Theater arts play a large role in the arts program at King School.
The theater arts program performs comedies, musicals and dramas every year. For two summers in a row (2019, 2018), our upper school theater arts team was invited to perform in the prestigious Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland.
In our Lower School, all grade 5 students are involved in the end of the year musical.
The Middle School puts on a play in the fall, and a musical in the spring, which students can choose to be involved in.
Like the Middle school, the Upper School performs a play in the fall and a musical in the Spring.
While students can start taking a general theater arts courses in middle school, many of the drama courses and specific skills-building classes are available as part of our upper school curriculum offerings.
Middle School students rehearsed for six weeks to prepare for an exciting three-day Broadway performance aptly named The Show Must Go On! Despite the many challenges that the students faced this year with social distancing measures still in place, these young performers were able to create a virtual experience to bring the musicals to life. The show featured a combination of live solo, duet and trio performances accompanied by prerecorded full-cast and small group acts.
King hosted its sixth annual El Sistema Residency, in which talented musicians from King's Middle and Upper Schools collaborated in intensive music workshops with visiting students of various El Sistema USA programs, including Stamford's own Project Music.
The residency's overarching focus is to inspire a deeper connection between communities of different socioeconomic backgrounds by using music as a vehicle to give voice to diverse cultural identities and amplify lived experiences.
Four King students were selected to participate in the All-State Musical Festival hosted by the Connecticut Music Education Association from April 23-25, 2021. The selection process is highly competitive and involves preliminary qualification through the organization's Western Regional auditions before becoming eligible for All-State.
"I'm impressed by the students' creativity, maturity, and thoughtfulness in tackling the show's themes. They are successfully bringing to life the challenging and sometimes frightening aspects confronting adolescents," said Mark Silence, the show's director.
Grade 6 student Alicia Leng and grade 8 student Olivia Asnes love to sing, but they also enjoy that choir includes non-singing activities. We also "learn how to read notes, find out if you are singing the correct pitch, and learn how music can impact the world," says Olivia.
"I've been looking forward to being a part of this since pre-K," states grade 5 student Eden Weisel. "We are learning about ancient civilizations. It has been amazing to be able to act out Greek myths and bring these stories to life." Eden plays Demeter, daughter of Persephone. "It is a story about the power of a mother's love for her child," she adds.