Piscataway High School’s Drama Club is one of the more popular and active clubs, with over 50 people in the club and many interesting plays.  As a result, it is widely loved. The club is run by advisor Erik Hall, who doubles as a teacher in the school. It has been active for a long time now, and has just recently put out a play named Puffs.

This winter, Drama Club will be featuring SpongeBob the Musical, and everyone is teeming with excitement to see how the members will put on the show.

“I’m so excited to play Karen in SpongeBob, I think it’s gonna be really fun and I love musicals, so being able to do this is so cool.” Says Andrea Ladia, an active member of the club.

Many students who attend Piscataway High School take part in drama club, whether it be on the stage or behind the scenes.

“There is a place for everyone,” says Andrea, “even for people who have stage fright, or don’t like acting or singing and dancing. Like there’s costume designers, the crew, and even people who design the set.”

Being on a stage in front of many people isn’t easy, and many people get nervous and scared to perform. The members of Drama Club aren’t strangers to stage fright, but they face that fear by “just rehearsing a lot, and making connections with the people [they] perform with.”

It’s so much easier to perform when you’re with people who you’re comfortable with, and the rehearsals make such a comfortable environment, so everyone kind of just feels good.” says Andrea.

Just like any other club, Drama Club also has a plethora of officers who help run the club along with the advisors.

“Me and other club officers help organize the ticket selling and other ways to promote and fundraise for the club.” Says the Vice President of Drama Club, Tasneem.

Drama club is not an organization to be taken lightly. This club, which is mostly run by its members, not only has to raise money like many other clubs, but also audition for parts, practice, and perform them. It’s definitely not easy.

“We have to do so many different things for the plays ourselves, and also raise money and sell tickets to make it possible to put on those plays that everyone works so hard for.” Says Tasneem.

Being an officer in this club is what many members dream of being someday. While still being a regular member of the club who is a part of plays and goes to rehearsal, they get to take a little extra responsibility in the activity many of them love the most.

“I’m really excited to be a club officer because being a part of this club means a lot to me and I’m very grateful to have a leadership role in it.” Says the Vice President. All the members of the drama club don’t just get their parts handed to them, including the officers – they have to work to earn them and keep them. They must rehearse on their own before the first auditions and be able to perform their part in front of many people.

“Auditions are usually held openly which means you get on stage in front of all the other people auditioning and performing there. Some people can get nervous about this but it is what best replicates the actual performance.” Says the club advisor, Erik Hall.

Due to COVID and the online schooling, last year the club was not able to get together and put on any shows. Unfortunately this years winter musical may have the same fate. The winter musical may not be performed, which would be a major disappointment to the members. Although, the club advisors are going to try and make sure that the students are able to keep the show. The winter musical is a great event important to many people so it would be a shame if it wasn’t going to go on.

“We usually do a musical for the winter. Music and musicals are a big part of theater and they are loved by many people.” Says Mr. Hall

Rehearsals in theater are very important, and shouldn’t be taken lightly. It is important that the actors get to understand the part they are playing as well as how it fits into the rest of the show. They can perfect this by meeting “most days Monday through Friday, because [they] do have a short amount of time to rehearse and learn the play so [they] must spend as much time as possible,” Hall states.

For even more information on this, you can reach out to Mr. Hall, or any of the club members as many of your friends might already be a part of this club!