Celebrate the spooky season with Camden Catholic High School’s fall play, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” beginning Oct. 28.
The short story by Washington Irving follows the story of Ichabod Crane, a 19th-century school teacher who moves to a little village in upstate New York filled with superstitious people and old legends. As he competes with Brom Bones for the affection of Katrina Van Tassel, he learns stories of the town, like that of the headless horseman.
Whether reality or a legend, no one knows.
“We’ve never done anything like this before,” said Director Angela Leone Carrozzino. “We’ve never gotten to play around with these kinds of themes. We’ve never gotten to do something spooky before, so our rehearsals have been a little bit different because our objective as a cast has been to frighten everyone a little bit.”
“There’s humor in it, there’s drama in it and then there’s spookiness,” added Ethan Menon, a junior playing Brom Bones. “Those three elements, I think we execute them pretty well as a whole show, but I think the best part they’ll like is the spookiness, because we have the smoke, the lighting, a lot of the storytelling.
“We’re also getting better at making it spooky.”
Leone Carrozzino explained that the story deals with themes of being an insider or an outsider, which Noah Colon, who plays Ichabod, attributes to pride.
“Brom Bones and the townsfolk are on the same side,” Colon said. “It’s like the town versus Ichabod.”
Throughout the play, the town’s residents tell many spooky stories, which allowed the student actors to experiment with new styles of acting. Colon recounted having to hold his posture differently to play Ichabod, who is tall and lanky. Menon, who also plays the Headless Horseman, is naturally without a head for some parts of the show.
“You have to incorporate different aspects of scariness,” said Gianna Giegerich, a junior who plays Katrina. “You have to incorporate different aspects of superstition, and you have to kind of play with the audience in a way that they’re not going to expect. You may do that with a glance, or a laugh or even the subtlest of looks.”
The students have been rehearsing five days a week since before school started in September. Leone Carrozzino hopes that in addition to getting into the Halloween spirit, more people can see the students’ work.
“I always hope that our audiences walk away with a bigger idea of what young artists are able to do,” she offered. “I think we set our bar really high when it comes to the performing arts and the shows we put on stage, and I want the community to be impressed with them, because they impress me all the time.”
“Legend of Sleepy Hollow” performances are Friday, Oct. 28, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 29 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 30, at 4 p.m., in the Grandi Auditorium, 300 Cuthbert Road. Tickets are $12 per person and are available at www.cchsperformingarts.com.
