first one included here.
In the winter, they started discussing it again, and started calling regularly to work on it. They split up the work, MacKay-Kao doing the art and Chou doing most of the script writing.
“I was so unbelievably stuck,” said MacKay-Kao, adding that she wanted to make this comic and she knew the direction she wanted the characters to go in, but she couldn’t figure out how to get the characters’ motivations to come together. But Chou had ideas that resolved every issue and within just a couple of hours.
“It was amazing! She is the organization to my chaos,” MacKay-Kao said.
The two of them agreed they made an excellent team. Chou said that she thinks it’s because “Alana’s always coming up with cool ideas and I have the executive planning skills to make those ideas happen!”
As the two worked more on the story together, they were able to resolve another of the biggest issues, which was how the main characters would act. “I couldn’t figure out how Pollie would act and speak, and I had struggled so much with writing her that I hadn’t even tried writing any of her friends,” MacKay-Ko said. However, after more teamwork on the project, she said “It was like I was watching this perfect representation of exactly how I imagined Pollie being come to life right before my eyes that I hadn’t been able to write myself. It was absolutely magical!”
Speaking of Pollie, “Exploring is her passion,” Chou said. “She knows all the best paths to take and sights to see for miles around, and everyone in the community knows her as the nature expert. After years of leading hiking tours out beyond the city’s bounds, her instincts in nature are sharp, and she relies on them often.”
She and her best friends, Skyla and Sanrin, are about to turn 20, meaning that they will get to transition from school and community service to careers. Pollie can’t wait to start doing nature tours, “until a startling discovery upends her plans and launches her into the adventure of a lifetime,” Chou said.
Chou and MacKay-Kao explained that Pollie discovers there is another entire civilization hundreds miles east of their city, and she goes out to find it. All that hiking beyond the city’s bounds is sure going to pay off.
STAFF PHOTO / Alana MacKay-Kao A banner created for the comic that features two of the main characters on the right hand side, with a couple of glowy creatures known as entities floating nearby them.
They also told ANDOVERVIEW their inspiration behind the title of the webcomic. They decided on the name Entity because in the world the story is set in, there are little semi-sentient blueish, glowy, magical blobs, called entities.
“Not much is known about them, but they’re generally revered in Pollie’s culture,” Chou said. “They can inhabit items and make them move, and when they inhabit certain items they can pull out and show people memories associated with that object from the past.”
Chou and MacKay-Kao both hinted there’s a connection between entities and memories that will be explored later on in the webcomic.
As for the genre of the story, the two of them settled on the “heartwarming” one. “We’re intending it to be generally wholesome and kinda funny, and just fun to read,” Chou said. “There’s nothing dark or spooky or intense or anything. It could also be called fantasy, since it’s set in a different world than ours.”
“This story has grown into something infinitely more fun to make,” MacKay-Kao said. “I think it will be something that we’ll really be able to be proud of!”
They’re expecting to release the first season (several chapters) of this over the summer. They’re planning to have it available on WEBTOON and possibly some other sites as well. To get updates on this and be notified when they post, you can follow MacKay-Kao on Instagram @Sprout4631.
How many people does it take to replace one AHS music teacher? Turns out, more than you might think.
After an eight-year run, Catherine Revetria left her numerous musical posts in early April after announcing her pregnancy and her plans to take care of herself and her family. She was the director of the high school’s band and orchestra, the remote instrumental program, the Golden Warrior Marching Band, Tri-M Music Honor Society, and all middle school bands.
Replacing her until the end of the school year are Dennis Shafer, Dr. Derek Voigt, Sean Walsh, and David Rice. Shafer, one of the school jazz band instructors, has taken over Revetria’s teaching assignments. Voigt, the middle school orchestra teacher, has assisted with the high school’s orchestra. Walsh, the Fine Arts Program Coordinator for Andover Public Schools, has been working with Tri-M students. Rice, the Assistant Marching Band Director, has stepped up to fill out the year and helped cheer on the varsity football team.
So that makes four men replacing one woman. Fierce!
Walsh told ANDOVERVIEW that the district is in the process of hiring permanent replacements and hope to have final candidates by the end of May for the 2021-2022 school year. In the Tri-M Honor Society, Walsh has overseen the annual Instrument Donation Drive and is currently planning to get the high school musicians over to the elementary schools this month to encourage fifth graders to continue their involvement icouldnn band and orchestra.
“We are [also] excited about new courses next year at AHS, including ‘Beginning Instruments’ and ‘Rock Ensembles,’ and looking to expand programs at elementary and middle school levels,” he said.
STAFF PHOTO / Eliza Marcy Revetria née Hofius leading the Andover High School Marching Band.
No Regrets
Revetria came to AHS from Georgia and brought with her a fiery passion for music that she passed down to all her students. With no regrets about leaving AHS now, she told ANDOVERVIEW that she planned to return to teaching music one day when the time was right. But one of her greatest challenges over the years was, in fact, “time and the schedule.”
“Having a limited number of students signing up [for band] has always been tough,” she said. “The challenge is having this robust middle school program and then not being able to have the time to take a band class in high school. On the other hand, my greatest accomplishment here is the shift in the culture of the marching band. It used to be very ‘drum corp-centered’– people had to do push ups when they messed up. The culture shifted to be much friendlier and we doubled the membership. The younger and least experienced players felt more welcome and were lifted up to the rest of the group. We grew because of that. And finally, I’m also very proud of the transition of the orchestra from an after-school program to being in the school day. It’s small but mighty.”
She also told ANDOVERVIEW that she was very proud of her colleagues and working together with them to grow the middle school band so big that they can’t fit on the Collins Center stage anymore.
“We can’t even have All Bands Night anymore like we used to because there’s too many people in the audience and too many people on stage,” she said. “We maxed out the capacity even before COVID!”
In a letter from the Andover Band Association, President Matt Scully wrote to students and parents about his appreciation for Revetria.
“Catherine has been an inspiration to all of our children over the past eight years,” he said. “Whether in lessons for Elementary, or band and orchestra in Middle and High School, she’s been there with them teaching and cultivating their love for music in their early musical years. I wish her and her family all the best in the world.”
For now though, music students see Shafer– or Crazy Dennis as he’s affectionately called in jazz band– teaching high school band and orchestra each day, and all middle school bands (co-teaching with Kaitlyn Sicinski).
“I have thoroughly enjoyed working with all the students, and it is a joy to be teaching in-person again,” he said. “I have enjoyed in particular with the orchestra/string students, as I have conducted orchestras in the past, but it has been a while.”
Shafer has three degrees in Saxophone Performance. He told ANDOVERVIEW that he has a bachelor’s in Music (BM) from Boston Conservatory (2004), a Diplôme d’Etudes Musicales (DEM) with prize in saxophone from the Parisian Conservatory of Boulogne Billancourt in France, and an Artist Diploma (AD) from Longy School of Music which is next to Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
“I thoroughly enjoy playing the saxophone, which I’ve worked on perfecting for 30 years, and I’ve almost got it,” he said. “Right now, I’m working on klezmer clarinet, however, [I’m getting some tips from Kaitlyn Sicinski about clarinet playing and from some other artists on Zoom and Youtube. Most of what I learn these days is from YouTube–and it’s free!”
All About Fun
What’s the most important thing Shafer wants to convey to AHS students in the short time he has with them? The most important thing is scales.
“If, by the time I leave here at the end of the year, every student can play all major scales (percussionists included, there are plenty of mallet instruments here), I would consider that a great success,” he said. “Scales unlock the kingdom for playing anything on any instrument. Right now, I’m learning the Freygish scale for klezmer, on clarinet the most popular key for that is E. So its E, F, G#, A, B, C, D, E–Try it! It’s lots of fun! It’s a major scale but sounds minor because of the augmented second in the beginning of the scale.”
In a letter to students in the band classes, Revetria wrote she was saddened to say goodbye as the community in Andover had been such a large part of her life the past eight years. Like Shafer, her parting words are all about sticking with music over the long haul.
“I am nothing but confident in the future of the music program in Andover,” she said. “The program’s growth that I have witnessed is immense and it will continue to grow in the years ahead. I am truly excited knowing how much music can, and will, enrich your lives if you stick with it. I have yet to meet someone who regrets the time they spent learning music—only people who regret giving it up. So keep playing!”
The AHS National Art Honor Society created a series of beautiful posters showcasing destinations around the world through different art styles and a variety of art materials. “We can’t do…
A musical icon for our generation, Taylor Swift has certainly made a long-lasting impression whether you are a fan or not. From her first country album, Taylor Swift, to currently releasing two back-to-back studio albums, Folklore, Evermore, and everything in between, Swift has been a prominent figure in music for almost 15 years.
Last July, Swift released Folklore and the surprise shook the world. A quick piece of advice if you are not a “Swiftie,” Swift normally goes dormant on all social media about a month before releasing some sort of announcement. Per usual, Swift’s last instagram post before the big announcement was mid-June, more than a month prior, yet no one seemed to notice, distracted by the chaos of Miss Rona herself. The album was released 11 months after Swift’s previous album Lover, an upbeat, pop album with hidden romance messages to her real-life lover, British actor Joe Alwyn.
PROMOTIONAL PHOTO/ Disney Plus Taylor Swift in the process of recording Folklore, captured in Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions. This was a documentary concert film released on Disney Plus that delved into how Taylor Swift’s album Folklore was created and contained performances of each of the songs it contained.
So, what is Folklore and why is it such a big deal in Swift’s music career? I’ll tell you why. The album is composed of 16 original tracks, all composed by Swift, longtime collaborator Jack Antinoff, Aaron Dessner, and William Bowery (pen name for Alwyn), and all written through “phase one” of quarantine. When I first saw the album cover, I had no clue what genre of music was going to be included. With a black and white color scheme, Swift is pictured alone in a forest, surrounded by trees, giving off an aura of mystery and suspense.
Now, you may be wondering, what about that other album?
Last November, Swift released another surprise for fans called “Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions” on Disney Plus. This included Swift, Antinoff, and Dessner in a recording studio tucked away in upstate New York, playing through the whole album, acoustically, but most importantly, together, as they recorded the entire album in separate studios due to COVID.
So, fans were shocked when the announcement came that ANOTHER album was being released that night at midnight! How much Taylor content can we handle? I needed a couple months to recover and digest Folklore, another album??
Evermore is the sister album to folklore and follows a similar pattern, with 15 original songs, all exploring different genres, no two songs the same. In Swift’s announcement on social media, her reasoning was “we just couldn’t stop writing songs. To try and put it more poetically, it feels like we were standing on the edge of the folklorian woods and had a choice: to turn and go back or to travel further into the forest of this music.” Similar to Folklore, Evermore follows the same pattern where Swift is not only creating songs based on her own experience but off those of her friends, family, and fictional characters from movies and books.
Out of a survey of 77 people, some AHS students included, 57 percent of the votes (44 people) chose that Folklore was their favorite album over Evermore, while 43 percent of the votes (33 people) chose Evermore over Folklore. It is interesting that it was almost a tie between the two albums which leads one to infer that these “sister” albums are truly “related” in the sense that they are of a similar genre, similar perspective, and finally, equally appreciated by Swift’s audience.
Top Five Responses For Favorite Taylor Swift Songs
#1: All Too Well
#2: Betty
#3: Love Story
#4: Champagne Problems
#5: You Belong With Me
Folklore
The songs in this album span from cheery and uplifting, to evoking a slow tear to nonchalantly stream it’s way down your face.
Here are my top three:
“August”: This romantic tune brings us back to the simple joys of summertime along with all of the spontaneous secrets and excursions we partake in during the summer months. Throughout Folklore, Swift depicts a love triangle that appears in at least three of her songs, more if you look for hidden Easter eggs. “August” is told through the perspective of “the other girl” and allows the listener to see through the lens of the girl who knew she was disrupting a relationship, yet developed true feelings for her lover. She has developed a sense of hope that maybe he will leave his girlfriend for her, with lyrics such as, “Remember when I pulled up and said ‘Get in the car’ and then canceled my plans just in case you’d call? Back when I was livin’ for the hope of it all, for the hope of it all, ‘Meet me behind the mall.’” She’s reaffirming this longing to be chosen over the right and moral choice.
“Exile”: In this heart-wrenching song is a duet with the gravelly, soulful voice of Bon Iver (Justin Vernon), two ex’s look back on their past relationship. The palpable bittersweet and complicated feelings hang in the air. The male voice refers to the woman as “his town,” while she refers to him as “her crown,” both stating they feel they’ve been put “in exile” from these places since their relationship has ended. There are also conflicting messages on how it all ended with Vernon’s character saying that “You never gave a warning sign,” while Swift sings that “I gave so many signs..you didn’t even see the signs.” It’s left up to the listener to decide who’s eyes they best see the perspective of the relationship through.
“My Tears Ricochet”: Starting off slowly with a chorus of voices, you are serenaded by a church choir, and then Swift’s voice joins in, a subtle tone, sadness and disappointment seeping through her lyrics. This particular song was written about Swift’s experience with Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun, owners of her previous record label who decided to hold rights to five of Swift’s eight albums, technically becoming the owners of her music. The lyrics, “You wear the same jewels that I gave you, As you bury me,” further reinforce the anger behind these two wealthy, arrogant men taking credit for all of Swift’s hard work and success.
My runner ups:
“The Last Great American Dynasty”: Swift gives insight into the lavish lifestyle of the previous owner of her Rhode Island mansion, Rebecca Harkness, who named the home, Holiday House. Fun Fact: Holiday House is right on the water in Watch Hill, RI, and can be ogled at if you choose to go visit.
“The 1”: The opening track is fun and bouncy, with Swift taking a positive outlook on life, despite acknowledging she and her past love could have been soulmates.
Evermore (left) VS. Folklore (right)
Evermore
I would say that Evermore takes on more of a serious, hurt tone, but there are still some hidden gems with funny Easter egg meanings.
Here are my top three:
“Champagne Problems”: This song has been applied to many different celebrity couples and even more so, to tv show characters who people believed were meant to be together in the long run. “Champagne Problems” is a sad ballad pointing out the reality of the right person, wrong time. The most resounding application of this song has been to the novel and now movie, Little Women. The lyrics, “One for the money, two for the show, I never was ready, so I watch you go, Sometimes you just don’t know the answer, ‘Til someone’s on their knees and asks you,” perfectly fit in the puzzle with the friendship, could-have-been marriage, between Jo and Laurie, where Jo wasn’t ready to settle down when Laurie wanted, and then when she was Laurie had already moved on. These “champagne problems” that Swift refers to are the hidden fears of committing and being real with yourself and those you surround yourself with.
“Gold rush”: This upbeat jingle addresses Swift’s desire to express her feelings to someone who everyone loves and everyone is attracted to. The metaphor of a “gold rush” is used in the context that there are so many people who want this desired person that she would just be another face in the crowd, lost in the frenzy. The meaning of the song doesn’t quite take precedence though over the actual music. The song begins in another choir-like voice, the words “gleaming” and “twinkling” stretched out, before the beat drops and it slips into a quick pattern. When Swift begins questioning herself, the song shifts into an angelic background, before returning to the quick beat as she day-dreams about this majestic person.
“No Body, No Crime”: This is yet another song I will add to my “Swift’s Vehicle Manslaughter” folder. Previous Swift songs that live in this folder include “Getaway Car”, “I Know Places”, “Style, “Out of the Woods”, “I Did Something Bad”, and more. This song follows the story of Swift’s friend, Este, who confides in Taylor that she is suspicious her husband is cheating on her. Este can’t prove it, but she has a strong feeling. When Este goes missing, Swift begins to take notice of the husband’s every move, from his new truck, his new mistress, and more, since Este is dead. Swift believes that the husband killed Este, but she “just can’t prove it.” In the end, Swift sings, “Good thing my daddy made me get a boating license when I was fifteen, And I’ve cleaned enough houses to know how to cover up a scene,” allowing the listener to infer that Swift murdered the husband. Good story line, good tune, horrible tragedy.
My runner ups:
“Coney Island”: Swift reflects on past relationships, and if you are a true Swifite, you can dissect the lyrics to know which ex she is talking about. Hint, at least three are mentioned.
”Tis the Damn Season”: A reunion between high school lovers, a bit of aggression from Swift, really solid musical composition.
On a clear Friday evening, my mom and I sit down to appreciate the work of the Drama Guild in their latest production, Almost, Maine, a series of vignettes about love. I have just frantically grabbed an HDMI cable to plug my laptop into the TV, and my mom is carrying over some precariously balanced plates of homemade Indian food. I’ve just managed to turn the volume up as Susan Choquette’s voice floats through the speakers, welcoming us to the show. She tells us what we’re about to see is live, not recorded, and explains the show is a story about our connections with other people–something we’ll never take for granted again.
As the first scene opens, I recognize Cole Gervais, who plays Pete, and Abinaya Ganesh, who plays Ginette. Masks and all. They immediately rope us into their characters’ story, one of a couple in a long-distance relationship who have just met up in person. Ginette happily talks about how they’re as close as they possibly could be (ironic considering the actors are still socially distancing, sitting on the ends of a very long bench).
Pete tells her that they’re also as far as they could possibly be since, on their other side, the entire circumference of the Earth is between them. Ginette gets upset and walks away, and the camera pans out, leaving Pete in the middle of an enormous stage, overwhelmingly alone. The scene is beautiful, but as I take my first bite of dinner, I can’t help but think of the many understudies who, even though they worked so hard, are also sitting alone in the Collins Center seats, out of the spotlight.
They have had to memorize their scenes in the event that one of the principal actors is quarantined. Junior Anya Lazar, the understudy for both Pete and Steve, described some of the challenges that come with being an understudy: “Most principal actors only have one role but I have two. I also don’t get to be on stage much if at all during rehearsal.”
Junior Tessa Barcelo, who serves as one of the vice presidents of the Drama Guild along with junior Julia Kole, described rehearsals in more detail: “We started out doing a readthrough on Zoom with everyone, and then we started blocking rehearsals in person…The actors also did a lot of our own online rehearsing in between scheduled ones just to practice lines.”
Barcelo is also the principal actor for Glory, who is standing in the middle of the stage as the lights come up for the start of scene two. She is a hiker on a quest to see the northern lights who’s found the perfect field, time of year, and latitude for it. Soon enough, another character named East, played by senior Connor Murray, comes out of a house sitting off to the side. It turns out that the wonderful open field Glory is standing in happens to be East’s yard.
While the actors on stage discuss whether or not Glory should be allowed to stay in East’s yard and why she wants to see the lights in the first place, members of the stage crew have been preparing for the next scene change. The stage manager, senior Sarah Oltman, oversees the whole show from the booth and calls cues to Kai Lonie, senior and head of stage left, and Grayson DiNino, junior and head of stage right. They let their crew know when exactly to place and strike (take down) set pieces as scenes change. Their seamless cooperation and constant communication is the whole reason the audience can stay immersed in the small fictional town of Almost, Maine, and the stories of the people there.
As Glory and East’s scene comes to an end, we’re almost immediately pulled into the local hangout, the Moose Paddy, with the sign that marks the building flying in from above the stage and smoothly fitting into the rest of the set like the last piece of a puzzle.
Organizing the tech crew was somewhat of a puzzle itself. “Crew was split down the middle into cohorts, so cohorts A and B didn’t really see each other much until the first day of tech week,” Lonie said. “It was a little harder to coordinate and the stage crew of [this] show is a little more chaotic than other shows.”
Their hard work paid off though, and the Moose Paddy becomes the perfect place for an extremely awkward interaction between Sandrine and Jimmy (Zoe Saum and Ethan Pelt), exes who haven’t talked to each other for quite some time. After the waitress (Kelsey Dennehy) mistakes them for a couple several times, they sit down and try to talk.
STAFF PHOTO/ Erin Li Ethan Pelt (left) playing Jimmy and Zoe Saum (right) playing Sandrine, exes who run into each other in the Moose Paddy.
The awkwardness of that encounter is swiftly whisked away to make way for another scene, this time set inside a laundromat. Here we meet Steve (Anthony Merenda), who can’t feel pain, and Marvalyn (Ava Vassilopoulos), who’s stuck in an abusive relationship. As the characters talk, I realize that I haven’t stopped to really admire the set itself.
STAFF PHOTO/ Erin Li Steve (left, played by Anthony Merenda) showing his list of things to be afraid of to Marvalyn (right, played by Ava Vassilopoulos).
The town of Almost has been brought to life by DiNino and fellow set designer, sophomore Abby Clement. From the washing machines behind Steve and Marvalyn to the curtain of glowing stars that serves as the backdrop, all of the scenes together are cohesive, definitely feeling like they take place in the same town. But none of the settings are repetitive–each clearly accompanies its own unique love story.
STAFF PHOTO/ Erin Li Julia Kole (left) playing Gayle and Ethan Pelt (right) playing Lendall, Lendall got up the courage to proposes to Gayle.
We are then brought into the living room of Lendall (also played by Pelt), where Gayle (Julia Kole) bursts into his house and demands that he return all of the love she gave him. Later, outside, Deena (Sophia Yannalfo) and Shelly (Isabelle Galgano) compare terrible date-night stories and lament feeling the need to date at all. Over at Echo Pond, a married couple, Phil (Gio Coppola) and Marci (Katie Budinger), have just finished skating. They grow increasingly frustrated with one another and hash out a fight that has clearly been building for a long time. Still later, a well-dressed woman named Hope (Aislinn Cantin) knocks on a small house’s door, looking for somebody named Daniel so that she can answer a question he asked her years ago. The man who answers the door is played by Jack Gately. Dave (also played by Murray) and Rhonda (Caroline Pritchard) come into Rhonda’s house from snowmobiling, and Dave gives her a painting that she tries to see the meaning of. We finally return to the bench we started at, with Pete and Ginette. Each of these pairs’ stories play out one at a time, some ending tragically, some ending hilariously, some really just beginning.
As some of these adventures begin, the show comes to a close and the actors take their bows. I can’t help but think back to something that Barcelo said when asked what her favorite part of preparing a show was. “I think it’s probably the final dress rehearsal with all the lights and the sets and the costumes and the knowledge that tomorrow night, there will be people there,” she had said.
Although the pandemic has taken the roaring crowds out of the Collins Center and deposited us on our couches, I hope that all of the people involved in making this show can feel the cheering from us through the screen as my mom and I jump up and scream, applauding thunderously. Despite the circumstances, the Drama Guild has done it again, they’ve created magic. And it’s Almost like we were in the room to experience it.
Whether it’s video, music, literature, or something else, media is undeniably helpful in times of turmoil. It can be a pathway to distraction, an oasis of momentary calm, a drop of joy, a way to process current events, and much more.
Many students turn to a platform like YouTube, which is accessible to everyone and seemingly has videos to suit every taste. Anya Lazar, a junior at AHS, said some of their favorite channels are Unus Annus and Strange Aeons. You can still find Strange Aeons on YouTube. Unfortunately, Unus Annus has been deleted (the concept was a channel where a video would be posted every single day for a year, and then deleted upon the completion of this goal). It encouraged making the most of the time we have, an idea that hit close to home for many viewers while quarantining. Lazar said about the channels: “They are entertaining in a way that somehow caters to my hyper specific sense of humor.”
PROMOTIONAL IMAGE Unus Annus’ logo.
Senior Griffin Caruso enjoys watching the YouTube channel, “Fire of Learning.” He is taking college courses, classes at AHS, and VHS classes. Each format has a completely different feel and pace, and switching between them constantly is exhausting. “It’s a good break from the duel my high school and college work is having,” he said.
YouTube isn’t just for consuming media, it’s great for creating media as well. Senior Anderson Hsiao has been working on videos to post on his channel. He posts both music and comedy videos, which can be found under his name, Anderson Hsiao.
Speaking of music, musician and senior Declan Woodring said, “I find music of all kinds just generally soothing and overall fun to listen to. Finding that right song, album, or artist makes all the difference in my day and I hope that it will help others too.” He’s spent the pandemic listening to various music that improves his mood.
Digital media isn’t all there is though, Spanish and French teacher Peter Hall has found that old-fashioned books have been the most important form of media to him during the pandemic. “Reading can be my form of escape, a way to learn about other people or cultures, or gain a new perspective,” Hall said. Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime, Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman, and The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead are some of his favorites.
Although we have entered a new year, we’re not out of the woods yet with regards to the pandemic and other stressful events. But the media surrounds us, whether it’s digital, like a TV show, or physical like a book or art. It is a gift to be taken advantage of, whether you share it with others or use it as a time for yourself.
STAFF PHOTO/ Erin Li Gio Coppola sits on the edge of the Collins Center stage with his laptop. He was one of many volunteers who worked tirelessly to bring the Broadway Cabaret to fruition.
Andover Vocal Music Association’s annual Broadway Cabaret took place virtually last month, due in no small part to the tireless efforts of several student and teacher volunteers including junior Juliana Kaufman, senior Gio Coppola, and teachers Chris Desjardins (Mr. D), Daniel Brennan, and Beth Kennedy.
The Cabaret consisted of performances by all of the Show Choir groups, smaller groups, and soloists. Each performer had to submit videos of themselves performing their numbers. Emcees also had to record themselves and send in their videos. Having the most members, the Show Choir pieces took the most coordination and work.
Mr. D was in charge of mixing the audio to make it sound like the groups were actually singing simultaneously. “I use a program called Logic to put all the voices together. Normally the way I do it is I actually group all the recordings by voice part,” he explained. “Then I mix down all the voice parts and then I put the voice parts together with the pre-recorded music and try to line everything up, but it is tedious at best.”
Coppola was responsible for pulling the final Cabaret video together and making it presentable for that Friday night. He also put together the video of “Unruly Heart,” one of the group numbers, being performed.
While it isn’t a craft he usually spends much time on, Coppola enjoys filmmaking and editing. He has been editing videos since middle school when he created videos for YouTube.
“I started on Windows Movie Maker and I just kind of started playing around with different things,” he explained, describing how he got started. “It was a lot of getting practice with it.” Coppola has also made a promotional video for Show Choir and works at AYS, where he is the instructor for the Movie Makers program.
If you’re looking to learn video editing, he recommended YouTube tutorials. “YouTube honestly is like the best place if you want to learn how to do almost anything. It’s definitely really helpful because these editing softwares can be ridiculously complicated and not fun to look at.” If he was looking for a specific effect, he said, “I knew what I wanted it to do, but I didn’t know how to do it. You just look it up on YouTube and there are 8,000 people who’ve done it who will show you.”
Finally, once all of the individual numbers were edited, the video and audio clips for each number and emcee could be put together to become the ultimate video that encompassed the entire Cabaret. This wasn’t the end though. Coppola downloaded all of the videos and put them into Final Cut in the running order and inserted the intros done by the emcees.
That was when he realized that his laptop wasn’t powerful enough to process the video. The night before Cabaret, Coppola and Mr. D discussed this on a Google Meet. They had to come up with a solution fast. Mr. D remembered that Juliana Kaufman, a junior at AHS who also did some of the video editing, had borrowed an iMac from the school. They called Kaufman to ask if they could borrow the iMac so that Coppola could finish the video, and Mr. D drove it from one side of Andover to the other at 10 p.m. It was this dedication from the team that allowed the Cabaret to happen.
Here’s the way Mr. D described it: “We’re all kind of trying to put the ship together while in the middle of the ocean, if you will.” The final video was finished at 4 a.m. on the Friday it premiered, just in the nick of time. Coppola alone spent 26 hours working on the Cabaret.
“Everyone’s been affected by this,” Coppola said in regards to the pandemic, “[but] sports games still get to happen. You get to do your meets and your games…. We don’t have that right now. We can’t perform. Chorus, band, orchestra, Drama Guild, Show Choir, we’re kind of at a standstill and are very much relying on doing these virtual things because it’s quite literally our only outlet right now to do any of it. So next time we do something, maybe go hop on.”
