Max Samuels’ grandfather grew up in Brooklyn.  The Staples senior heard his stories of that place and time.  Until a couple of weeks ago, though, he’d never really heard them.

But Max is president of Staples Players, so to prepare for their upcoming Black Box production — “Brighton Beach Memoirs” — he invited his grandfather to talk to the cast.

It was a perfect match.  Lou Berlin — now 83 — spent an afternoon describing his youth.  The teenage actors of 2011 now understood much more vividly what it meant to come of age in the 1930s.

Lou talked about his life:  playing stickball and Johnny on the pony in the streets.  Going home from school for lunch.  Watching movies — a newsreel, cartoon and feature — all for a nickel.

When he was finished, the Staples students asked questions.  What was his relationship with his parents and sister?  How did he have fun?  Where did he meet his wife?

The answers helped each actor understand his or her character better.  Including the one who plays the “Brighton Beach” father:  Max Samuels.

Max Samuels and Eva Hendricks get into their "Brighton Beach" roles. (Photo by Kerry Long)

“My grandfather’s father — my great-grandfather — worked a lot,” Max says.  “He had a few jobs, including taxi driver.  Jack does that job too.

“I knew my character worked very hard.  But I didn’t realize that meant he was never home — and when he was, he was exhausted.”

“Brighton Beach Memoirs” has many references to money.  Max’s grandfather explained the importance of every penny during the Depression.  Now, Max says, the cast truly understands what their lines mean.

Max’s grandfather had as much fun that afternoon as the young actors.  This week, they put the final touches on the show.  It opens Friday night (March 4, 7:30 p.m.).

“It’ll be great,” Max promises.  “It’s a very funny show, but at the same time very serious.  On the one hand you’ve got Eugene (Ryan Shea) going through puberty, sharing his memories with the audience.  On the other hand it’s the Great Depression.  The family has to take Jack’s wife’s sister and her 2 daughters in — and feed them.  It was very, very hard.”

The set is “very cool,” Max says.  “It’s actually a house — you can see the upstairs and downstairs.”  The Black Box Theater at Staples is “very intimate,” he adds — “just like Brighton Beach in 1937.”

And just like the bond between Max Samuels and his grandfather — plus, now, the full “Brighton Beach Memoirs” cast.

(In keeping with the “family” theme, Max’s sister Rachel is double-cast as Nora — Jack’s niece.  “Brighton Beach Memoirs” will be performed March 4, 5, 10, 11 and 12 at 7:30 p.m., with a matinee on Sunday, March 6 at 2 p.m.  Click here for tickets and more information.)

The cast (clockwise from bottom): Ryan Shea, Max Samuels, Eva Hendricks, Matt Van Gessel, Sofia Ribolla, Alison Manning, Emily Ressler. (Photo by Kerry Long)

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Still on the fence about seeing “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” Staples Players’ current Black Box Theater production?

This trailer will push you over that fence, and send you hustling for tickets.

The video gives a great flavor for the show — but it does not include Matt Van Gessel (double-cast as Stanley).  That’s because the talented senior actor also shot and produced the trailer.

Kids these days…

(“Brighton Beach Memoirs” will be performed tomorrow [Sunday, March 6] at 2 p.m., and this coming Thursday, Friday and Saturday [March 10, 11 and 12] at 7: p.m.  Click here to order tickets.)

Leave it to Staples Players to produce “Romeo and Juliet” — with a Caribbean twist.

“Once on This Island”takes over Toquet Hall this Friday (8 p.m.) and Saturday (5 and 8 p.m.).

It’s an intriguing show — there’s catchy music, great dancing, dynamic characters, amazing costumes, and of course the age-old question:  love or death?

Senior directors Kathryn Durkin and Greg Langstine had to work within the tight confines of Toquet Hall.  It wasn’t easy squeezing a cast of 23 (and an 8-person pit orchestra) on a small stage, then making music and magic happen.

But they did it.  Players always does it.  Check out the sneak peek below:

(Tickets will be sold at Toquet Hall 30 minutes before each show.)

In a modern version of “let’s put on a show!” Staples Players’ final production of 2011 is an original revue.

How else did fit dozens of talented performers — including many graduating seniors — onto the stage?

“Ages and Stages” — created by directors David Roth and Kerry Long, and Players alum Justin Paul — incorporates scenes and songs from over 2 dozen plays.

Part of the very talented "Ages and Stages" cast. (Photo/Kerry Long)

There are big dance numbers, comedy sketches, barbershop quartets — just about any kind of performance you can imagine.  Most are funny — very funny.

“The overarching theme is the ‘stages of life,’” Roth says.  “From birth and early childhood through adolescence to young adult dating and marriage to having babies — that’s the generational cycle that we’ll show.”

Included are songs by Paul (Staples 2003) and his writing partner Benj Pasek.  Bradley Jones (Staples 1975) — a dancer in the original “A Chorus Line” for many years — is staging a terrific dance number for Players.

(For a sneak preview of barbershop quartet members August Laska, Max Samuels, Clay Singer and Tyler Jent singing “Hello, Mary Lou,” click below.)

“Ages and Stages” will be produced in Staples’ Black Box Theater.

“It’s a very intimate space,” Roth notes.  “We’ve never done a large musical production there.  It’s a great space — but seats are limited.”

(Tickets for this weekend’s performances (Thursday, May 26, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, May 27, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, May 28, 4 and 8 p.m.) are available at StaplesPlayers.com.  Prices are $15 adults, $10 students, except for the final performance — a benefit for Save the Children‘s tornado relief effort — which is $25 adults, $15 students. 

In the words of performer Charlotte Weber, “This shows is about the normal cycle of life.  What people in the South are experiencing is definitely not normal.  We’re glad we can help provide a little relief to help other children experience the same joys and triumphs.

NOTE:  This show is rated “PG,” for some adult language.)

When you or I watch “Billy Elliot” we marvel at the dancing, the energy, the predictable but uplifting story line.

Gina Rattan watches actors’ entrances and exits.  She listens to decibel levels.

And she does it in rehearsals and performances, night after night, week after week after week.

Gina is “Billy Elliot”‘s resident director.  She’s responsible for maintaining the Broadway show’s consistency.  She keeps it true to its original creative vision.  She trains new cast members.

And — because there are 4 Billy Elliots — she spends much of her time handling a quartet of 11-year-old boys.

The Westport native loves every minute of it.

Gina Rattan

Her road to Broadway began with Staples Players.  She assistant directed main stages, One Acts and studios.  Director David Roth gives his students plenty of responsibility, and Gina reveled in the opportunity to learn all about theater, develop strong bonds and produce great shows.

After graduating in 2004, she earned a BFA in directing at the University of Michigan.  Like Staples, it combines a superb theater program with strong academics.  Gina studied every aspect of performing, from a worldly perspective.

She moved to the Old Globe in San Diego, working on Shakespeare and musicals.  She got jobs in New York, and with “Little House on the Prairie:  The Musical.”  Last winter she returned to Staples, helping Roth with the One-Act Festival.

In May — just a couple of weeks after interviewing for it  — she started her “Billy Elliot” gig.  It’s her best, most intriguing — and demanding — job so far.

It was a baptism by fire.  Gina learned the show — the timing, tempo, blocking, cues and “emotional temperature” that spell the difference between success and failure — at the same time she critiqued it.

It’s a huge undertaking.  There are 51 cast members, and the staging is complex.  Fortunately, Gina says, “I’m not responsible for the dancing.”  Two resident choreographers handle that task.

She’s got enough on her hands.  The 4 Billys — each boy does 2 shows a week — must deliver consistent performances, though all are different people.

The Billys respond well.  “They’re terrific kids,” Gina says.  “They’ve become a pack.  And everyone once in a while one of them says something that makes me think ‘Wow, you really are 11!”

The demands on the boys are intense.  Besides continuous rehearsals — 10 blocks from the Imperial Theatre — the 4 Billys juggle tutoring, physical therapy, strength training and acrobatics.

“They run all over the place,” Gina notes.  “I have to look at the big picture, and make sure it all fits together.”

The rest of the cast and crew have been great too.  They share their knowledge of “the life of the piece” — something Gina missed by not being there from Day One.

“Collaborating with colleagues, working with kids, learning how it all fits together — that’s what makes this such an amazing show,” she adds.

Every day, Gina adds to her skill set.  Whatever she does next, her experience as resident director has given her career a major boost.

So what’s next?

“I have no idea,” Gina says.  “My contract is for a year.  Right now, I just know I have rehearsal in 20 minutes.  And a long day ahead!”

If you were near the cannons at Westport’s 4th 1st of July fireworks — or clicked a link on “06880″ — you were entertained by For the Heart, Westport’s fresh-faced, energetic and mega-talented teenage singing group.

But as great as they sound, their back story is even more inspiring.

Six years ago, Bedford 7th grader Caley Beretta was enjoying Music Theater of Connecticut.  She’d made new friends from throughout Fairfield County.  “We wanted an excuse to get together and sing,” she recalls.  On a whim, they called Westport Health Care Center (formerly Mediplex), and offered to perform.

They sang songs from their favorite musicals, like “Wicked” and “Rent.”

“They loved it, but we had no idea ‘Sound of Music’ would be better,” Caley laughs.

For the Heart -- 2011 version. (Photo by Kerry Long)

They had such a good time — and the feedback was so great — that Caley and her friends googled more assisted living facilities in the area.  They created a song list, borrowed sheet music from MTC, rehearsed in her basement — and before long For the Heart “was legit,” Caley says.

First Night 2006 was their 1st non-elderly show.  The crowd loved them — especially 9-year-old additions Melissa Beretta and Cara McNiff, who sang “Matchmaker.”

For the Heart kept singing.  In 2009 Chris McNiff and a few others went to college.  Caley followed the next year.  Before leaving, she brought in new members.

The newcomers suggested Jake Landau as music director.  Caley calls the rising Staples junior “incredibly talented and dedicated.  He wowed us.”

The 12 members — including Stapleites Amanda Horowitz, Tyler Jent, August Laska, Grace McDavid-Seidner, Michelle Pauker, Emily Ressler and Clay Singer, plus Fairfield Ludlowe’s Steve Autore and Fairfield Warde’s Johnny Shea — form what Caley calls “For the Heart 2.0.”

Like a proud parent, she calls the current group “much more polished.” And, she says, “we now do the right songs for each audience.”

They’ve also amped up their performing schedule.

Right before Christmas, they made a memorable visit to the Westport Health Care Center.

They caroled room to room.  It was an intensely personal experience, at an extremely vulnerable time for the elderly men and women.

Their smiles — and the reactions they get at all their shows — are what keep the For the Heart kids gonig.

A Christmas appearance.

After one performance, a woman told the teenagers that, long ago, she’d been an opera singer.  When the group sang “Anything Goes,” a man said he once directed the show.

(As with all performers, they can’t always please everyone.  One person was very offended that they didn’t know “Go Tell it on the Mountain” at Christmastime.)

One of For the Heart’s most memorable gigs was at a Bridgeport after-school program.  The children sang along with Disney songs — and when the teenagers came off the stage to join them in the audience, the youngsters went wild.

This year, the group hopes to sing for new audiences.  Children’s hospitals are high on their list.

Working around active teenagers’ schedules is not easy.  But — despite commitments to their theater and choral groups, schoolwork, SAT courses and the bajillion other things kids today do — the members make For the Heart a high priority.

They sing 15 to 18 selections each show — and they learn new songs for every performance.  The fireworks marked their 40th concert.

So how much money does For the Heart make?

Not a penny.

Every show is free.

In fact, they pay to perform.  Sheet music purchases are a collective effort.

They carpool, to save gas.  They borrow music stands.  And, they note, both MTC and Staples Players director David Roth have been very helpful.

They’ve talked about a fundraising concert at Toquet Hall.  But, Caley says, “what’s great is that this is not about money.  It’s to do a show, and make people smile.”

“It’s all about the joy,” Amanda says.  “It’s just fun.  It makes me happy.”

Grace is gratified by the audience’s smiles.  “It’s so great when they sing along, and then ask us to come back.”

“It’s so great to talk to some of the elderly audiences,” Melissa adds.  “We hear their memories, and they tell us about when they performed or went to the theater.”

Caley knows that many of her talented performers will go on to accomplish great things, in a variety of venues.

But, she says, “it’s nice to get applause on a high school stage, or sing in a big concert, and 2 weeks later get up with your friends, and perform in jeans in some cafeteria.”

Those performances truly come From the Heart.

(Click below for a few of For the Heart’s greatest hits from the recent Compo Beach fireworks show.)

“Jesus Christ Superstar” bursts upon the Westport stage this week.

The Broadway blockbuster is this season’s Staples Players Summer Theatre/Westport Continuing Education show.

Following in the tradition of “Rent” and “Les Mis” — previous show-stoppers — the production will be memorable.

And — in keeping with directors David Roth and Kerry Long’s tradition — it will take the familiar play in an unfamiliar direction.

This “Jesus Christ” is set in the late 1960s.  It was a time as tumultuous as Jesus’ own, with social and political tumult up the wazoo.

Clay Singer plays Judas -- reimagined in the 1960s. (Photo/Kerry Long)

“Religious themes aside,” Roth says, “the story remains relevant because of its social commentary on celebrity worship, ultimate betrayal, and the passion and power of the human spirit.”

“The story of Jesus parallels, to some extent, that of Martin Luther King:  preaching love and peace, not violence; loving your fellow man, ideas like that,” Long adds.  “Non-violence was the essence of the flower power movement.”

Costumes and staging reflect the time period.  The show begins with a violent protest that channels Kent State.

“The famous photo of the hippie sticking a flower in a gun barrel was the catalyst” for this production, Roth says.  That image is recreated with Jesus in the opening scene.

Both Roth and Long are too young to remember the ’60s.  Of course, their actors — nearly 50 very talented teenagers from Westport and beyond — are far younger.  They were born in the 1990s.

To prepare, the directors showed them a History Channel documentary about the era.  They also watched parts of “Hair.”

“It’s not exactly total immersion,” Long admits.  “But we’ve talked extensively about the time period, and the parallels between the story of Jesus and his followers, and the tribes of hippies.”

Jesus (Johnny Shea) and a soldier (Charlie Greenwald) share an important moment in "Jesus Christ Superstar." (Photo/Kerry Long)

The directors’ enthusiasm is palpable.  Roth grew up listening to the album.  Players performed the show the summer after Long’s senior year at Staples, fueling an “obsession” with it (and the music).

“It’s one of the few cast albums that David and I listen to even if we’re not working on the show,” Long said of her co-director (and husband).

“Jesus Christ Superstar” — which opens this Thursday night, continues Friday night and closes with 2 Saturday performances — is an ensemble piece.  The voices are strong — and they’re backed by Chris Coogan’s incredible band.

“A lot of the kids love the music,” Roth says.  “We’ve been hearing kids with different roles singing other people’s parts.  It’s fun music that sticks in your head.”

And it’s an important show, sure to stick in the heads of everyone who sees it.

(“Jesus Christ Superstar” will be performed at Staples this Thursday, Friday and Saturday — July 28, 29 and 30 — at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, July 30 at 2 p.m.

(Tickets are available online — click here.  Any remaining tickets are sold at the door, 30 minutes before curtain.  For more information, call 203-341-1310.

(Click below to see Matt Van Gessel’s trailer.)

The audience at last night’s opening of Staples Players’ “Jesus Christ Superstar” received a special treat.

Gregg Bonti and Max Samuels present Save the Children representatives with a $3,000 check. (Photo/Kerry Long)

At the end of the show-stopping performance, Players presented Save the Children representatives with a check for $3,000.  The donation came from spring productions of “Ages and Stages.”

Staples Players’ “Jesus Christ Superstar” run continues tonight (Friday, July 30, 7:30 p.m.) and tomorrow (Saturday, July 31, 2 and 7:30 p.m.).  Tickets are available online (click here), or at the Staples auditorium 30 minutes before show time.

If you’re on the fence:  Go!  It’s a fantastic show, made special by Players’ usual panache and professionalism.

When Joanne Kahn’s parents took her to the New York City Ballet — she thinks it was “The Nutcracker” — she fell in love with the beauty and grace of dance.

“It was a chance to leave yourself behind, and reach another level of creativity we don’t usually tap into,” she recalls.

Joanne was all of 6 years old.

She started dance lessons soon after.  At New York’s High School of Performing Arts, she received more serious training.  She also studied at the School of American Ballet.

After Cornell University, Joanne helped write a show on the history of American musical theater for a cultural trip sponsored by the State Department.  She moved to Boston, where her husband was in law school, and earned a master’s in education.

Back in New York Joanne taught at Friends Seminary; moved to Paris for her husband’s job; had 2 children, and took more dance classes.

Joanne Kahn works with Clay Singer (Tony) and Michelle Pauker (Maria), in rehearsals for next month's Staples Players production of "West Side Story." (Photo by Kerry Long)

In 1975 the Kahns moved to Westport.  She got involved in the Westport Community Theatre; helped form Stageworks; choreographed for local schools — and in 1988 her son Jason’s friend John Morgan told her Staples Players needed a choreographer.

She introduced herself to director Al Pia, and offered to help.  “In his wonderful way he just said, ‘Welcome aboard!’” she recalls.

Their 1st collaboration was “Anything Goes.”  And — for the next 22 years — Joanne Kahn was Staples Players’ superb choreographer.

She continued after Al retired in 1996.  She worked with Judy Luster for 4 years; since then, she and David Roth have taken Players to even more spectacular dance heights.

Through “Cabaret,” “Runaways,” “A Chorus Line” — where she worked with Broadway dancer and Staples alum Bradley Jones to teach the original “phenomenal” choreography — and through “The Fantasticks,” “Tommy, “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Fiddler on the Roof” and nearly too many others to count — Joanne has turned talented high school actors and singers into tremendous dancers.

It hasn’t been easy — but Joanne has loved every minute of it.

Her role, she says, is “working with the director.  I try to translate the director’s thoughts and vision into movement and staging.”

In 2009 -- at Staples Players' 50th anniversary celebration -- Joanne Kahn danced in "One," the classic number from "A Chorus Line." (Photo by Kerry Long)

While most Staples Players are talented actors, and some have wonderful voices, few have dance backgrounds.  “I have to understand what they can and can’t do,” she says — while challenging them to do more than they ever have, or thought they could.

“My job is to make them look their best — and shine.”

Now she’s working on a phenomenal dance production — “West Side Story.”  It opens November 11.

When it closes the following weekend though, she won’t start thinking about the next show.  After more than 2 decades as Staples Playears choreographer, Joanne Kahn is hanging up her dance shoes.

Her husband retired.  They’ve been spending half the year in Sarasota.  Now they’ve sold their house here, so Joanne’s long Westport connection has ended.

She has “loved and cherished” her job.  “It’s been a privilege and a pleasure to have worked with Al, Judy and David,” Joanne says.  “They’ve sustained me, and enriched my life.”

The actors have also inspired her.  Staples Players is “a very dedicated group who understand theater can be ‘serious fun,’” she notes.

“That’s rare.  At other high schools kids enjoy putting on shows.  But they don’t regard it on a ‘professional level.’  Players is not just an after-school activity.  The kids love what they do, and they’re phenomenally dedicated.  That rubs off on all the rest of them on the ‘team.’”

Joanne Kahn confers with dance captain Alexa Babbin, and actors Max Stampa-Brown and Chris Nicoletti during rehearsals for the 2008 show, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." (Photo by Kerry Long)

Joanne loves working with high school students.  “They’re adults,” she says.  “You can talk to them.  They understand your sense of humor — and the nuances you seek in choreography.  They really get it.”

Leaving now, she admits, is “bittersweet.  The level of excellence is phenomenal.”

But if a choreographer is going to take a final bow, “West Side Story” is the place to do it.

“It’s a magnificent dance show,” she says.  “You don’t get much better than Jerome Robbins.  And I love the story and the music.

“The cast is incredible,” Joanne adds.  “The dance captains are magnificent.  The kids have learned the original choreography.

“This show is so moving to me.  The message is universal:  How do we resolve our differences and get along?  Getting that message across through dance and song is so important.”

And what is so important to Staples Players is that — for 22 years — Joanne Kahn has helped high school actors become confident, compelling dancers.  For over 2 decades, she’s helped thousands of teenagers deliver countless important messages.

Take that final bow, Joanne.   You deserve one more turn in the spotlight.

(“West Side Story” will be presented November 11, 12, 17, 18 and 19 at 7:30 p.m., and November 13 at 2 p.m.  For more information, click here.)

For Broadway music, you can go to Broadway.

Or Broadway can come to you.

This Sunday (February 12, 4 p.m., Staples High School), the Broadway Boys — “the hottest male voices currently working on the New York stage” — return to Westport.

And by “return,” I mean that literally.

Musical director and keyboardist Justin Paul, bassist Dan Asher and drummer Drew McKeon are Staples grads. Guitarist Jeremy Goldsmith grew up in Weston.

The quartet drives the Boys’ show, combining scintillating harmonies with pop, funk, gospel, jazz, folk, pop R&B, Latin — and of course show tunes.

An added attraction: over a dozen Staples Players — some of them destined for Broadway themselves — will join the Broadway Boys onstage for a pop/gospel song written by Justin Paul and his musical partner, Benj Pasek.

It’s a fitting combination. Justin is a former Staples Player, while Dan and Drew played in the pit for many productions.

The group’s goal is to spread “wonderful music from the Broadway repertoire — both classic and contemporary — across the country,” Justin says.

They also hope to get younger generations excited about Broadway. The show is a fundraiser for Staples Players and the Northeast Childrens Theatre Company, a new non-profit founded by Justin’s brother Tyler Paul. Both organizations are filled with youngsters who love Broadway, and its music.

“We love reaching young people,” Justin says. “That’s why it’s so exciting to come back to Staples. It’s even more exciting to actually perform with these amazing, dynamic and talented high school performers.”

Justin Paul

The Broadway Boys perform all over the country. But, Justin says — without too much bias — “I truly believe Staples is a unique place. The tradition of producing wonderfully trained, absurdly talented and highly skilled musical theater performers is incredible.

“I always feel rejuvenated when I work with high school students. I get a new love and respect for this art form from them. They’re not jaded, bitter or ‘over it.’ Their excitement and wonder about the theater is contagious.

“Getting up on stage — my old stage — with them and making music together is what collaboration, joy and theater is all about.”

The Broadway Boys earn raves wherever they perform. On Sunday, the performance is right here in our — and their — backyard.

(Click here for ticket information. Among the Staples Players scheduled to appear: Gregg Bonti, Allie Daut, Charlie Greenwald, Danielle Honigstein, Tyler Jent, August Laska, Grace McDonald-Seidner, Liam Orly, Alexandra Rappaport, Sami Schwaeber, Ryan Shea, Clay Singer, Michael Sixsmith and Jamie Yarmoff.)

David Roth is a Stephen Sondheim aficionado.

In the spring of 2002 Roth was in his 2nd year as director of Staples Players. In the aftermath of 9/11 — with Americans still shell-shocked and saddened — he replaced his original spring production choice with “Into the Woods.”

The Sondheim musical weaves together several popular fairy tales. It’s funny and uplifting. A major theme — how people from different walks of life band together in the face of crisis — fit well with the country’s post-9/11 mood. It won the prestigious Moss Hart Award — one criteria of which is “social relevance.”

Ten years later, Staples Players are again producing “Into the Woods.” This time, though, 9/11 has faded from most Americans’ memories.

And something else has changed: Two years ago, Lucy Roth was born.

Amanda Horowitz (Little Red Riding Hood) and Clay Singer (Jack, of beanstalk fame), in the 2012 Staples Players production of "Into the Woods." (Photo/Kerry Long)

Being a father — and working with co-director Kerry Long, who plays dual roles as his wife and Lucy’s mother — has caused Roth to examine “Into the Woods” with fresh eyes.

“I realize now there’s another theme: the legacy parents leave for their kids,” he says.

“After Lucy was born, Kerry and I see how our actions are reflected in her.”

Songs like “Children Will Listen” have influenced the couple’s direction of the current production, Roth says.

A tale of 2 princes: Cinderella's (Charlie Greenwald, left) and Rapunzel's (Tyler Jent). (Photo/Kerry Long)

In fairy tales, Roth now realizes, “there are almost no fathers.” Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, Cinderella — all referenced in “Into the Woods” — have forced the director to think deeply about fatherhood.

In the show’s “new” fairy tale, a baker and his wife try to begin a family. They finally succeed –  but the wife dies, and the baker must bring up the child alone.

“We’re focusing on those things more,” Roth notes. “Last time we concentrated more on the havoc the giant was inflicting on people, and how they overcame it.”

Roth and Long have used their insights as parents to help their teenage actors understand the dreams their parents have for them. “We share some of our own personal experiences,” he says. “We describe our discoveries as parents, and how we’re learning about life through Lucy.”

Joanna Gleason — who won a Tony Award for her portrayal of the baker’s wife — spent time with the Staples cast. She too discussed how the show resonates with her as a parent. (Then she went into the studio, to tape some audio. She will be heard on the Staples stage, as the voice of the giant.)

David Roth and Kerry Long have taken their young — but very talented — Staples actors on a long journey “Into the Woods.” This weekend and next, audiences will marvel at how far they’ve all come.

(“Into the Woods” is performed at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and  Sunday, March 16, 17, 23 and 24, and 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 18. Click here to order tickets; click here for more information.)

Westporters know David Marshall Grant from his starring roles with Staples Players back in the early 1970s.

Television viewers remember him for his groundbreaking role as Russell Weller in “thirtysomething.” Broadway fans recall his Tony Award-nominated performance in “Angels in America.” Moviegoers have seen him in “The Devil Wears Prada.”

Now David Marshall Grant is hard at work on “Smash.”

David Marshall Grant

NBC’s new drama premiered last month to enormous fanfare. It’s a pull-out-all-stops innovation: a prime time soap opera about the backstage drama involved in the creation of a big Broadway musical.

NBC is betting the house on “Smash.” And Grant — as executive producer/writer — is one of the reasons the network thinks “Smash” will be a smash.

(Other reasons: executive producer Steven Spielberg, actress Anjelica Huston, plus original music and Josh Bergasse’s choreography. Joining the ensemble cast soon: Uma Thurman and Bernadette Peters.)

Grant knows its tough finding an audience for a TV show about a Broadway musical. But, he told the TV website The Futon Critic, “A lot of the key audience in America loves Broadway musicals, and I think the Broadway community is very central part of America’s cultural identity. I think that a Broadway musical is a cultural icon, so I was always optimistic that a show that has great music…would attract an audience.”

The characters form intricate relationships. Plot points are clever — and of course, there is plenty of music and dancing.

“Every number is intoxicating,” Grant told the Hartford Courant. “I defy America not to like that music and want to download it the next day.” (The show is plugged into iTunes, which helps a lot.)

It’s a bit more complex than “Brothers & Sisters” — the ABC series Grant worked on as screenwriter, story editor and head showrunner.”

“Smash” even has a nod to “the great old days” of music and choreography, Grant told the Courant — “even extending to the way it’s filmed. There’s a nod to the great heyday of the MGM musicals. It’s more romantic.”

David Marshall Grant in "Rotten Tomatoes."

Growing up in Westport, Grant was not one of those go-to-Broadway-every-weekend theater geeks. But Staples gave him a great introduction to theater. He honed his skills at the Yale School of Drama, then embarked on a long career on stage and screen (plus TV). He’s had roles in “Bent,” “The Stepford Wives,” “CSI: Miami” and “Law & Order.”

He’s also a playwright (“Snakebit” and “Pen”).

But right now — nearly 40 years after first starring at Staples — David Marshall Grant is still enchanted by theater, in all its forms.

Just because a Broadway musical hasn’t been the subject of a TV series before doesn’t mean that it can’t be, well, a smash.

“If people see the right musical done the right way, they’re going to respond,” he told the Courant. “I really have high hopes for a public appreciation of this art form.”

On her 1st day of school 4 years ago, Gwen Beal auditioned for Staples Players’ fall show, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”

She didn’t get a role.

But instead of marking the end of her Players career, it was the beginning.

Assistant director Caley Baretta asked Gwen to sit in on a rehearsal. Though intimidated — Caley was a well-known junior — Gwen said “sure.”

She was hooked.

She interned with Caley for the spring production of “Twelve Angry Men.” She continued to work with — and learn from — Caley as a sophomore.

As a junior, Gwen was on her own.

Gwen Beal, working hard on the set of “Almost, Maine.”

Now — less than a month from graduation — she’s reached the end of a very enjoyable and creative 4-year Staples Players career. “Almost, Maine” — a serio-comic collection of whimsical tales about the joys and perils of romance in a small Maine town — is set for this Thursday, Friday and Saturday (May 24, 25 and 26) in the Black Box Theatre.

It’s a clever, intriguing play — one of those you-may-not-know-it-but-you’ll love-it shows. It’s also a fitting capstone for Gwen’s career.

“To think that I saw maybe 2 Players productions before I got here. And now it’s become the biggest part of my life,” she marvels.

Actors get all the props applause, but a role like Gwen’s is crucial to any play’s success.

“It’s so rewarding to watch a scene grow,” she says. “We shape it the way we want. It really is ours. Mr. Roth (David, the director) oversees things, but in a lot of ways we’re really on our own.”

Michelle Pauker and Bryan Gannon, two of the stars in “Almost, Maine.” (Photo/Kerry Long)

From casting suggestions to helping block and run scenes — plus nitty-gritty but very necessary work like handling dinner — an assistant director can make or break a show.

Gwen learned her role by “stalking Caley. I saw everything she did. There’s no textbook to read. Everything is trial and error.”

Once, Gwen forget an important binder. She got yelled at — and never made the same mistake again.

She’s excited about “Almost, Maine” because the cast and staging are so intimate. “Everyone has a story to tell, but the scenes are short. You don’t have much time to get the whole character across.”

Everett Sussman (left) and Clay Singer discuss the world in “Almost, Maine.” (Photo/Kerry Long)

It’s not easy for a high school actor to play an adult going through a divorce. “That’s so beyond our experience,” Gwen says. “But it’s so rewarding to figure out how to do it, and do it right.”

Some days are blissful. Others are freak-outs. Yet, Gwen notes, “when you figure everything out, there’s no feeling like it.”

Right now, she feels “bittersweet. I’m totally in denial that on Saturday, I’ll be all done with Players. This experience has really shaped me as a person. I’ve learned to talk to adults, technicians, older Players and peers. I’ve learned so much about people.

“My entire high school experience would have been different without Players.”

And all because an older student asked casually, can you give me a hand?

Staples Players — the award-winning high school theater troupe — teaches teenagers how to act, sing, dance, direct, run lights, and do a thousand other putting-on-a-show-related things.

Including how to raise funds and publicize events.

Once they graduate, many Players alums move on to bigger stages: college, regional theater, even Broadway itself.

But they don’t leave Westport behind. Sometimes they get a chance to return home, show off what they’ve done.

And yes, raise funds for their next project.

Gina Rattan

This Friday (June 29, 8 p.m.) Gina Rattan and Caley Beretta present a fund-raising concert at Toquet Hall. Proceeds benefit the world premiere of “Sweet Tooth,” a 1-act play opening at the New York International Fringe Festival in August. (It’s about 2 very smart high school seniors about to become step-siblings.)

Gina — a former Players president — directs “Sweet Tooth.” She’s been resident director of Broadway’s “Billy Elliot.”

As if she doesn’t have enough to do, Gina is directing another world premiere this summer. The musical “How Deep is the Ocean” is presented by the New York Musical Theatre Festival. It opens July 12.

This Friday’s fundraiser features current and past Staples Players, singing Broadway and pop standards. Performers include Sally Eidman, Haley Bond, Max Stampa-Brown and Eva Hendricks. Broadway’s Liz Pearce (“Billy Elliot”) will also appear, and a raffle with be held for an actor coaching session with Gina.

“The Staples Players community has been a constant source of artistic inspiration for me for years,” Gina says.

“After a year on a Broadway musical, I’m using the leadership skills and artistic direction I first learned at Staples to produce and direct “Sweet Tooth.

“I’m so excited to be breaking out on my own as a director with a world premiere, but self-producing is daunting. We have to raise all of the money to put on the show.

“I have to raise capital for costumes, scenery, lights, marketing, venue insurance, fire-proofing costumes and scenery — and paying all the artists.

“I’m so excited that current and former Staples Players are coming to their artistic hometown to lend their time and talents to a team of former Players. I couldn’t be more honored and excited for Friday.”

(Tickets for this Friday’s concert are $20 for adults, $15 for students. For more information, email caleyberetta@gmail.com. To donate to “Sweet Tooth” via Kickstarter, click here.)

Lots of people like “Willy Wonka.”

Matt Van Gessel loves “Willy Wonka.”

The 2011 Staples grad — now a rising sophomore at North Carolina School of the Arts — has vast experience playing not-quite-normal characters. (Remember the dentist in “Little Shop of Horrors”?)

This weekend he gets his shot at another. Matt stars as Willy Wonka in Staples Players’ summer production of the same name. The show runs Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m., in the high school auditorium.

Matt Van Gessel (Willy Wonka) and Maddy Rozynek (Violet Beauregarde). (Photo/Kerry Long)

Matt knows a lot about the 1971 movie “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.” He says that Gene Wilder — Willy — saw it as a movie for adults, not kids.

Wilder “seems whimsical and crazy, but viewed from an adult perspective, we see the creepy resentment he has toward kids,” Matt says. “Every time I watch his performance, I find something new and unusual.”

Matt says that Willy feels “very pleased with himself when each kids gets his comeuppance — like when they turn into blueberries and shrink. Justice has been done. It’s a twisted way of teaching kids lessons.”

Matt adds, “Willy Wonka is an instantly recognizable cultural character, like King Kong. Everyone knows who Willy is, but I’m approaching it with an open mind. I’m not copying Gene Wilder. I’m just using him for inspiration, so I can arrive at my own interpretation.”

Matt has also seen the 2005 movie version, with Johnny Depp.

Using those two actors as inspiration, Matt says, “I think I can bring the arc of a real character.” His Willy is “a bit more accessible as a real human being. He has depth, and soul.”

Matt draws upon the lives of “real life eccentrics,” like Salvador Dali, Howard Hughes and Michael Jackson.

Johnny Shea (Grandpa Joe) and Will Haskell (Charlie) in the “Fizzy Lifting Room.” (Photo/Kerry Long)

Directors David Roth and Kerry Long have enjoyed working with a large ensemble. The show features popular songs like “Candy Man” and “Pure Imagination.” It’s got every trademark of a Staples Players production, including spectacular costumes.

Matt is excited about all that. But — as a self-described Willy Wonka “obsessive” — he always comes back to his character.

“I’ve put a large amount of thought into Willy’s objectives, and ulterior motives,” the lead actor explains.

“Some of those ideas I haven’t told to anyone, including Mr. Roth. I like being able to keep Willy Wonka’s secrets. It adds an air of mystery to everything.”

(Click here for ticket information on “Willy Wonka.”)

On Broadway, there’s a venerable tradition that “the show must go on.”

At Staples — where Players productions have long been compared to Broadway shows — the same tradition holds true.

Which is why — almost miraculously — “Oklahoma!” opens this Friday night.

Right on schedule.

Curly (Clay Singer) and Aunt Eller (Claire Smith) sing the classic “Oh What a Beautiful Morning.” (Photo by Kerry Long)

The decision to open as planned came after co-directors David Roth and Kerry Long decided the musical was in  good enough shape to really push things this week — the home stretch.

Rescheduling was not an option. The weekend after the show closes is Thanksgiving. The weekend after that, the auditorium is occupied by “The Nutcracker.”

With dire warnings about Sandy in the air, the directors talked to the cast about preparedness. Actors were told to bring their scripts home, and spend free time going over lines, staging and choreography.

Yet no one anticipated an entire week off from school.

The teenagers rose to the occasion. They organized their own, completely student-run rehearsals — including a full run-through at the Conservative Synagogue (which, perhaps by divine intervention, had power) — under the leadership of Players president Adam Mirkine.

Will Parker (Everett Sussman) and the ensemble, during “Kansas City.” (Photo by Kerry Long)

As soon as power returned to Staples, administrators let Players back in to set light cues and start returning to normal.

As a result, cast and crew has made up lost time. Yesterday they were right about where they usually are, entering the final stretch: “Hell Week.”

Players shows are great community events. Audience members span all ages. Many have come for years. The scene in the lobby before the curtain rises is  almost party-like.

After the craziness of Hurricane Sandy, Roth and Long wanted Westporters to get back to some semblance of normalcy, with a dynamic, entertaining production. The directors were glad for the hard-working cast, too, that the show could go on.

Thanks to Staples Players, it will.

And, because it’s Staples Players, “Oklahoma!” will be doing fine. Far more than “okay.”

(Of course, ticket sales were hurt by the extended power outage — it’s hard to buy them online without power. But if you’re reading this, you can click here for tickets. They’re also on sale at the box office before the show.)

When Adam Kaplan was 6 years old, his parents took him to see Staples Players‘ production of “West Side Story.”

The high school troupe is often praised for its “Broadway-quality” work. As a toddler, Adam didn’t know it from Broadway.

But he was inspired by the acting, singing and dancing. A decade later at Staples, he earned high marks for his own roles in shows like “Romeo and Juliet,” “Children of Eden” and “Diary of Anne Frank.”

Adam Kaplan

After graduating from Elon University as a music theater major last spring, Adam embarked on an endless round of New York auditions.

Next Tuesday — less than a year out of college — Adam makes his Broadway debut. He’s both Morris Delancey and a newsboy — and the understudy for Jack Kelly, the lead — in “Newsies.”

Before Elon, Adam had not danced much. But in musical theater, he learned how to dance. He also took classical voice courses, plus contemporary and pop music.

Thanks to Elon’s emphasis on building contacts and relationships, Adam spent 2 summers with the Flat Rock Playhouse, a professional equity theater in North Carolina. The 1st year he had ensemble roles; the next, he had a lead in the vocally demanding, dance-heavy “Hairspray.”

Last summer, Adam got his Equity card at the prestigious Music Theatre of Wichita. Doing 5 shows in 10 weeks, working alongside “unbelievable people,” hearing great stories and keeping his eyes wide open, Adam grew tremendously.

This fall in New York, he auditioned up to 4 times a day.

“I told myself I wouldn’t pass up any opportunity to be seen by anyone,” Adam says.

He also took classes with casting directors. “There’s always more to learn,”Adam notes. “Theater is constantly evolving and changing.”

In September, he saw “Newsies.” The musical — about early 20th century newsboys — captivated him. He loved Jack — the tour de force lead, with powerful songs — and admired the ensemble, filled with “ridiculously talented boys who’ve been dancing since they were 2.”

One recent Friday, Adam went to a chorus call for the show. Called back for an appointment 4 days later, he sang Jack’s big number, “Santa Fe.” The room was filled with the director and Disney producers. They were looking for an understudy for Jack.

The next day, Adam returned. This time he was asked to tap dance to another show-stopper.

Each step of the process, he fell more in love with the show.

His final callback was that Thursday. It won him the job.

He calls his dual roles — the authority figure Morris, and a rabble-rousing newsboy — “the best of both worlds.”

Being Jack’s understudy is icing on the cake.

The “Newsies” cast. Adam Kaplan joins them next Tuesday.

Adam has been watching shows, taking notes, then learning his roles during intense rehearsals. The cast has embraced him.

So has the show’s rabid fan base. Even before the official announcement, Twitter and Tumblr were filled with posts about Adam.

Next Tuesday (February 19) at 7:30 p.m., as the Nederlander Theatre curtain rises, Adam Kaplan makes his Broadway debut.

He’ll be nervous, he admits. But he’s sure the adrenaline will kick in too.

“I know it will be emotional,” he says. “This is something I’ve wanted for so long. I still haven’t processed it all.”

He’ll be buoyed by the support of family and friends.

“I grew up just an hour away,” Adam notes. “It’s so great, having everyone so near.”

His road to Broadway began 16 years ago in the Staples auditorium, watching “West Side Story.” It wound through Players, on to North Carolina and Wichita.

But Adam Kaplan is definitely not in Kansas anymore.

For over 50 years, Staples Players has served as a pre-professional launching pad. Hundreds of alums have gone on to rewarding, highly regarded — and sometimes even lucrative — careers in acting, directing, dancing, lighting and set design.

Now, add costuming to the list.

As a child growing up in Westport, Ben Zawacki was inspired by Broadway shows, Lincoln Center ballets, and of course Players productions.

He did not want to act. He played in the pit orchestra as a freshman, but the next year discovered the costume crew.

Ben Zawacki, hard at work.

Dee Alexander — who designed costumes for all of director David Roth’s shows — took Ben under her wing. Working on Players shows — as well as her New Canaan High productions — Ben learned the craft quickly, and well.

The summer before senior year, he did an 8-week program at Carnegie Mellon. He studied scene and lighting design, painting,  carpentry, and costume technology.

That last course opened up a new world. Costume technology became Ben’s major at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He learned everything from basic sewing skills to pattern making, advanced draping and tailoring.

From his first moment there, Ben wanted to become a professional draper in a costume shop.

A draper takes a costume designer’s rendering, and brings it to a wearable form. He creates all the patterns, and does all the costume fitting — while managing the team that cuts and stitches the fabric. They’re always on deadline.

Over 5 summers at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Ben worked his way up from intern to head draper. Now he’s assistant draper at Tricorne LLC, building costumes for Broadway, TV, film, opera and dance.

These bias cut dresses for “Ten Cents a Dance” at the Williamstown Theatre Festival were made of very fine fabrics — and they had to be completed in a tight time frame. It was one of Ben Zawacki’s toughest assignments.

“I love the magic of watching a designer’s sketch become a 3-D work of art that can withstand 8 shows a week,” Ben says.

A good draper needs a good sense of math — and a good sense of the human form.

“I went to school with self-taught sewing skills, and only able to read a commercial pattern,” Ben explains.

“Now I can hard-tailor a man’s coat, make bias cut and period gowns, all while creating my own patterns.” He is detail-oriented — not just about what the audience sees, but how a garment is finished on the inside. “We don’t take any shortcuts,” Ben says.

He certainly has not taken any shortcuts in his career — though he’s made a big impression, in a brief time.

And he makes it look sew easy.

Staples Players strives to offer audiences Broadway-quality productions.

To do that, director David Roth gives his actors Broadway-quality experiences.

Two years ago, before “Curtains,” Tony Award-winner Rupert Holmes told the cast how he wrote the play.

Last year, for “Into the Woods,” Tony winner Joanna Gleason described her role in that Stephen Sondheim show.

Last week — with rehearsals for “A Chorus Line” kicking into high gear — Roth welcomed Baayork Lee to the stage.

Talk about one singular sensation!

Baayork Lee, hard at work with the Staples Players. (Photo by Kerry Long)

Lee first danced professionally at age 5, in Yul Brynner’s “The King and I.” She gained fame in “Flower Drum Song,” “Golden Boy” and “Promises, Promises.”

But “A Chorus Line” was — and still is — her true love. She was assistant choreographer to Michael Bennett; he based the character of Connie Wong on her, after she participated in the development workshops.

Lee danced in the original Broadway company — where she met Bradley Jones, the 1975 Staples grad who co-choreographs Players’ current spectacular production. She also toured with it, in Europe and South America.

In the high school auditorium last week, she sat with the cast and crew to talk about the show that remains so dear to her heart.

Baayork Lee (center), surrounded by appreciative and enthralled Staples Players. Bradley Jones kneels in front, next to her. (Photo by Kerry Long)

“I care deeply about passing along the ‘Chorus Line’ tradition, with integrity, passion and care,” she told 100 or so high school students

“You are a very special group. This show changed the face of theater. Now you too will be able to pass on Michael Bennett’s legacy, to a new generation that watches you perform.”

Lee told the teenagers about the New York of the 1970s — the cradle from which “Chorus Line” grew. She described the 2 taping sessions Bennett held, gathering tales of 52 prospective dancers.

She talked about disco dancing every night, then coming back with new steps to incorporate into the show.

It took a lot of hard work — but “A Chorus Line” made history.

If your browser does not link directly to the YouTube video below, click here.)

Before dancing with the cast on stage — and giving them Broadway-and-Bennett-style critiques — Lee told the enthralled teenagers:

“When you’re a pioneer, you don’t know you’re blazing a trail. At the time, we did not realize the difference we made in theater.

“Appreciate everything you do,” Lee concluded. “Appreciate the moment you are in. You never know when it will end.”

For Staples Players, the moment begins March 15. It ends March 23.

But thanks to people like Baayork Lee and Bradley Jones, they’ll carry “A Chorus Line” with them the rest of their lives.

Their audiences will, too.

(“A Chorus Line” shows are Friday and Saturday, March 15, 16, 22 and 23, at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, March 17 at 3 p.m., and Thursday, March 21 at 7 p.m. Click here for tickets and more information.)

Staples Players has a 55-year tradition of wowing audiences with professional-style productions.

But it was Players’ turn to be stunned tonight.

At the end of the final performance of “A Chorus Line” — after thunderous applause for the cast, crew, pit orchestra, choreographers and directors — Marvin Hamlisch’s widow came on stage.

She saw the matinee earlier today, then stayed for the 2nd show. She praised everyone profusely, then mentioned that her late husband — who wrote the music to the show — will be honored on his birthday this June with a gala performance in New York.

Dozens of Broadway stars will be there — and now, thanks to her invitation, so will Staples Players.

You can’t ask for a more dramatic finish — or a more well-deserved encore — than that.

The “Chorus Line” cast. (Photo by Kerry Long)