Vo-Tech students set for three performances

BY MARY ANNE ROSS
Correspondent

CHRIS KELLY staff Bess Eckstein, East Brunswick, and Jared Picone, South River, rehearse Tuesday for the musical “The Last Five Years” at the East Brunswick campus of the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical High School. Shows begin tonight. EAST BRUNSWICK — Students from the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical High School will strut their stuff for local audiences this weekend at the school’s first annual Senior Showcase.

The shows, organized by the vo-tech’s School of Performing Arts, will be held at the East Brunswick campus on Rues Lane. Presentations will include three very different musical selections by Nobuko Hori, of South River, and the musical “The Last Five Years,” performed by Bess Eckstein, of East Brunswick, and Jared Picone, of South River.

Performances are tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m., and Saturday at 3 p.m.

This is the first production created and produced entirely by the seniors. They are in charge of all phases of the performances — marketing, sound, lighting, costumes and props. Other students in the performing arts program are serving as stage managers and production assistants.

Maria Aladren, who started working with the school last year, is serving as stage director and performance arts educator. She has a master’s degree in fine arts and has been acting and directing professionally for the past 12 years.

“The project sprang from my personal experience trying to bridge the great divide between the young actor in an educational setting and the same actor entering the profession,” Aladren said.

But gone were the “cushy” worlds of academia, with deep pockets and professional resources. Most young actors find that they must self-promote and, quite often, self-produce in order to be seen. The senior showcase project tries to mirror such a situation.

Students are challenged to find their best asset, decide the best way to “showcase” it, gather a team of people willing to help them, and coordinate the production, all with a $500 budget.

“We cheat a little because they can still access the school’s resources, lights, sound and stock sets,” Aladren said.

Senior Bess Eckstein plays Cathy, while junior Jared Picone plays Jamie in “The Last Five Years,” by Jason Robert Brown. This is the first musical to be performed at the School of Performing Arts.

The play is a moving love story about a couple from two different cultures who share the history of their five-year relationship. Jamie’s story starts from the beginning, while Cathy’s starts from the end and works backward.

Eckstein said she chose the play because “it’s one of my favorite musicals.”

“I just love the music from it and the part is very close to me. It’s a part that I always wanted to play,” she said.

This will be senior Nobuko Hori’s debut performance at the School of Performing Arts. She will sing a tune from the musical “Evita” by Andrew Lloyd Webber, a classic Rodgers and Hammerstein song from “South Pacific,” and a number from the new hit musical “Avenue Q.”

The School of Performing Arts started five years ago as a pilot program at the vo-tech district. The program provides professional training in acting.

“Students must learn acting technique, including voice and movement,” Aladren said.

There is also a dance component to the program, and Aladren said the school is now participating in a statewide program to collaborate with the New Jersey film industry, giving the school’s students access to film work.

Tickets for the senior showcase are $10 for adults and $5 for K-12 students.