[StBernard] Romeo & Juliet opens at new Chalmette High School Cultural Arts Theatre

[Westley Annis]

The Performing Arts Academy of St. Bernard Parish is proud to announce the
opening of its tenth summer performance, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The
performances will begin at 7:00 P.M. on Friday, July 1, and Saturday, July
2, in the new Chalmette High School Cultural Arts Theatre. Tickets are $10
or $5 for students with a student ID. For ticket information, contact Robin
Calecas between 8:00 A.M. and 3:00 P.M. at (504) 272-0300. Enjoy
Shakespeare's tragic story of passion, jealousy and strife. 

 

Under the artistic direction of Chalmette alumnus Arianna Cassar, the
performance will be set in the Renaissance and feature a unique adaptation
of Shakespeare's original text for The Academy's diverse cast of elementary
through college students. The performance also boasts majestic costumes,
full theatrical set- complete with 16-foot tall balcony, intense sword
combat, captivating period music and dance and an original song written
especially for this performance. 

 

Due to the intensity of Shakespeare's plot and the length of the work, the
performance is recommended for mature audiences.

 

The cast features many talented young artists such as Dylan Fuselier from
Chalmette Elementary in the role of Benvolio and Kenan Jabr from Chalmette
High School in the role of Mercutio. 

 

Romeo is played by 2011 Chalmette High graduate Alex Crowson, who made his
theatrical debut with last season's CHS Live! production of The Boyfriend.
During his time as a student at Chalmette, he was a member of the wrestling
team, state competitor with the power lifting team and captain of the
football team. In the fall, he will attend the University of Louisiana at
Monroe to study aviation. 

 

The role of Juliet is brought to life by Tiffany Treadaway, an incoming
freshman at Chalmette High School. Tiffany is in her third year of
performance with The Academy. During that time, she also performed regularly
with the chorus and drama department at Trist Middle School. Some of the
highlights from her already busy career include performances of Cobweb in
The Academy's rendition of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Mabel, the principal
role in Trist's rendition of Pirates of Penzance Junior, and her
participation in the 2009 and 2010 National Children's Chorus at Carnegie
Hall.

 

The talented team of adult artists who have worked throughout the month of
June to make the performance come together features Costume Designer Pam
Cassar, Assistant Director Annelise Cassar, Technical Director Fred Hebert,
who has headed the launch of the new Technical Institute wing of The Academy
and Cultural Arts Coordinator and Producer for Romeo and Juliet, Charles
Cassar.

 

Founded by Mr. Charles Cassar in 2002, The Performing Arts Academy is an
intensive summer program focused on creating artistic education
opportunities that will increase students' rounding in all three major
performing disciplines: theatre, music and dance. This is achieved through
study and rehearsal of a full length, historic play and the accompanying
cultural aspects of music, dance and dress, as well as the technical aspects
necessary to producing in a theatre performance. This year, the program
launched a complete technical institute, empowering students to choose an
area of concentration. In addition to basic exposure to acting, vocal music
and dance, students enrolled in this new technical wing concentrated in
costume design or lighting, sound and special effects operation. The program
is under the Artistic Direction of Arianna Cassar and housed in the new
90,000-square-foot cultural arts building at Chalmette High School. 

 

            This wonderful student based program is made possible through
the generosity of The Joseph and Arlene Meraux Charitable Foundation,  The
Chalmette Cultural Arts Foundation as well as The St. Bernard Parish School
Board.

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