Students Explore the Arts in New York City
Katie Kreitzer, Theater Director & Andrew Bourgoin, Choir Director
February 6, 2017
The Choir and Theater Department teamed up this year and traveled to New York City with twenty-six young people. The five-day trip allowed students to immerse themselves in the arts in a way that only NYC can do.
Students visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lincoln Center, Central Park, Soho, Chinatown, Little Italy, and Brooklyn. But, the highlight of the trip was the opportunity to take in five Broadway shows. Students unanimously voted a new musical, "Dear Evan Hansen" as their favorite show. This timely story of a high school student desperately trying to fit in connected deeply with our entire group. We all knew we were watching a hit in its budding years on Broadway.
“If I can Make it There, I’ll Make It Anywhere.”
The group got to rub elbows with some famous CDH alumni who are 'making it' in NYC. Fresh out of NYU, Paige Battarbee ’12 accompanied our group to dinner and a show and shared her infectious enthusiasm for theater with the students. Paige was recently seen in the CBS series "Bull" and TVLand’s series, "Younger"(with Sutton Foster).
While in Brooklyn, students met with CDH grad Erik Wallin ’99 who is the general manager of St. Anne’s Warehouse which houses international theater companies. Because of Erik, our group got to see an all-female British company perform a breathtaking production of Shakespeare’s "The Tempest." Joining us for that production was graduate Kathryn Stafford ’16.
Finally, because of our well-connected choir director, Andrew Bourgoin, our group was given a private talk-back with the actors from the musical, "Aladdin." Mr. Bourgoin personally knew the associate conductor and keyboard player, Aaron Accurso, who joined the discussion, along with the drummer.
One of the many benefits of being at CDH for over twenty years is to witness alumni working in the field of theater. It was such a blessing to have them spend time with our group. Also, the trip would not have been possible without the meticulous planning from the CDH theater assistant, Christopher Hill ’01.
Trip participants were: Seniors Hailey Anderson, Zach Brower, Clare Cho, Rachel Countryman, Julia Diaz, John Fox, Georgia Ingwell, Mark McCullough, and Michael McMahon; Juniors Sara Brown, Ryan Carr, Patrick Connors, Dung (Tim) Hoang, Jaden Pleasants, Katelyn Schearer, and Isaiah Sullivan; Sophomores Lily Brielmaier, Ella Doyle, Lauren Gerstner, Maria Lemire, Augustus Nelson, and Sophie Schreier; Ninth Graders Lauren Discher, Haidyn Kruse, Mitchell Loberg, Anthony Missen, and Robyn Tisdale; and chaperones Katie Kreitzer, Theater Director, and Andrew Bourgoin, Choir Director.