Students celebrate the heroes in their lives

BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer

SCOTTFRIEDMAN LONG BRANCH — A project that began as an educational program for Long Branch High School students has blossomed into a success story for Red Bank’s Two River Theater Company (TRTC).

The TRTC Education Outreach Program launched its first artist-in-residence education program in the Rechnitz Theater last week with a performance by students from Long Branch High School’s drama program called the Heroes Project.

The performances were held at the Two River Theater on Bridge Avenue on Feb. 24, 25 and 26.

“This has been really great,” said Kate Cordaro, TRTC director of education, just days before the performance. “The students have really responded to the program. The students have so much heart.”

The Heroes Project is an original performance piece created by students selected from drama, dance and music classes at Long Branch High School, according to Cordaro.

Award-winning actor, writer and teaching artist Tyrone Henderson, along with Long Branch High School speech and theater teacher Chip Heptig, chose 17 students to participate in the pilot program.

Long Branch High School students perform in The Heroes Project at the Two River Theater in Red Bank on Feb. 26. Clockwise from top right: Craig Reeves performs “Continental.” Melissa Rivera, James Saunders, Emmanuel Adekunle and Reeves in “The Cop’s Not Likely.” Students perform in “The Girl in the Mirror.” “The kids were chosen based on their creativity,” Cordaro said. “They were chosen for their talent, drive and diversity. They had to be team players and good kids.”

Students ranging from freshmen to seniors participated in the program. They are: Emanuelle Adekunle, Rose Carbone, Natalie Carvalho, Rhonda DuBois, Raleigh Gardner, Ann Goncalves, Sydora Handberry, Jay Lopez, Colleen McDermott, Lisa Morales, Desirae Perry, Zaneta Rago, Craig Reeves, Melissa Rivera, Cherise Schank, Jamillah Salahuddin, James Saunders and Rachael Stevenson.

“All the kids are just so excited about what they created,” Cordaro said. “They are all great kids and they have worked hard. I just can’t say enough about them.”

The eight-week program began in early January with TRTC’s teaching artists working with the students once a week after school on playwriting and performance techniques.

The process started with a four-week writing workshop where students crafted short stories about their heroes.

Their heroes were as diverse as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Holocaust victims, parents, grandparents, rock stars, local police, cancer survivors and the heroes within themselves, Cordaro said.

“One of the girls wrote a piece called the ‘Girl in the Mirror,’ ” Cordaro said. “It is about a girl picking herself apart and realizing she is not alone.”

During the last month of the program, students met twice a week after school to create the way in which they wanted to tell the stories of their heroes, using monologues, dance, music and song.

Students were first encouraged to write long pieces that were then edited by Cordaro, Henderson and choreographer Kathy Connolly to create a one-hour piece of haunting, heart-stirring and hilarious stories inspired by heroes in the students’ lives, Cordaro said.

“The kids choreographed [the project] by themselves and helped shape each piece,” Cordaro said.

The idea for the Heroes Project was formed last year, according to Cordaro, who said she met students from Long Branch High School while acting as an adjunct for the Monmouth County Teen Arts Festival and decided she wanted to offer the students a program.

She and Henderson decided to put together a program designed for the students at Long Branch, and after brain-storming, the two came up with the idea for the Heroes Project.

Heptig, who started teaching at Long Branch High School in September, said it was an honor to have his students chosen for the project.

“Being chosen was a gift from the ‘theater gods,’ ” Heptig said in an interview Monday. “These kids were offered a real-life glimpse into professional theater for free. These kids got the theater experience of their lives. It was just so wonderful to see these kids perform. It was amazing, outstanding and immensely gratifying.

“This is something that the kids have no idea how truly seminal this project is,” he said. “Ten years from now, these kids will look back on this experience and know that they were the first. This is one program that should go on for years.”

And Cordaro said Long Branch is just the first step in what she hopes to be a long journey.

“We want to be able to offer this program to other schools,” she said. “We want to offer it to schools that are financially disadvantaged for free.”

Other schools that are interested but not financially disadvantaged would be able to participate in the program for a fee, according to Cordaro.

She added that Red Bank Middle School has informed TRTC that it is interested in participating in the program, and Heptig said if Long Branch was ever offered another chance to participate in the program, they would do it “in a heartbeat.”

TRTC was founded in 1994 as Monmouth County’s first professional regional theater in 30 years.

For more information about the TRTC Education Outreach Program, call (732) 345-1400.