Last Friday, Oct. 24, the students at Glenwood Avenue School got to experience the magic of Off-Broadway theater—way off. In fact, the professional cast and crew of TheaterworksUSA brought New York City to Wildwood, complete with all the sound and staging equipment necessary to transform the school’s cafeteria into a professional stage.
“These kids are getting the chance to experience theater in a unique way,” School Librarian, Marcia Lloyd said.
Last year, the students were treated to a production of Junie B. Jones, and on Friday, the traveling theater company made an encore appearance at the school, only this time they brought along carnivorous plants and dirty laundry, to help bring to life the tale of “The Plant who ate Dirty Socks.”
The musical production was performed Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher St., in New York over the summer. It tells the tale of two brothers, neatnik Norman and messy Michael and the mystery of their disappearing socks, and now it is being performed in schools as part of the theater’s touring repertoire.
Glenwood students first prepared for the event by reading the book on which the play is based by Nancy McArthur. Then, they rolled out the Glenwood Avenue welcome mat for the cast and crew by hanging a mammoth sock-eating plant along the school’s hallways and feeding it with hundreds of artistically decorated socks.
The play is a special education opportunity for students who might not otherwise make it to Broadway to see a show on their own, Lloyd said, and the lessons are many.
“They see their cafeteria transformed and the set dismantled…they learn theater manners,” Lloyd said. And perhaps most importantly, they learn that an exciting world that seems far beyond their reach can be found in their school, right within their grasp.
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