Focus: Stars, Masks & RFH’s ‘Emma! A Pop Musical’

This past weekend saw another opening of another Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) Tower Players show. But, for the first time in RFH history, it was a different kind of spring musical experience — the pandemic kind.

Emma! A Pop Musical debuted under the stars and spotlights as a masked cast sang, danced and acted in the newest of RFH stage venues — outside.

And, word is that, besides an unwitting chorus of car alarms, the experience was an enriching, successful one for cast, crew and audience alike.

The challenges of rehearsing apart and setting the tech stage were met with innovation and a new kind of theatrical togetherness.

Some of the challenging innovations: The cast has the band trailer for its dressing room, instead of the usual RFH classrooms; backstage is a collection of hung green tarps to obscure the audience’s view from the theater in the open air; acoustics that can change with the wind or a bird chirp and feedback; the cast members on stage can see the audience more clearly, making performing feel more like interactive theater, as there is outdoor light and no lighting booth spotlights to dim the view from the stage; personal props, costumes, water and anything else the actors need is carried around in individual laundry baskets so nothing is unsafely mingled; and there’s wafting of pollen to contend with, dusting up the stage.

All that and the show went on and without any major hitch. And the cast, crew and advisors, so we hear, were all the better for the experience.

The biggest challenge, parents relayed from the cast, was that the usual intense theatrical bonding feeling was a bit amiss until onstage show time. There was no singing or dancing indoors together and rain kept rehearsal together (at an outside distance) time at bay.

Challenges were met, and with giddy glee over rising to them, so we hear. The outdoor rehearsal and performance time made for another step back toward normalcy on the RFH stage. The experience? We hear it should get a standing ovation.

Opening weekend was a smash success, with the rest of the performances sold out, so whoever doesn’t have tickets needs to read and see all about it right here.

Bravo, cast, crew and advisors! See you from a distance at your finale. Bow and exit stage left.

Thanks to RFH PAS parent Joanne Mitchell Formisano for the intel and the photos. CLICK on one to enlarge and scroll. Enjoy!