Keep up to date with the arts events in the Rumson-Fair Haven area.
It was all about learning the creative process that spurs a successful writer when New York Times bestselling author Gordon Korman visited sixth and seventh graders at Forrestdale School in Rumson recently.
Continue reading New York Times Bestselling Author Visits Forrestdale
Chef Rossi, the RFH girl gone self-made anti-chef/caterer, blogger and author of the recently-debuted The Raging Skillet made her own kind of special splash on network television over this past weekend in a spot on ABC news about fun kiddie snacks — and she wasn’t talking about dishing up anything healthy.
After all, she is the anti-chef. So, true to form, an unfiltered Rossi talked about some salty sweet snacks that probably had health-conscious mommies trying to feed their kids kale and broccoli disguised as chicken fingers scrambling for the remote while drooling.
It’s all about repurposing and lifting the lowbrow up a notch, as she puts it, with Rossi’s recipes. Doing things like serving peanut butter and bacon sandwiches among a platter of cascading orchids is part of her foodie purpose.
Rossi talked about those peanut butter and bacon sandwiches, a potato chip, Snickers and marshmallow casserole, chocolate-dipped pretzels,chocolate dipped chips rolled in crushed Froot Loops, pastrami reuben tacos with Michelle Charlesworth.
Yes, there was a little blackout and, yes, she did say that about the casserole. Oh, and P.S., she said as soon as they were done everyone glommed onto the snacks like kids to an Good Humor truck with free ice cream. Well, maybe not quite like that, but close.
For more information on Chef Rossi and to order her book, click here.
It was a triple threat with a promise to deliver funds to a good cause. Present and future Broadway stars sang, danced and acted their hearts out on stage at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) last week to raise money for homeless youth.
Performers came from Broadway and several area high schools in a show that ended up bringing in $30,000 for Covenant House of Asbury Park.
The high school students involved came from RFH, Red Bank Regional, Shore Regional, Howell, Henry Hudson Regional, Colts Neck, Freehold Regional. And Kick Dance Studio and Lakehouse Music Pros performed as well.
Emceed by Broadway’s Brian Walters, the Broadway stars on stage were: Rob Evans, Rebecca Pitcher and Carter Calvert.
Take a look at the slideshow above for a glimpse into the evening. If you’d like to donate to Covenant House, click here for more information.
— Elaine Van Develde
“It is wonderful to see the musicians and performers at the concert and listen to their selections,” Fair Haven’s Knollwood School Principal Amy Romano said recently about the school’s annual Chamber Music Recital.
Call it a night of fun, entertainment and charity RFH style.
It was the Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) Talent Show and it showcased 18 student acts on April 7 with the proceeds from the show donated to the American Cancer Society.
“A great variety of music and talent, coupled with creative hosts and judges’ commentary, made this year’s talent show the best one yet!” RFH Student Council Advisor and Spanish teacher Yannell Maglione said.
Of the 18 acts, three were chosen by judges Bill Grillo, RFH music director, and Stefania Flecca, English teacher.
In the end, first prize was awarded to the group that performed David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust, featuring Paddy Ahimovic and Matt Bavuso. Katie Person claimed second prize with her dance performance to Sinner. Third prize went to Anthony Cinko and Tristan Kilper performing Nothin’ on You by B.o.B. and Bruno Mars.
The cast of student performers for the evening …
• Joe Esposito, Rob Lenza, Joe Monte, and Noah Sullivan – Grand Theft Auto by Fall Out Boy;
• Mia Sourlis – I’m Yours by Jason Mraz;
• Fiona Lenahan – Original Piece;
• Julia Handerhan and Rogan McGarvey – Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd;
• Ally Calvanico, Emily Cooner, Leigh Forsyth, Jenny Greener, Brian Incremona, Rachel Makstein, and Bailey Newsome performing a mashup of Love Yourself and Photograph;
• RFH Dance Team Members – Dance Mix;
• Max Connery – piano piece;
• Kate Gagliardi – This Is Gospel by Panic! At the Disco;
• Paddy Ahimovic, JC Liang, and Kate Sustick – Tears Dry by Amy Winehouse;
• Michael Frissora – No Such Thing by John Mayer;
• Sophia Maita and Jen Sandoli – Can’t Make You Love Me by Bon Iver;
• Stephen Appezzato, Calvin Bruno, Henry Manelski, and Anthony Paolantonio – Naïve by The Kooks;
• Emma Singleton – Fix You by Coldplay;
• Matt Bavuso and Peter Hogan – Mrs. Handerhan, a rendition.
This year’s Talent Show was hosted by RFH seniors Olivia Teevan and Danny Trocchia and physical education and health teacher Eric Zullo and organized by the Student Council.
— Edited press release from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School
Night of FUTURE Broadway Stars, a musical event benefitting homeless youth in Asbury Park, will rock the auditorium at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School on April 14 at 7 p.m.
By Elaine Van Develde
“I want you to know that I am so sorry I didn’t make the effort to get to know you in high school,” a Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) graduate said to classmate Chef Rossi last Thursday after the reading and signing of her book, The Raging Skillet: The True Life Story of Chef Rossi … at River Road Books in Fair Haven. “I’m ashamed to say that I was one of those girls. And, yes, I was afraid of your Sex Pistols t-shirt.”
That was Lisa Malle Pritchard fessing up — owning who she didn’t even realize she was or if she even was. But who it was didn’t really matter to Rossi. It was what she said and when she said it that mattered.
The comment came in a very modest tone from that one blushing RFH prepster sandwiched in one corner of the room that was filled with RFH grads, the defunct but ever-enduring Barn Theater’s tribe, and a few nouveau admirers from afar and now close up.
In a real turnabout in perspective and persona from RFH 1970s, when she was the one who dropped many a jaw, the comment was met by touched, gape-mouthed Rossi and a demure “Oh, my God. Wow. Thank you so much for that. Moments like this make it all worthwhile. Can I give you a hug?”
And she did.
It was one of those awww/aha moments. For Rossi, the anti-chef, anti-preppy who was and is immersed in both worlds by default and devastating talent, things had come full circle with her homecoming. She was home again and everyone was feeling at home with her.
The moral of the Rossi story, which is one she promises there will be yet another book to explain and cook to, is that, yes, you can come home.
And not only can you come home, but you should, as she sees it.
“The real truth is that I wasn’t all those things that you were so afraid of back then,” the raging anti-chef said, pointing out that there was plenty of “Oreo crack” left to munch on. “I was just a little Jewish girl who liked Barbara Streisand.
” … Luckily, I was blessed with an enormous amount of chutzpah and a filthy mouth.”
Yes, you can come home, according to Rossi, especially this home. The theory is a Wizard of Oz sort of combo. It has something to do with always having had the power and not having to look any farther than your own back yard for what was in your heart all along — or something like that.
As Rossi put it, aside from her life highlight moment of Susan Sarandon eating her sun dried cranberry on the money spot (go ahead, figure that one out) …
“I’ve been going around the country on this book tour, but this is the stop that really pulled at my heartstrings. I graduated from RFH. I’ve got a lot of my buddies here today. So, even though I ran away from (this) home, got sent to live with the Chassids and other stories along the way, you know, every time I come back here I do feel like I’m coming back home. You’ve made that all possible.”
And so Rossi’s story goes, because, as someone in the audience piped up, “We love you,” followed by a usual cast (of characters) party at Barnacle Bill’s.
Home. Sweet … Oreo Crack and sea salt brownies.
Check out the slideshow above for a glimpse into the evening with Chef Rossi.
For more information, see her website by clicking here.
You can also buy her book at River Road Books in Fair Haven.
They called it Peter Panic.
The sixth, seventh and eighth grade Performing Arts Troupe of Knollwood School in Fair Haven recently presented a production story of an age-old struggle — athletics versus performing arts — about a fictional drama club and the football program vying for the limited space provided by their high school dubbed Peter Panic.
The 26-member cast acted, sang and danced its way through the Feb. 25 production.
The story: The Drama Club, led by Pam (Nora Doonan), is in desperate need of funds and performers. The Drama Club members (Aaron Bernstein, Sarah Dolan, Sabrina Marshall, Ceci Newman, and Nora Phillips) turn to the school’s two members of the Economics Club (Hannah Bates and Marie Mohen) for help. They decide that they can sell more tickets to the upcoming production of Peter Pan if popular athletes agree to perform.
Two star football players, Lefty (Jacob Gerbman) and Tinkerman (Caitlin Carr), audition and are given key roles as Captain Hook and Tinkerbell. The cheerleaders (Brett Cetnar-Garrett, Addie Cope, Avery Fratto, Elizabeth Harby, Clancy McCann, and Bea Zaleski) are cast as mermaids.
Everyone is doing their best to work together. Even the Detention Girls (Kira Fleischer, Sarah Neczesny, and Grace Tambaro) accept roles as the lost girls. But when conniving football coach Rook (Michael Mazzucca) gets wind of what’s happening, he plots to halt production and bring down the drama club.
Musical numbers in the show included: “All the World’s a Stage,” “Here in Neverland,” “Audition,” “Dreams Don’t Die Hard,” and “The Show Must Go On.”
The production was directed by seventh grade social studies teacher Alison Dooley and eighth grade literary teacher Gabrielle Illiano, with choreography by Sickles School third grade teacher Morgan Bufano. Art teacher Jessica Data was the set designer, and computer tech support provider Brian Ericson directed sound and lighting. Music teacher Karen Hauge was music/choral director.
— Edited press release from the Fair Haven School District
By Elaine Van Develde
Once upon a time, in a Rumson-Fair Haven world overrun with preppy pink and chartreuse, Lilly Pulitzer, alligator shirts, Fair Isle sweaters, khakis, topsiders and duck boots, there was a pint-sized butt-smoking, brash-talking punk rocker with kinky hair and a Cheshire cat grin who packed a punch full of wild on the status quo.
Continue reading Chef Rossi’s RFH Homecoming: A Raging Skillet Full of AuthenticIn just over a month, Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) drama students will be setting the stage at New York University’s (NYU) Forum on Educational Theater (FOET) to bring awareness to teen harassment and bullying in an production dubbed The Bystander: A portrait of Apathy.
Bystander was written by RFH English teacher Suzanne Sweeney, who is also the high school’s drama director.
With the performance slated for April 24, the students are not only the performers, but the producers of the narrative short drama with a message.
The above YouTube video gives a glimpse into what’s coming at NYU.
The RFH students performing in The Bystander are: Gianna Casale, Vaughn Coleman, Emily Cooner, William Dey, Matthew Hughes, Jeremy Nives, Jane Pavluk, Eli Rallo, Paige Russo, Lisa Sandoli, Ben Segall, Kelli Tuttle, and Alissa Zack.
The student directors are Gianna Casale, Eli Rallo, and Alissa Zack.
The Bystander: A Portrait of Apathy, a proposal submitted by Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) English teacher Suzanne Sweeney, has been accepted by the New York University Forum on Educational Theatre (FOET).
Continue reading RFH Drama Students Set to Perform at NYU Forum on Educational Theater
The Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) Tower Players are setting the stage for a production of the Tony-nominated musical Bonnie and Clyde.
The show will start with opening night on Friday, March 18 with a 7:30 p.m. curtain and a show on Saturday at the same time and close with a 1 p.m. Sunday matinee on March 20.
Bonnie and Clyde, musical by Frank Wildhorn, of Jekyll and Hyde, Civil War and Dracula fame, is based on the real-life adventures of starry-eyed Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and the outlaw Clyde Chestnut Barrow, who embarked on a crime spree across the United States at the height of the Great Depression.
Bonnie wants to escape from her west-Texas town and become a movie star. Clyde has just broken out of prison with his brother Buck. When they meet, their mutual cravings for excitement and fame set them on a mission to chase their dreams.
Teaming up with Buck and his wife Blanche, they commit a string of robberies and become American folk heroes as well as law enforcement’s worst nightmare. Forced to remain on the run, the lovers resort to increasingly brutal crimes. But as their fame grows and the body count rises, the end draws near for the ill-fated duo.
Bonnie and Clyde features a non-traditional score combining blues, gospel, and rockabilly music. The RFH production will showcase a cast of 45.
The RFH production stars Eli Rallo as Bonnie Parker, Matt Hughes as Clyde Barrow, Kate Sustick as Blanche Barrow, and Liam Hughes as Buck Barrow.
Suzanne Sweeney is director, with Kasi Ann Sweeney as assistant director. RFH Dance Team Coach Jen Costa is choreographer. Amy Fredericks, musical director for the Count Basie Awards, will be conducting the pit orchestra and overseeing vocal performances as the production’s musical director.
Costumes and props are under the direction of Carole Malick, and Matthew Leddin is overseeing the tech crew of 50 students providing set construction, sounds, and lighting.
Refreshments and a Texas-style feast, including chili and cornbread, will be available for purchase at the café in the RFH gymnasium before each performance and during intermissions.
Ticket prices are: $10 for general admission and $6 for students and seniors. RFH students with SGA cards will be admitted free.
To purchase tickets online, visit the RFH web site (rumsonfairhaven.org) and click on “Bonnie and Clyde.”
For more information including group discounts, contact Play Production Coordinator Stefania Flecca, sflecca@rumsonfairhaven.org.
The Box Office will be open for ticket purchases an hour before each performance.
Over the years the Tower Players have received numerous awards for acting, directing, choreography, costumes, set design and lighting, and overall outstanding production.
You must be logged in to post a comment.