Thursday, October 17th, marked the first of many events for the Cranford High School Performing Arts Department — the annual fall Gala Concert. The event has been a staple of the performing arts at CHS for over a decade, and it allows the students and teachers to show the Cranford community what to expect from the performing arts during the upcoming 2024-2025 school year.
The concert commenced with a rendition of the National Anthem performed by all four aspects of the performing arts department, and as the performers left the stage, the orchestra directed by Mr. Chernosky prepared to play their selection “Sea Songs” by Ralph Vaughan Williams. For the first time in Gala history, the CHS concert band, now a separate program from the marching band, took the stage, performing “Majestia” by James Swearingen. The jazz band later played “Midnight Blue” by Kenny Burrell, featuring soloists Leo Sweeney on guitar, Riley Cogdill on bass, Mitchell Zuber on guitar, and Dylan Macnab on trombone.
The concert choir performed two selections: “Sure on this Shining Night” by Morten Laudridsen and “Modimo,” a traditional Sesotho/isiZulu piece arranged by Michael Barrett, featuring Riley Cogdill on accompanying percussion. The exclusive Madrigals choir also performed two pieces, those being “Tune Thy Music to Thy Heart” by Alec Rowley and “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder, with the arrangement being coordinated by Paul Langford. The boy’s acapella group Noteworthy performed the piece “My Girl” by Smokey Robinson, and the girl’s acapella group West End Blend sang “Stupid Cupid” by Neil Sedaka.
The Acting 2 class performed their original skit “Blind Date” with backing music by KT Turnstall. The skit followed a horrendous blind date — complete with literal blind folds. Luckily, no one was injured during the performance. The Acting 3/4 class later took the stage with their creation “Recommended for You,” featuring music by Frankie Valli, Daryl Hall & John Oates, John Farrar, and Simple Minds.
The growing dance department performed two dances at the Gala.The Lilac Dance Ensemble performed their original creation “Primordial,” choreographed by the ensemble members, teacher Ms. Donahue, and dance teacher intern Ms. Bateman. Later in the concert, the Lavender Dance Ensemble took the stage with their original dance “Paradigm,” with music by Schramm.
In between performances, representatives of the Friends of the Performing Arts (FOPA) discussed their contributions to the performing arts department during past school years, such as providing concessions for performances, dialect coaching for the acting students, buses to Virginia for the dance department’s regional competitions in the 2023-2024 school year, buses to Carnegie Hall for the 2023-2024 concert choir, sheet music, instruments, and resources for the middle schools, as well as a trailer for the CHS marching band.
At long last, the news all members of the performing arts has been waiting for: the announcement of the Cranford High School Spring Musical. Mr. Rafanello, Ms. Donahue, and Mr. McQuade all took the stage, Ms. Donahue placed a speaker at the center of the stage before huddling with the other two teachers. Then, the speaker blared to life with the song “They Both Reached for the Gun” from award-winning Broadway musical Chicago — the official CHS Spring Musical. As news of this passed through the excited crowd, the marching band entered the auditorium to perform their 2024-2025 field show “H-O-M-E” by Jeffery Chambers, led by . The show, consisting of movements “Lost in Space,” “Homesick,” and “Returning Home,” featured soloists Dylan Macnab on baritone and Natalie Cisneros on mellophone. More on the CHS marching band can be found on the Dialogue website, where Dialogue staff member Monroy discusses the successful marching season for the CHS Marching Cougars.
If you are interested in any other endeavors of the performing arts department, the CHS fall play, Clue, is coming up! Tickets can be purchased online for the two shows on November 15th and 16th. And if you wish to audition for Chicago, auditions will be held November 18th and 19th, with final performances on March 7th, 8th, and 9th.
