Lucia Forte ‘26
The past few months have been filled with apprehension and a buzz of excitement as students have awaited the announcement of the Domino Club’s 2024 Spring Musical. Luckily, the wait for the performers and fans of EA theater has come to a conclusion with the recent announcement of Pippin as this year’s musical!
A nice contrast to the modern comedy of last year’s Spring production Addams Family, Pippin is a revamped classical filled with both energy and emotion. Following the story of a prince searching for meaning in his life, it explores themes of purpose and love.
Will Esterhai ’24, last year’s “Gomez” in The Addams Family, shares his feelings about the choice of his final show. “I’m really excited about it!” he exclaims. “It shares a message that is very relevant to the times. It’s a message that everyone needs to hear, and with the work that we put in, we will be able to create a show that is meaningful and special.”
When choosing a musical, the messages and morals the musical contains are an important factor to consider. While Pippin explores several themes, such as destiny and love, its ultimate statement is to embrace one’s own path in order to live a fulfilled life, rather than searching for glory. Many times throughout the performance, songs involving heavy topics are used to convey this, enhancing the emotional difficulty of the show. Cate Curatolo ’24 touched on this, saying, “The show deals with some tricky messages and themes that will be a challenge for us to properly communicate. However, with the help of Mr. Clay and our community of hardworking performers, I think we will be able to execute it well.”
Curatolo also mentions other challenges the show may create. “Vocally the show is difficult, as is the dance,” she says. “Dance numbers in the show are written for a [Bob] Fosse technique which is very specific and stylized. We have a lot of great dancers this year, however, so I think we can pull it off.”
Due to the results of the past few years’ musicals, Curatolo is likely correct. This years’ choreographer, Marie McVeigh, has also choreographed the past few Domino Board productions. Besides choreographing The Addams Family and stepping in as this year’s Dance Coach, Ms. McVeigh helped with movement in Metamorphosis and even some Middle School productions. Lindsay Knight ‘24 spoke on her experience with Ms. McVeigh, saying “Her choreography is always genius, and fits so well with the show. It gets everyone so excited to dance!” Her choreography has never steered the Domino Club wrong, therefore they are confident in her abilities to tackle this challenge head-on and create another gorgeous spectacle this year.
Photo courtesy of playbill.com
Performers in the Domino Club are excited to begin this new adventure. “I love “Fosse” style dancing,” says Clementine Clifton ’26. “So I am super excited to do Pippin, because the dance numbers are awesome!”
The performers are not the only ones excited about the show. EA theater fans can’t wait to see Pippin come together. Sam Cellucci ’26 shares, “I can’t wait to see it! The Domino Club always does a great job, and I know they are going to bring this next show to life.”
Just like Sam, the rest of the school has complete confidence in the abilities of The Domino Club and Mr. Clay, Head of Theater and Dance. As we head into audition season, performers are beginning to prepare for what will surely be a phenomenal production of Pippin.