With school back in session, Broadway.com has scoured YouTube for its Top 5 high school musical performances.

Among the “A+” shows is Staples Players’ 2011 production of “West Side Story.”

The website says:

In a high school musical, finding a bunch of guys willing to even try on a pair of jazz shoes is a rarity. But bafflingly, Staples High School in Westport, CT has assembled a whole team of hoofing high school dudes who pirouette and leap around the stage with ease. Wow, check out those Shark high-kicks!

Very cool — except for the “bafflingly” part.

At Staples, “hoofing high school dudes” are everywhere.

Lia Ices just got a nice shout-out from Entertainment Weekly.

On her 3rd album — called “Ices” — the singer-songwriter “still sounds like that art-school girl you had a crush on,” EW wrote.

“But her songs have gotten fuller and lusher. [The album's] warm wash of ethereal vocals and electronics belies its chilly title.”

Lia Ices

Lia Ices is the stage name of Leah Kessel. She’s a former Staples Player who acted in “Runaways” and “Heidi Chronicles,” before leaving for private school and NYU (where she earned a degree in experimental theater in 2007).

Her influences include Iggy Azalea, the Cocteau Twins and — this will resonate with older “06880” readers — Steely Dan.

According to Elle magazine, she splits time between the Hudson Valley (where she records) and Sonoma, California (where she lives with her winemaker boyfriend).

“I can be super reclusive and hermetic, and then I can be in California and host dinner parties and drink wine,” she says.

The track below — “Higher” — is “a chirpy schoolyard melody spliced with a killer guitar riff,” Elle says. It’s her 1st radio single.

Let’s hope “Ices” turns hot as hell.

Fifty years ago, Hello, Dolly! debuted on Broadway. It danced and sang its memorable way to become — for a while — the longest-running show in history.

In 1985, Al Pia directed Dolly! with Staples Players. David Roth — who as an 8th grader in Illinois played Cornelius — reprised it in 2002, his 3rd year as Players director.

Now, the show is back. Hello, Dolly! opens on the Staples High School stage next Friday (November 14). It runs that weekend and next.

A small part of the large cast sings “It Takes a Woman.” (Photo/Kerry Long)

Like many Players productions, this one melds elements of old and new. Dorian Kail — Dolly in 1985 — will sit proudly in the auditorium. Her son, Jacob Leaf, plays Rudolph this time around.

The cast and crew learned a lot about the Broadway versions from 2 fantastic sources. Sondra Lee (who originated the role of Minnie Fay) and Lee Roy Reams (Cornelius in the 1st Broadway revival, and the director of subsequent revivals) — both visited the set last month.

“We wanted to go back to a classic, and do something accessible to families,” Roth says of his selection.

“I love the comedy. This show is truly a farce — one of my favorite types of show to direct. “

Roth — who grew up listening to the soundtrack — loves the music, the script, even the pacing.

He, co-director Kerry Long, set designer Peter DiFranco and costume designers Marjorie Watt and Priscilla Stampa, have pulled out all the stops.

Costumes and sets complement Jack Bowman, Claire Smith and Jack Baylis as they sing “Dancing.” (Photo/Kerry Long)

“The sets and costumes are really outstanding,” Roth says. “Every scene is beautiful. This is a candy-colored storybook — a fantasy version of a time gone by.”

The director also appreciates the choreography — which is dazzlingly complex.

In 2002, Roth did not have enough male dancers. So a number of girls dressed as male waiters.

This year, they’re all guys.

It’s so nice to have them back where they belong.

(“Hello, Dolly!” is performed on Friday and Saturday, November 14, 15, 21 and 22 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, November 16 at 3 p.m. An extra matinee has been added for Saturday, November 22 at 3 p.m. For tickets — including the pre-show gala on opening night — click www.StaplesPlayers.com.) 

High school theater — at least in Fairfield County — is a special art form. It’s entertaining, provocative, and exceptionally high quality.

This weekend, local audiences can enjoy 2 very different shows. Both are well worth going far out of your way to see.

Staples Players presents “Hello, Dolly!” Directors David Roth and Kerry Long have pulled out all the stops. The classic farce — featuring memorable music and great choreography — promises to continue Players’ long tradition of Broadway-worthy productions.

Meanwhile, Weston High School’s Company presents “The Laramie Project.” The fascinating play draws on hundreds of interviews, conducted in Wyoming in the aftermath of the kidnapping and murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard.

Cast in some of their many ensemble “Laramie” roles are (from left) Jack Seigenthaler, Kevin MacWilliams, Sam Rosenthal and Preston Troxell. (Photo/Peter Friedman)

Twenty-six students play the parts of 68 Laramie residents, in this complex, well-crafted and many-faceted exploration of life and death in a Western town.

Director Kevin Slater is familiar to many Westporters, for his work with drama troupes in schools here. Cast member Jack Seigenthaler is also well known, for his portrayal of Conrad in Staples Players’ 2013 summer production of “Bye Bye Birdie.”

“The Laramie Project” is presented this Friday and Saturday, November 14 and 15. The Sunday, November 16 matinee will be followed by an on-stage talk-back with Andy Paris. A member of the original cast, he’s Skyped with cast members — providing powerful insights into what is already a stunning show.

(“Hello, Dolly!” is performed on Friday and Saturday, November 14, 15, 21 and 22 at 7:30 p.m., with 3 p.m. matinees on Sunday, November 16 and Saturday, November 22. For tickets — including the pre-show gala on opening night — click www.StaplesPlayers.com.

“The Laramie Project” is performed on Friday and Saturday, November 14 and 15 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, November 16 at 3 p.m.  For tickets, click whscompany.com.)

Stephen Sondheim is notorious for writing difficult musical theater. And “Sweeney Todd” is considered to be his best — and perhaps musically toughest — work.

Which is exactly why the show has been chosen by directors David Roth and Kerry Long for this spring’s Staples Players mainstage production.

The curtain rises next Friday (March 13) on a unique version of the 1979 Tony Award-winning thriller. Set not in 1849, but 200 years later — 2049 — Staples’ “Sweeney” envisions a post-apocalyptic world. The undefined-but-class-war-type disaster unfolded in 2015 — this year — when both Sweeney Todd and Nellie Lovett were 17. That’s the age, of course, of the stars of the show.

Those stars have embraced what Roth and Long are asking them to do.

“Musically, this is the most challenging production since I’ve been here,” says Roth, a 1984 Staples graduate who directed his first Players show in 2000.

“The harmonies, rhythms and lyrics are all very tough,” Roth says. “That’s why actors love it.”

Sweeney Todd (Everett Sussman) and Mrs. Lovett (Juliet Kimble), in an intense scene. (Photo/Kerry Long)

Before auditions began, Roth compared it to “A Chorus Line.” He told potential cast members that, just as that show demanded above all else the ability to dance, this one revolves around musicality.

And, Roth noted, that does not just mean a good singing voice. Actors also need to handle very complicated music.

“Sondheim says it bothers him when everyone singing a musical theater number has the same thought at the same time,” Roth explains. “So he writes 8 or 9 different thoughts. It’s much closer to reality.”

It’s also a lot to ask of teenagers. But Staples Players are not typical teenagers.

Like Roth and Long, they love Sondheim’s dark humor. They understand his tragic, broad themes. Like the best actors anywhere, they’ve appreciated the chance to find out where all those characters come from.

To prepare for the show, Roth has scheduled more singing rehearsals than usual. Music director Luke Rosenberg — who talked about doing “Sweeney Todd” since arriving at Staples 3 years ago — has worked hard with the directors to make sure the cast understands exactly what they’re singing.

“With Sondheim, music informs the emotion of a scene,” Roth says. “We’re trying to let that happen.”

He’s given the actors plenty of table work — talking about what happened to them in the “apocalypse,” figuring out the events that led them to where they are in 2049.

Technical director Pete DiFranco and professional set designer (and Players alum) Reid Thompson have built a clever brick structure that evokes the world Roth and Long have envision.

Meanwhile, Priscilla Stampa and Marjorie Watt — Players’ longtime costume designers, who are retiring after this main stage production — have created very innovative, post-acopalyptic costumes.

The cast of “Sweeney Todd” gets ready for opening night. (Photo/Kerry Long)

The best theater challenges, provokes and prods its audience. Stephen Sondheim is a masterful creator of the best theater — and Staples Players are wonderful interpreters of it. The 2049 version of “Sweeney Todd” promises to be a show for the ages.

(“Sweeney Todd” will be produced on Friday and Saturday, March 13, 14, 20 and 21, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 15 at 3 p.m., in the Staples High School auditorium. For tickets and more information, click here.)

Staples Players is in the midst of another this-is-like-Broadway run. “Sweeney Todd” wowed audiences last weekend. Tickets may sell out soon for this weekend’s final shows.

Audience members awed by the teenagers’ performances say to themselves, “If only I had enough talent to get on stage…”

Rondi Charleston at 19 — the year she auditioned for “Sweeney Todd.”

One Westporter does more than just think it. She remembers vividly the day 36 years ago when she auditioned for that very show.

In 1979, Rondi Charleston was a 2nd-year student in Juilliard’s drama department. She was called to audition as an ingenue in the original production of “Sweeney Todd” on Broadway.

Charleston sang for the casting director. The next day she was called back to sing for director Hal Prince, in a big, historic theater.

Prince liked what he heard. She was called back again. This time, Stephen Sondheim was there.

Charleston was not nervous. “I was young and naive,” she laughs.

Charleston made it to one of 3 finalists. Eventually the role — Johanna, a classic Sondheim ingenue — went to someone a bit older and more seasoned.

Rondi Charleston and Emma Ruchefsky.

Charleston is enjoying watching the current Staples Johanna — and not just because she almost played it herself.

One of the double-cast roles is Emma Ruchefsky — Charleston’s daughter.

“Life has come full circle,” the former actor says. “I couldn’t be happier or more thrilled that she is getting the chance to put her stamp on this role. I have so much respect for the work that all these kids do!”

Congrats to Emma, and Rondi — a “stage mother” everyone can love.

(Staples Players performs “Sweeney Todd” this Friday and Saturday, March 20 and 21. For tickets and more information, click on StaplesPlayers.com.)

Johanna (Emma Ruchefsky) and Anthony Hope (Jack Baylis). (Photo/Kerry Long)

Two years ago — as a Central High School sophomore — Pedro Da Silva heard an announcement about Open Choice.

“I think I was the only one who listened,” he says, referring to the lottery that brings Bridgeport students to Westport.

Though he was in Central’s magnet school program, Pedro wanted more. “It was a tough environment to learn in,” he explains.

He was accepted. Even before his 1st day as a Staples High School junior, he noticed a difference.

While registering for classes, guidance counselor Deb Slocum  “ran over the entire building, looking for an AP US History textbook for me,” Pedro says. “She went to such a huge extent to help.”

When school began, he noticed a great academic difference. He had to drop a couple of AP and Honors classes. Even so, he struggled to keep up.

“In Contemporary World Issues they were talking about the Ottoman Empire,” Pedro recalls. “I had no idea what that was.”

He wrote down everything that was unfamiliar. At home each night, he researched what he did not know.

The first month was tough. Fortunately, Pedro found his new classmates very friendly. “I thought they might be snobby,” he says. “But everyone was so nice. I noticed the atmosphere immediately. It’s so warm and inviting. Mr. Dodig (the principal) has built such an accepting school.”

Joining Staples Players and Choir helped too. “At Staples you’re not judged for liking the arts,” he says with relief.

Pedro Da Silva, standing proudly at Staples.

Pedro acted in “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” and last year’s One-Act Festival. Next month, he’s directing a One-Act. In the winter he’s on the swim team. He’s vice president of the St. Jude’s Charity Club.

Now — as he prepares to graduate in June — Pedro wants to do one more thing.

He wants to leave a legacy.

Through a college application Facebook group, he met a boy in Kansas. “He lives in an area like Fairfield County, where some communities are much more affluent than others,” Pedro says. His friend created an inter-district student government. Each school sends 2 representatives. They meet monthly, sharing ideas about connecting their schools while breaking down barriers and social stereotypes.

Pedro would love to do the same thing with Westport, Fairfield and Bridgeport.

“Stereotypes are not real,” he notes. “There are really nice people everywhere.”

When Pedro announced he was leaving Central, his Bridgeport friends warned him that Westport kids could be snobs. Staples students have their own ideas about Bridgeport students.

“We’re all just teenagers going through the same issues,” Pedro says. “We should be able to advocate together, and learn from each other.”

Pedro has already made a start. He’s brought Central friends here, to see Players shows. Now, he’s talking to Dodig and the Student Assembly to move his idea forward.

Meanwhile, he’s waiting to hear back from colleges. And he’s gearing up for his senior internship, at the Southwest Regional Mental Health Board in Norwalk.

Pedro will leave Staples with many good friends, wonderful memories, and an important lesson.

“No matter who you are, or what your background is, you can excel,” he says. “At Staples, I’ve been able to set my sights high, and learn how to accomplish as much as I can.”

When Staples Players director David Roth announced the spring Black Box Theater production — “The Laramie Project” — 80% of the actors had no idea who Matthew Shepard was.

But why would they? The oldest were 2 years old when the gay University of Wyoming student was beaten, tied to a fence and left to die in the Laramie night.

Roth and co-director Kerry Long are adept at presenting theater that educates audiences. This time, they’re educating their cast too.

“I don’t think kids in this community have any idea how tough it still is to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans in other parts of the country,” Roth says. “A lot of teenagers here don’t realize how we’ve gotten to this place of acceptance.”

Part of the reason Staples is a high school where students feel comfortable being who they are — whoever they are — is because of John Dodig. The principal has worked hard to create an environment of acceptance and inclusion. He retires this spring after 11 years at Staples — and 47 in education — so Roth and Long are proud to dedicate this year’s “Laramie Project” to him.

Sophia Sherman, Keanan Pucci and Nick Ribolla, ensemble members of “The Laramie Project.” (Photo/Kerry Long)

It’s the 2nd time Roth and Long are directing this show with Players. The 1st production was 8 years ago.

This set design is completely different. So is the use of technology, showing the use of TV cameras as world media descended on Wyoming.

Different too is that “The Laramie Project” now has a companion piece. In 2008 — 10 years after Matthew Shepard’s murder — the Tectonic Theater Project returned to the town. They interviewed many of the same people who contributed to the first play, as well as others — like Matthew’s mother Judy, and his 2 killers. All showed what had — and had not — changed in the intervening decade.

The result was another play: “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later.” It recently become available for licensing. Players will be one of the first companies anywhere to produce that show next year.

Each cast member plays multiple roles in “The Laramie Project.” (Photo/Kerry Long)

Roth and Long are excited about the opportunity to do their 1st-ever cycle. Some of this year’s cast will audition for the same roles a year from now. It’s a challenging way for them to look at their character’s growth — and their own.

The directors savor the chance to work with an ensemble. The cast of 18 covers over 60 roles. Each actor must understand multiple, nuanced characters. The hate crime evoked complex reactions among many Laramie residents.

It’s all part of the educational process that began when this generation of Staples students first heard the name “Matthew Shepard.”

(“The Laramie Project” will be presented in Staples’ Black Box Theater on May 28, 29, 30 and 31. Click here for times, and ticket information [available starting Saturday morning].)

Last weekend, Staples Players tackled some tough topics with their Black Box production of “The Laramie Project.”

This week, they stretch themselves with “Metamorphoses.”

Mary Zimmerman’s play — based on Ovid’s ancient poem — consists of 10 vignettes. Each depicts a different Greek myth, involving love or desire in some form.

It’s heady stuff for the ensemble cast of 15 actors. And they’ve figured it all out on their own. The entire show is student-produced.

Wellington Baumann and Simone Barr, in “Midas.”

Director Evan Klasky has tried to accent the physical and visual aspects of each myth. With a background in dance, he’s added movement to every vignette. It’s not something you ordinarily see — or even think about — with high school students.

But these are no ordinary teenagers.

Assistant director Pedro Da Silva and Klasky have “applied what we learned at Staples to this show,” the director says.

“We were both in the same Myth and Bible Honors class. I think we’ve been able to understand and approach this play in a much deeper manner than if we hadn’t taken the class.”

It’s a stretch, for sure. But what is high school, after all, if not a time for metamorphosis?

(“Metamorphoses” will be presented this Thursday, Friday and Saturday — June 4, 5 and 7 — at 7 p.m., in Toquet Hall. Click here for tickets.)

Countless students discover a passion for theater in Westport.

Many find themselves on stage. Others prefer to work in the wings.

From a young age, Samantha Flint — whose mother was in actor Christopher Lloyd’s class at Staples, and whose grandparents also attended the school — danced. At Bedford Middle School, director David Roth cast her in shows. When he and she moved on to Staples together, she joined Players.

At the end of freshman year she tried stage managing. That’s where she found her true love.

“You’re part of the process at every point, from the first auditions to the closing performance,” she says. “And there’s so much to do.”

Roth challenges every Player, at every level. Flint’s last show at Staples — “City of Angels” — was “incredibly difficult, technically,” she recalls. “When I tell people I did it in high school, they’re floored.”

Samantha Flint, hard at work. (Photo/Matt Pilsner)

She heard about DePaul University — Roth’s alma mater — from the director. There were only 4 students in her year in the stage managing program. “It was like working in regional theater, but getting a degree,” she says.

A good stage manager must have many skills, she explains: organization, communication, flexibility, sensitivity. All contribute to creating a “safe environment, where actors feel they can create art.”

After graduating magna cum laude from college, Flint returned east. She’s served as production assistant, assistant stage manager and production stage manager on Broadway, off Broadway and in regional theaters like Williamstown and Hartford Stage. Her credits include “Venus in Fur” in its Broadway debut, “Camelot” (with director David Lee of “Cheers” and “Frasier” fame), and “Barefoot in the Park.”

She spent 2 summers at Shakespeare in the Park, working with William Shiner and Michael Greif. Flint calls it “an amazing experience. When everyone was on the subway dressed for the office, I was there in shorts and a t-shirt, headed outdoors to make theater.”

At the Adirondack Theater Festival, she helped bring “Avenue Q” and “Next to Normal” to an area that is starved for shows. “They embrace what we do,” Flint says. “A lot of audience members come back more than once.”

Flint does not forget her roots. Recently, she taught 2 master classes in stage management for Weston High School’s Company.

Samantha Flint (right) with Weston Company stage manager Lilly Fisher.

This month, Flint was back in her home town. She was assistant stage manager for the Westport Country Playhouse production of “And A Nightingale Sang.”

It was a homecoming of sorts. At 15 years old, Flint had apprenticed there. The building has changed, but the “lovely people” and thrill of helping produce a show were the same.

On Thursdays, Flint shopped at the Farmers’ Market, and brought fresh food for the cast. “They were amazed — they never knew it was there!” she laughs.

After “Nightingale,” Flint heads to Bucks County Playhouse, for “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”

“That’s the beauty of what I do,” she says. “I never know what’s ahead.”

Though she also never forgets Westport, and what is behind.

“Godspell” is no stranger to Staples High School.

But Players’ 2 previous productions of the parable-based musical were performed as student-directed studio theater pieces.

Next week, “Godspell” spills across the main stage.

Part of “the tribe” of “Godspell.” (Photo/Kerry Long)

Over 50 students — all between ages 14 and 18 — present the vibrant show July 23, 24 and 25.

A cast that big presents challenges, notes director David Roth.

The original production includes only Jesus, Judas and 8 followers. Roth and co-director Kerry Long expanded that core group, then added an ensemble. They listen to Jesus’ words, and join in the celebration.

This production is also special because “Godspell” enjoyed a major Broadway revival in 2012. It featured new vocal arrangements, and script changes with plenty of modern references. There’s rapping, puppets — even a game of Pictionary.

This year’s Staples version includes those additions, along with a song not previously used on stage, “Beautiful City.”

Caroline Didelot and Jack Baylis share a duet. (Photo/Kerry Long)

Roth says he grew up loving the show. Its upbeat message of love and tolerance make it a great summer choice.

“Some of our recent productions, like ‘Cabaret’ and ‘Sweeney Todd,’ were very moving, but also very dark,” Roth adds. “‘Godspell’ is equally poignant, but in a joyous and exuberant way. It’s also a great show for the entire family, regardless of your religious beliefs.”

With opening night near, Players are working hard to make this the best summer production ever — day by day.

(“Godspell” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, July 23, 24 and 25, and 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 25. Tickets are available at www.StaplesPlayers.com, and at the door.)

The other day, Steve Ruchefsky and Rondi Charleston took their daughter Emma to Berklee College of Music. The former Staples Players star is a 1st-year voice/ piano major, with a songwriting and theater minor.

As they sat in a meeting with the president for new parents, Steve noticed a familiar face: film and TV star Christopher Lloyd (“Back to the Future,” “Addams Family,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”). His stepson is studying guitar at Berklee.

Steve and Rondi introduced themselves as more than fans. They knew he’d gone to Staples High School — where, as a student in 1958, he convinced English teacher Craig Matheson to found an acting troupe. The group soon became Staples Players.

They had a lot to talk about. Steve and Rondi were proud to tell Chris that Players has evolved into a first-rate company, with productions rivaling Broadway. He was thrilled.

Perhaps the rest of Westport will see the founding student/Emmy Award winner soon too — back in the audience, watching the group he helped found.

Rondi Charleston and Chris Lloyd.

David Roth always liked “Fiddler on the Roof.” He just didn’t love it.

The longtime Staples Players director chose the show as his acclaimed troupe’s fall mainstage production.

Now he’s fallen in love with it. And — thanks to all that’s happening on the world stage — his high school actors are passionate about it too.

Jacob Leaf as Tevye in “Tradition.” (Photo/Kerry Long)

“I knew ‘Fiddler’ was important because it exposes teenagers to what was happening at that point in history,” Roth says of the musical that opens this Friday.

“But I never expected it to resonate so much with the contemporary world.”

In the months since the show was chosen, the Syrian refugee crisis has exploded. The parallels with “Fiddler’s” story line — families and communities torn apart, then scattered all across the globe — help students connect yesterday and today.

They’re doing more than just talk about it. At the show this weekend and next, Players will raise funds to help female Syrian refugees. Women were chosen in part, Roth says, because “Fiddler” is a story of matchmaking.

“In the beginning, it was hard for kids to relate to that concept,” Roth notes.

Samantha Chachra (Tzeitel) and Remy Laifer (Motel) in “Miracle of Miracles.” (Photo/Kerry Long)

When they studied the role of Chava — the eldest of the 3 daughters, who marries a Christian — he and his actors talked about religious tradition. None of the Staples students could really relate to the distress over intermarriage, epitomized by Tevye’s harsh comment, “You’re dead to me.”

But they did connect that to the current issue of same-sex marriage. Roth’s actors know that even in 2015, people are ostracized for marrying a same-sex partner. “Kids do understand what it means to go against norms and traditions,” the director says.

There’s another reason Roth has grown to love “Fiddler.”

“I’ve realized it’s an almost perfect, musical,” he says. “There’s great storytelling, songs and dance, and a fantastic balance of humor and pathos. That’s why it’s one of the most popular shows of all time.” The 5th Broadway revival opens soon.

But you don’t have to travel that far to see “Fiddler on the Roof.” The Staples curtain rises on Friday.

(“Fiddler on the Roof” runs Friday and  Saturday, November 13, 14, 20 and 21 at 7:30 p.m. Matinees are set for Sunday, November 15 and Saturday, November 21 at 3 p.m. Ticket sales are strong — so to order online now, click here.)

For the past 2 weekends, Staples Players’ production of “Fiddler on the Roof” awed and inspired packed audiences.

The show’s run ended last night. But its magic lives on.

The plight of early 20th century Russian Jews resonated with the teenage cast and crew. They made connections with world events today. At each performance, Players collected money for Save the Children’s Syrian Children’s Relief Fund.

At the end of last night’s final show, Players president Vig Namasivayam announced that audiences had donated $4,750 to the cause.

Staples Players:  Take a bow!

A symbolic check, presented to Save the Children after last night’s performance.

(To add your own donation, click here.)

The Hall family are familiar figures in Westport.

Bill and Mary Ann are longtime music educators. Their daughter Emily sang at Staples, studied opera at the Boston Conservatory, and just released her 1st full-length EP for kids, “Sun in the Morning ‘Til the Moon at Night.”

Daniel Hall

Daniel Hall performed at Staples (Class of 1997), earned a BFA in theater at the University of Michigan, then spent 10 years acting in New York. He guest starred in “Law & Order,” and had a recurring role in “Guiding Light.”

Five years ago, Daniel moved to L.A. He acted in “Graceland,” “Mad Men” and “Newsroom,” and played opposite Jaime Pressly in “I Hate My Teenage Daughter.” He’s got a part in the upcoming Cinemax show “Quarry,” and John Stamos’ “Grandfathered.”

Daniel is very excited about his most recent project. HBO seldom shows short films — but in February they’ll air “First Date, Last Date.”

Consisting of one long shot, the video stars Daniel and Andrea Bordeaux as a couple meeting for the first time in a diner, as an apocalyptic world breaks outside. The film takes them through a unique — and uniquely peaceful — journey.

“Not to be cliched, but all of my life has been based on the nurturing I got in Westport,” Daniel says.

Staples Players director Al Pia had a profound impact.

“I think of him often,” Daniel says. “He taught me about confidence, to find strength in my own voice, and how to be a leading man. Actors often have anxiety. He helped me work through that. He was a great coach and leader. He kept me in the game, and made me hungry.”

Hungry enough to get a role as an HBO actor in a diner, on a first and last date while the world around him falls apart.

(“First Date, Last Date” debuts Wednesday, February 3, 10:50 p.m. EST on HBO Now. Click here for the entire schedule.)

Andrea Bordeaux and Daniel Hall, filming “First Date, Last Date.”

Staples Players are known for producing challenging, Broadway-quality shows with important messages. In just the past few years they’ve staged “Cabaret,” “Sweeney Todd” and “The Laramie Project.”

Their spring show is just as demanding, technically and artistically. But “The Drowsy Chaperone” has almost no message at all.

It’s simply fun, uproariously funny, catchy. And short.

Besides the complex choreography and intricate set, one challenge for David Roth — in his 50th show as Players director — is selling the show to audiences. Though it won several Tonys in 2006, many theater-goers have not heard of “The Drowsy Chaperone.”

That’s a shame.

Aaron Samuels — the “Man in Chair” — is a central character in “The Drowsy Chaperone.” (Photo/Kerry Long)

See, there’s this middle-aged theater-lover. Feeling down, he puts on a record of a favorite musical — and invites the audience to listen too.

The show we hear is a fictional 1920s musical: “The Drowsy Chaperone.” The entire play comes to life in his apartment.

“It’s a real homage — and at the same time, a parody — of ’20s musicals,” Roth says.

“It was a unique time: right before the Depression, and the advent of talking pictures. It was a time of big, splashy musicals — without much plot.”

With Roth and associate director Kerry Long, the cast explored the time period by watching documentaries of the development of musical theater during that decade. They also saw “Singin’ in the Rain.” That classic film takes place in the exact same year as “Drowsy.”

The show — which opens March 11, and runs through March 19 — is the first for Players’ new choreographers, Christopher Hudson Myers and Rachel MacIsaac. The married couple — he just finished a 5-year Broadway stint in “Mamma Mia!”; she was with the show’s national touring company — moved to Westport last year.

Roth says, “We’ve never done tap dancing at this level. It’s really complicated, but they’re doing some amazing things. I’m impressed every time I see it. And the kids really like it.”

In a musical number called “Accident Waiting to Happen,” Robert (Keanan Pucci) rollerskates while blindfolded. to avoid seemg his bride Janet (Caroline Didelot) on their wedding day. Aaron Samuels plays the “Man in Chair.” (Photo/Kerry Long)

Another challenge is the set. Technical director Peter DiFranco and his crew have created an apartment that transforms magically into a Hamptons mansion.

“The Drowsy Chaperone” is the final musical for Players’ seniors. They’ll exit the stage with a great one.

(“The Drowsy Chaperone” will be presented Friday and Saturday, March 11, 12, 18 and 19 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 13 at 3 p.m. For tickets and more information, click here.)

It’s one thing for Staples Players to sell tickets to shows like “A Chorus Line,” “West Side Story” and “Guys and Dolls.”

Everyone knows the high school troupe will knock those familiar shows out of the park.

It’s a lot tougher to try to sell a musical few people have heard of — and with a sleep-inducing title.

Trust me: “The Drowsy Chaperone” will do more than keep you awake.

It’s laugh-out-loud hilarious. It’s superbly entertaining.

And it’s as Broadway-quality as every other Players production you’ve ever loved.

Aaron Samuels (center) breaks theater’s “4th wall.” Playing “Man in Chair,” he also interacts with actors Christian Melhuish and Charlie Zuckerman. (Photo/Kerry Long)

The premise is a bit odd — a “Man in Chair” imagines an entire 1920s musical in his apartment — but trust me: It works.

Without knowing anything about 1920s musicals, you’ll get both the spoof of the genre — and the homage. The cast and crew clearly have fun. They straddle past and present — and their joy is infectious.

“The Drowsy Chaperone” features superb performances from — among others — Aaron Samuels (Man in Chair), and Jacob Leaf (Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof,” this time nailing a Latin lover in a performance that would make Rudolph Valentino swoon).

There’s tap dancing, show-stopping songs, and Players’ signature professional sets, costumes and pit orchestra.

Trix the Aviatrix descends onstage, in a memorable number. (Photo/Kerry Long)

Directors David Roth and Kerry Long have been bombarded with emails from fans who — like me — surprised themselves at how much they loved a play they knew nothing about.

Roth and Long knew when they chose “Drowsy Chaperone” that it would be a tough sell. They took the challenge anyway.

They’re happy to see that — thanks to word of mouth — tickets are going fast for Friday and Saturday’s final performances.

Consider this your wakeup call.

(“The Drowsy Chaperone” will be performed this Friday and Saturday — March 18 and 19 — at 7:30 p.m., at Staples High School. Click here for tickets.)

For the past 2 days, hundreds of Westporters have been inspired by Megan and Grace Phelps-Roper.

In appearances sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League, the young women — granddaughters of Rev. Fred Phelps — have described in raw, harrowing detail how the Westboro Baptist Church known for picketing the funerals of AIDS victims, American soldiers killed in Iraq, and Steve Jobs controlled their minds until they were adults.

And what’s happened since they gathered the courage to leave.

Last night, a packed Westport Country Playhouse audience heard the women talk about the wrath they long believed God held for anyone who did not follow his every commandment. They told of the agony of leaving siblings, parents and grandparents — whom they deeply love — behind forever. And they spoke with wonder of being welcomed into the home of a rabbi who, just a couple of years earlier, they had called a “whore.”

“It’s so comfortable not to have to think for yourself,” Megan said. “But it’s so important when you do.”

Megan Phelps-Roper, after last night’s talk at the Westport Country Playhouse. Her sister Grace is behind her.

This morning, hundreds more Staples High School students gathered in the auditorium. They sat in stunned silence as the women talked — then followed up with respectful questions.

One student wanted to know what the Westboro Church thought of the pope. “They don’t really like him either!” Grace said.

As the women were leaving for their next engagement, someone mentioned “The Laramie Project.” Last year, Staples Players performed the deeply moving play — about a Wyoming town’s reaction to the murder of gay student Matthew Shepard.

A defining moment comes when church members picket his funeral. They scream their signature “God hates fags” refrains, and worse. Laramie residents, in turn, raise angel wings to block the protesters from view.

Megan and Grace said they’ve never seen “The Laramie Project.”

Players director David Roth gave them a DVD of the show.

When these 2 courageous young women watch it, they’ll no doubt take a few more steps on their remarkable journey.

Westporters should feel honored — and inspired — they’ve shared it with us.

(Staples Players present “The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later” on May 19, 20 and 21, in the Black Box theater.)

“Reverend” Fred Phelps, and some of his signs. His granddaughters, Megan and Grace Phelps-Roper, described what it’s like to grow up in that environment — and how conflicted they feel because they still love their family.

Kevin Conroy has had a great career.

After graduating from Staples High School in 1973, he earned a full scholarship to Juilliard’s drama division. He studied under John Houseman, and shared classes with Christopher Reeve.

Conroy toured nationally with “Deathtrap,” appeared on the soap opera “Another World,” played Laertes in the New York Shakespeare Festival, acted on Broadway, and was a regular on “Ohara” and “Tour of Duty.”

But the former Staples Player is best known as Batman.

For over 20 years, Conroy has lent his “deeply charming, yet virile voice” to 9 TV series, 12 animated movies and 7 video games. No other actor has played Batman for so long, or been as closely identified with him.

So who better to weigh in on the great “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” debate than Conroy himself?

Naturally, he takes the side of the superhero many fans call “ordinary.”

Holy non-surprise, Batman!

In fact, Conroy calls Batman “extraordinary.” He explains:

He’s always had to rely on his wits. He’s always had to think his way out of things. He’s had to create devices, create machines, and he thinks on so many different levels….He can create his way out of things. And that’s power.

But don’t just read about it. Listen to Kevin Conroy talk about Batman — using (for once) his own voice.

Great theater is made up of small but important moments.

Staples Players are well known for great theater.

After last week, they now know even more about those “moments.”

As the high school troupe — which is decidedly not your average bunch of teenage kids — prepares to stage “Laramie Project: 10 Years Later,” they spent 4 hours with someone intimately involved with that play, and the equally powerful “Laramie Project” that preceded it (which Players produced last year).

Andy Paris came to Staples on Thursday. He described how his Tectonic Theater Project group traveled to Laramie, Wyoming in the aftermath of gay student Matthew Shepard’s murder; how they structured a drama about the effect of that crime on a small college town, then how they returned a decade later, believing they’d fashion a 15-minute epilogue to their play.

Instead, Paris — an original cast member, who also performed in the HBO “Laramie Project” film — and his colleagues realized they had the makings of an entirely new work.

Paris told the Players actors and stage crew about all that. But he did much more.

“Laramie Project” actor Andy Paris (blue plaid shirt, coffee cup) works with Staples Players. (Photo/Kerry Long)

He focused on “moment work”: the single unit that gives power and meaning to a play. In “Laramie Project,” such moments include scenes at the fence where Shepard was left to die, and the vigil that followed a few days later.

Then — using costumes, lights and other tools of the trade — Paris helped the Staples students devise their own “moments.”

One actor did it by walking in a spiral, while another created a tempo. Clever use of light and a gas mask formed another moment.

Staples Players create a “moment,” with light. (Photo/Kerry Long)

“We could have done it for 8 hours,” Players director David Roth says. “The kids were entranced.”

The workshop helped actors, and lighting director Francis  Fiore, “understand the structure of ‘Laramie’ a lot more,” Roth noted. “It also brought them together as an ensemble, to better understand the creative theatrical process. I think it really opened their minds.”

“The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later” is powerful theater. The political, sociological and theatrical elements of Matthew Shepard’s murder are strong stuff.

But when Staples Players stage the show 2 weeks from now, they’ll do so with added insight, and extra depth.

It will be quite a moment.

(“The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later” will be performed in Staples’ Black Box Theatre on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 19, 20 and 21 [7:30 p.m.], and Sunday, May 22 [3 p.m.]. For more information, click here. For tickets, click here.)