What a Ball!

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella,

presented by the Sayville Middle School, had the magic that makes a musical grand—beautiful singing; comic timing; eye-pleasing staging; costumes of silken or satin sheen adorned by furs, feathers, and lace; gray mice transformed into white horses; a huge pumpkin-shaped coach; a glass slipper; and a timeless love story that always ends happily ever after.

Singing the musical numbers The Prince is Giving a Ball, In My Own Little Corner, Impossible, Ten Minutes Ago, Stepsisters Lament, and Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful?, the principals, played by students Kim Colavito, Mollie Drinkwater, Matt Iovino, Denise Natoli, Kailey Schurnman, Stephanie Serendenko, Kevin Siao, Alexis Skalkowski, and Miles Whittaker, performed their musical parts with delightful grace or humorous gusto. The supporting chorus and lithe dancers also helped set the stage for “the sweet invention of a lover’s dream—to join a prince in marriage.”

Converting the raw talents of Middle School students into seasoned performers is no easy task. One might imagine it as an Impossible undertaking, but thanks to the amazing “Fol-De-Rol” prestidigitations of Director Jeff Hoffman and Musical Director Betsy Cohen (assisted by many behind-the-scenes faculty, along with parent and student volunteers), the Middle School production of Cinderella had wondrously impossible things happening (even when a mechanical failure jammed the curtains during Saturday’s show) every performance day.

[a slide show of photos is now available, see file below.]