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Hauppauge Knows How to Succeed…
The Fine and Performing Arts Department under the Direction of Dr. Laura Landor sets a tone for excellence and achievement. Already this school year, many students have made remarkable accomplishments. The Hauppauge High School Tri-M and Jazz Band has been invited to play at The Jazz Loft at 275 Christian Avenue in Stony Brook on Tuesday, March 27, 2018 at 7 pm. Frank Hufnagel distinguished himself as a Scholar Artist. Kate Tacca, Daniel George, Patrick Caffrey, Chris Arcoleo, Rene Kozlowski, Jillian Stern, Evelyn Beltrani, and Emily Caminiti earned All-State honors. David Fresolone is a playwright who has already seen his work come to life on the stage.
On Friday and Saturday March 16 and 17, every aspect of the Fine and Performing Arts department came together in a wonderful production of the musical play, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” This decades-old musical comedy is surprisingly relevant today as young J. Pierrepont Finch, spelled F-I-N-C-H, hops off a window washer’s scaffold and climbs the corporate ladder despite the efforts to trip him up by the immature antics of a man named Frump.
Senior Francesco DiFlora’s portrayal of Finch was outstanding. Thanks to a winning smile and spot-on vocal abilities, sophomore Rose Recce landed a leading role as Rosemary Pilkington. No stranger to the Hauppauge stage, Andrew Crecca supplied lots of laughs as Finch’s foil, Bud Frump. Meghan Smith, Evelyn Beltrani, Emily Pandal, and David Fresolone helped make this a true ensemble cast. In fact, the entire cast of singers and dancers delivered a flawless performance.
The beautifully crafted set even became part of the choreography at times. The production had a high level of professionalism which included a full pit orchestra under the direction of Mr. Thomas Manuel. Often in a high school production, the voices will get lost when up against a live pit orchestra. Thanks to Sound Operator Mr. Stephan Barchi and his exceptional student crew, every line of dialogue and song lyric came through clear and blended perfectly with the orchestra.
The stage crew played the scenery and sets like a fine instrument with seamless changes. Kudos to Mr. Greg Aylmer for his design and construction.
Of course, special mention must be given to the person who is responsible for seeing that all areas of the production work together as one. Yet another fabulous show under the direction of Ms. Ruth E. Pincus.
Care & Share was in the lobby selling concessions. Care & Share is a not-for-profit organization made up of teachers/administrators. This committee is independent from the school district. Care & Share does a variety of fundraising to assist Hauppauge High School students in need. HHS Social Worker, Ms. Shannon Griffin, is the committee president. Care & Share raises approximately $3,000-4,000 annually to assist families with financial help for field trip assistance, AP/IB testing fees, Junior/Senior prom, Graduation cap/gown, yearbooks and review books for Regents Exams.
A family will make a request to their child’s guidance counselor for assistance with one of the above-mentioned items. The committee meets together to review the application and will make a recommendation to pay the fee in full or part for the family. This is a confidential process to protect the privacy and dignity of the family and applying student.
Care & Share is constantly looking for ways to raise more money so they can assist more students. Each year the need increases in the Hauppauge community and funding is sometimes a stressful challenge.If you missed the play, you can still take advantage of purchasing the cool stuff that was on sale by contacting HHS Assistant Principal, Ms. Joy Ferrara at (631) 761-8306.