Schools
Syosset Students Surf Through "Hang Ten" Musical
Middle and high school students perform a beach-themed musical at H.B Thompson Middle School.
Syosset students hit the California waves on stage Thursday night in a musical fit for the summer season.
As part of the Syosset Summer School enrichment program, Syosset Summer Stock presented a one-act musical version of Craig Sodaro’s book “Surf’s Up!”
For an hour and a half, about 30 students from Syosset middle and high schools bounded their boogie boards on the beach-transformed stage of
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The mini-musical comedy presented surfing songs in the style of the legendary 1960s California-born Beach Boys. In the play, Italian immigrant Luigi Barone (played by Joseph Castro) strives to live out the American dream after the loss of his wife by keeping his unpopular beach-front restaurant alive. His dreams are thwarted when desperate land developers try to claim his property.
Students had only a month to rehearse, said Musical Directors Dina Bloomfield and Darlene Darress. But it was a month of hard work, with three-hour practices each day for five days each week.
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“It shows a lot of ambition and enthusiasm - it’s fantastic,” said parent, Barry Shapiro.
The hard work paid off for student Alexa Muratyan, 11, who played the role of Luigi’s granddaughter Gina.
“I was scared but I think we all did a really good job. We worked really hard,” Muratyan said.
But for Mark El-Miniawi, 14, who played one of the leading roles of biologist Eddie Hays, it seemed more like having fun than working.
“The month went by so fast and we really enjoyed it. When we have fun, we do our work better,” said El-Miniawi, who will be starting his freshman year at in the fall.
Although the lighthearted nature of the beach-themed musical was apparent, Bloomfield and Darress said they wanted students to take home the moral of the play: Always stand up for what you believe in and fight for what’s important.
“I thought the kids did such a phenomenal job, every one of them, remembering all those lines and sticking together with all that choreography. They did a great job,” Darress said.
The two-day musical will play again Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in
