SDSA students put on show for First Ladies
The Southern Delaware School of the Arts (SDSA) has built a reputation for developing talented youth from throughout the area, but seldom do the students get the opportunity to showcase that talent for a notable audience from outside Sussex County. Late last month, though, they had the chance to do just that, as Carla Markell, wife of Delaware governor Jack Markell, invited 13 other governors’ wives from across the country to the annual Governor’s Spouses Seminar, complete with a performance from SDSA.
Coastal Point • Submitted
Carla Markell, 13 other governors’ wives from around the nation and the cast of ‘Pirate of Penzance’ from the Southern Delaware School of the Arts. The students performed in Wilmington with Opera Delaware
“Back in November,” recalled SDSA principal Neil Beahan, “Mrs. Markell wanted to take a look at some of the less traditional schools in the state. She took a tour of our school, and in late March, she called me up and invited us to put on a performance for the first ladies.” The weekend seminar showcased some of the state’s well-known museums and landmarks and offered discussions designed to promote volunteerism and public-private partnerships within the community.
Beahan happily obliged with the request for a performance, as a number of students had put together a production of “Pirates of Penzance” earlier this year and it was still polished enough for an encore in front of an extra-special audience.
“She gave us first dibs, out of all the schools in the state,” he stated proudly. “One school from each of Delaware’s three counties was asked to bring a live performance to the event. We’re not traditionally a performing school,” he added, “but we were able to incorporate aspects of theater, choreography, artistic sets and vocal performance in the outdoor venue.”
In all, SDSA sent 26 students, ranging from second to eighth grade, to Wilmington for the event, where they performed with Opera Delaware.
“The First Ladies were very appreciative,” said Beahan, “and they were very kind. They spoke with the kids, and our students were professional and carried on conversations after the performance. It was an intimate atmosphere, but the students adapted to the stage. It was definitely one of the highlights of the year.”
First-year drama director David Warick said he was thrilled with the chance to take the SDSA group before the First Ladies.
“It’s such a cool opportunity,” he said. “We had some standalone songs from ‘Pirates of Penzance,’ and those songs turned out very well. The kids had such a great attitude about it all, and, at the end, they mingled. It was like they were hosting a party. It was really impressive the way they handled themselves and behaved.”
A few months had passed since the school’s last performance of the musical, but it took nearly no time to get the abbreviated cast ready again.
“Once we got the news about the performance,” said Warick, “we got back to the music, and the kids got it right away, after two rehearsals. There were no mistakes at all, and in Wilmington, they still sounded like they were performing at a full level, even though we had just less than half the original cast. It was a real honor – particularly for my first year.”
Warick attributed the sound of the show to vocal instructor Denise Atkins. “She’s the reason the group sounded as great as they did,” he said. “She got them musically strong.”
“It took these kids no time to get back into character,” said Atkins, who has been teaching at the Southern Delaware School of the Arts for five years. “It’s great for these students, to be recognized this way, too. Each musical we pick to perform is a little different, and this one is a little more vocal. We had never done an operetta before, but the kids were great.”
With the bar now set, Beahan hopes to add a few more noteworthy performances to the school’s repertoire.
“It speaks levels about our students and about our staff to be invited to something like this,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we are asked to do something like this again. It was a great experience for myself and for the kids.”
