BETTER THAN HEARSAY - A Bit of Beautiful Backwardness

Above photo:The always well-attended dress rehearsal dinner for area senior citizens included WAJPL Golden Agers members (left to right) Lula Anderson (president) Barbara Cooke (vice-president), Albin Beckmann (trustee), Vicki Beckmann (correspondence secretary), Theresa Speenburgh (secretary), Judy LoPresti (assistant correspondence secretary) and Donald Speenburgh (trustee). 

Windham-Ashland-Jewett school Drama Club members participating in “Willy Wonka.”

Helping create an imaginary reality, backstage director/costume designer/set designer Tara Weiman (right) and assistant set designer/props and set team member, WAJ sophomore Chloe Palumbo.

Hosting the annual event were (left to right) WAJ building principal Anthony Taibi, WAJ assistant superintendent Lara McAneny, play producer Melissa Palumbo and play director Annie Drewello.

WINDHAM - Things were a bit backwards, albeit beautifully, when the Windham-Ashland-Jewett school Drama Club held its annual dress rehearsal and senior citizens dinner, this past Monday evening.

The dress rehearsal and dinner were originally set to take place on March 5, prior to the actual performances, running March 6-8.

As often happens in early spring, that event was postponed due to bad weather, meaning the curtain had already gone up on the three main performances when seniors finally gathered for their meal.

Drama Clubbers still came out in full force, reverse dress rehearsal or not, and “it was absolutely wonderful,” said WAJPL Golden Agers Club president Lula Anderson after what became the fourth staging. 

Anderson was equally ebullient about the fine fare provided, as always, by local restaurants, even while adding to the anticlockwiseness, swearing she was 49 years old rather than the actually opposite  94.

Her playfulness simply enhanced the drama club’s presentation of “Willy Wonka,” a theatrical gem, “full of heart, fantasy and, dare I say…pure imagination,” director Annie Drewello said.

“Over the course of our rehearsal period, we’ve enjoyed the catchy songs and silly characters,” Dewello said.

“But what has been most wonderful to discover in the heart of this little show is that being yourself and doing the right thing, even when no one is watching, is worth its weight in chocolate.

“There are so many little life lessons that have been touched on in this show (thanks Oompa Loompas!), but they forgot one very obvious one,” Drewello said.

“Luckily, we discovered for ourselves that we all need a little help from our friends, especially during Drama Club season.

“While not specifically sung as a moral in the show, Drama Club always reminds us that together we are better,” Drewello said.

Thanking a long list of out-front and behind-the-scenes contributors to the success of “Willy Wonka,” Drewello said, “each year, this production truly takes a village to turn it into a magical experience it is.”