The Albany Academies’ spring musical is truly like no other. Made by the students for the greater community, every last note, lyric, dance move, photograph, video shot and monologue is original.
“We started storyboarding this creative collaboration about a year ago,” said Matt DiSanto-Rose, a senior. “We wanted something that hadn’t been done before in other schools and here we just thought that the opportunities that the students have would fit with what we were trying to get through both the visual and the audio arts.”
The play is called “Meditations on Metamorphosis,” and it draws on elements of the works of Franz Kafka and Ovid to follow a theme more relatable than waking up one day as a giant cockroach, as Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” goes.
“(A student) came up with the idea to use Kafka. … His take on it was that adolescence is a metamorphosis and the change and loss of childhood and all that,” said Greg Cummings, chairman of the theater department.
On March 2 and 3 in the Caird Chapel, the community can see what that very first idea has become: an interdisciplinary mix of music, short film, photography, ballet and theater carefully created and performed by students in grades ninth through 12th from both the Albany Academy for Girls and The Albany Academy.
“I think it’s really good we have both schools involved and we have a lot of people involved. We have a bunch of different ideas but coming together I think we’re making a really good show out of it,” said DiSanto-Rose.
The production includes a short film by 11th-grader Alex Hass. On Friday, Feb. 24, he was still putting the finishing touches on it.
“It’s relating the Kafka idea of metamorphosis with modern life and how that relates to relationships and society,” said Hass.
Alexandra Iankouska, a ninth-grader, wrote a play and music score and also stars in it. 10th-grader George Miller worked with Cummings to compose music for what turned into a 20-minute ballet. Josh Long has been working to add another musical element to the production.
“I’ve been trying to convey the notion of metamorphosis and change through percussion, which I think you can do in a multitude of ways with different instruments because there’s just so many options you can add,” said Long, an 11th-grader.
Alicia Barber is a dancer, who also lent her writing skills to the show.
“I worked on writing lines that we then translated into Latin that have been transformed into the movement of dance,” said Barber, in 11th grade. “I’m also in the dance and we’ve been working on using the lines in the music to choreograph dance and incorporate acting.”
Cummings said he’s been consistently impressed by his students throughout the performance’s evolution and the final product is something he’s proud to show off.
“The thing that I like the most, just as a teacher to be able to create an opportunity for a lot of different voices to come together,” said Cummings. “I don’t think it’s normal for any school to do this kind of thing. At any point we could have pulled the plug but when something falls out, something else pops up.”
The creative and educational opportunity to develop “Meditations on Metamorphosis” was invaluable, but students said there was one more lesson learned that was perhaps the most important.
“Starting this, I don’t think a lot of us knew the different talents we all had, so I think the community will also be surprised with what the kids here have,” said DiSanto.
Iankouska said it’s “cool that there’s so many people who have so many strong points in the arts” and that they all will have the chance to showcase their talents.
For Barber, what she’s been a part of is exciting and she encourages the community to stop by.
“I think it shows all the different aspects that go into one production and being able to use the talent of our whole community and mush them all together to just create a piece,” said Barber. “It’s really wonderful we’re all able to overlap in what we can do and able to start from nothing and then together kind of create a great show.”
Long and Miller summed up their peers’ thoughts with one last pitch for an audience.
“Every school puts on a musical or a play but not every school necessarily puts on silent films or ballet or self-written pieces,” said Long.
“This is so much different than the typical high school production,” said Miller.
“Meditations on Metamorphosis” will start at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, March 2 and 3, in the Caird Chapel at The Albany Academy on Academy Road in Albany.
