It has been 29 years since “The Breakfast Club was released in theaters.
While the styles and trends from the 1980s may be gone, the story still resonates with a small group of students from Cherry Hill West who have bonded in the same way the characters in the movie have.
Cherry Hill West is putting on its own adaptation of “The Breakfast Club” for its fall play. The show opens on Nov. 13 and continues through Nov. 15.
The school’s theater adaptation will follow the same plot as the 1985 film, where a group of five high school teenagers from completely different backgrounds find themselves sitting together in Saturday detention.
While the movie pre-dates all the student actors in the show, they said the story is easy to relate to. The stereotypes in the film are still applicable to high school students today.
“We definitely see these stereotypes in everybody,” senior Robert Petroski said.
Petroski is playing the role of the tough guy criminal John Bender. He said all the characters are judged upon their look and attitude when the show begins. He said the transformation of each character reveals how similar some of them actually are.
Senior Erica Lazarow, playing the role of Claire, said the characters try to show their life is great early in the play. As the story evolves, the characters’ life problems are revealed.
“None of the characters are perfect at all,” she said.
“The Breakfast Club” shows how students from different backgrounds can come together and become friends. This isn’t only happening with the characters, but with the cast itself.
Two members of the cast will be performing in the fall play for the first time. Senior Gio Smargisso stars as Brian, the brainy kid of the group. Sophomore Kacper Miklus is making his Cherry Hill West theater debut as Dick Vernon, the assistant principal.
Smargisso and Miklus said they didn’t really know the other members of the cast prior to joining the fall play. After rehearsing and spending a few hours a day with them, they said they’ve become a family, much like the characters in the show do.
“We all kind of grew to become a family,” Smargisso said.
“Having such a small cast, we tend to bond a lot more,” Petroski said.
The themes of the film will be portrayed in a greater way on stage. Carolyn Messias, the producer of the show, said the theater version tones down on some of the dancing and action scenes, allowing it to focus more on the story at hand. She said West Principal Kwame Morton approved the show partly because the lesson goes along with anti-bullying messages taught at the school.
“He thought this was a great teaching tool,” Messias said.
Senior Michela Hall, playing the role of Alison, feels her fellow peers and audience members can learn a valuable lesson in watching the play.
“We learn to put ourselves in each other’s shoes,” she said.
The cast hopes the audience is able to take away this lesson from “The Breakfast Club.” Smargisso said the story’s message about the social dynamic of high school isn’t just meant for current students.
“A lot of parents don’t understand stereotypes,” he said. “I’ve learned to open my eyes to other people.”
“Maybe it will let (the audience) think, ‘I can’t let it be that way,’” Aquilino said.
“The Breakfast Club” can be seen on Nov. 13 and 14 at 7 p.m. There will be two shows on Nov. 15 at 2 and 7 p.m. All tickets are sold at the door. For more information, call (856) 663–8006 ext. 1224.
