Opening Night Gallery: Staples Players Back in the Spotlight
Staples Players Senior David Corro plays Edgar Degas in “Degas, C’est Moi” during the opening night for “Words, Words, Words…and Music.” Westport Local Press photo. For the first time since 2019, the houselights dimmed as the Staples Players prepared to take the stage. Last night was their first performance in front of a live audience after over a year of virtual shows and radio broadcasts. Tickets are still available for the performances, which runs through tomorrow.
Presented as seven mini shows to celebrate all of the outgoing seniors, “Words, Words, Words…and Music” was sure to be a high note for the families and educators taking their socially distant seats. With every-other-row closed and a masked audience, the curtains opened at 7:30 yesterday evening as if the Players had never missed a beat.
Members of Staples Players in their final number. Through comedy, acrobatics, and intense theatrical skill - the actors continued to yank the masked audience members out of pandemic-era Westport and into a bustling Manhattan deli, or the enclosure of a zoo, or a hollowed tree (with some xenophobic elves.)
After a year filled with loss and change, the sound of the audience’s laughter - live and in-person - was a true testament to the necessity of live performances in the community.
Some changes could be noticed - but the changes were hardly a hardship. Intermission allowed the audience to recess outdoors under the stars in the Staples High School courtyard, where the infamous bake sale was taking place and families mingled on the warm evening.
Seating was created socially-distant. Every other row of the auditorium was closed - allowing for a completely uninterrupted view of the stage from every seat in the house - while groups were placed away from each other by several seats in between them.
The Staples Seniors ended the show in the costumes of their respective futures: each one coming onto the stage proudly displaying which university they’ll be attending in the Fall. With the audience on their feet, the Staples Players sang their final number and took their bow - ending the first show in nearly two years on a high note for the actors, the school, and the community.
Tickets are still available for tonight’s performance and tomorrow’s two performances. Visit staplersplayers.org for information.
