The reader would please go back in time with me for awhile, before we return to this year’s spectacular 35th Annual St. Benedict’s Christmas Program—conducted by Fr. Albert and Russell Marsh, and one of the best ever—which resounded gloriously off every surface of Conlin Auditorium last night, and into the hearts of participants and audience alike….
One afternoon, shortly after Thanksgiving of 1983, my older son, Alec (’89), came home from a seventh-grade day at St. Benedict’s and announced that he was going to sing in a Christmas program at school. ‘Father Al says that we won’t pass Latin if we don’t participate!’ (I had met this Fr. Al a few times, and I was quite sure that he meant what he said.) Later in December, my son brought home a rather wrinkled garnet choir robe and a gray satin stole. I thought that this was a bit much for a little LD musical foray….I ironed the robe and the stole and hung them in the front coat closet ….and forgot about the whole thing.
When the evening of the program arrived, the family trooped down to school, expecting the usual little-kid carols and a few speeches….We sat and waited, fidgeting—especially eleven-year-old Peter (’90). But then the auditorium went suddenly dark and, when the spotlights took the stage, they illuminated in an instant something close to 50 young men on the risers—all in well-ironed Benedict’s choir robes. Standing before them, back to the audience, was a forty-ish man in a black suit, looking to me a bit like the famous conductor Herbert von Karajan; this was none other than the usually-austere monk, Fr. Albert! Fr. Al raised his hands (were those cufflinks glinting in the spotlight?), the pianist and guitarist and drummer took the downbeat-and my breath caught at the first dazzling sounds, “In the beginning, the Word of God came….Let there be light; oh, hear and obey!….” and I did—every precise and powerful sound that came from the throats of those amazing boys, ranging in age from 12 through 18. My own serious and strong-voiced Alec, a usually shy twelve-year old, was singing with all his might, eyes glued upon Fr. Albert and on every motion of his hands—as were the eyes of every kid on those risers.
Then the spotlight hovered upon two older boys to the right of the choir, the ‘readers’ who spoke clearly and impressively-intoning sacred texts, and poems with which I was completely unfamiliar. They were solemn, yet breathtaking. And while the singers sang or the readers read, simultaneously, above the stage, flashed a marvelous slideshow that included the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, the birth, works, death and resurrection of Jesus-in paintings from medieval times to the present-scenes of life at St. Benedict’s and wonderful photos of ‘people’—all races and nationalities-singing, worshipping, smiling and laughing….The music welled: “A voice cries out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his path straight-Alleluja!’” After that, the lilting Jamaican “He Born” and “The Spirit is A-Movin’ all over this land!” Then came the gospel numbers, especially the old Benedict’s ‘theme song’, “We’ve Come This Far By Faith” and “Soon and Very Soon” which roused many audience members to clapping and singing along. In between the grand sound of the choir and the readings, at least a dozen monks holding candles gathered around Fr. Al with his guitar and sang traditional carols, including the beautiful French “O Come Divine Messiah.” And, then, the houselights would come up and the audience would be invited to sing—“O, Come Emmanuel,” “O, Come All Ye Faithful,” and more!
I could not remember when I had been filled with such joy. The spirit was ‘a-movin’ in me that night, and as the last powerful crescendo of “He’s the King of Kings….Let Him be ado-oh-oh-oh-ored!” soared to the ceiling, I was on my feet, applauding, with one family member tugging at my skirt and whispering loudly, “Sit down; you’re making a fool of yourself!” I was! It appeared that I was the only one standing—and I didn’t care! By the next year, my younger son was enthusiastically singing in the Program as well, and, to this day, can play and sing every one of those wonderful songs—now in a 35-year-old baritone voice.
In the twenty-four years that this writer has been attending the St. Benedict’s Christmas Program there have been changes: monks have died, the choir robes are no longer used, the numbers of singers is never as large as it was, and some numbers have disappeared from the repertoire. But there have been positive and happy changes too—and many more than the small ‘losses.’ Last night we heard our wonderful, full-scale pit orchestra accompany the singers—and excellently well, we might add—under the direction of our dedicated and vastly talented instrumental teacher, Peter Holsberg. The instruments balanced the singing perfectly—never obscuring words, always enhancing the sounds of the choir. Russell Marsh, one of Fr. Al’s gospel choir guys, who vowed to come back to Benedict’s and teach music, was at the piano—from which he also conducts some of the numbers. Russell has taken-over much of the choir instruction and has developed the abilities of our regular choir members to a near-professional level. And one could hear the professionalism—in the power of the choir of less than thirty boys, in the clarity and precision of the soloists—most especially seniors Cornelius Boggs and Michael Wray. Both readers were superb, with senior Nick Antunes, a veteran of the Program, outdoing himself in projection and enunciation. The slideshow was expertly coordinated with the rest of the production—and moved the audience with its beautiful religious scenes and joyful photographs.
Today, the Program ‘rocks’ more than it used to—mainly because of additional rousing gospel numbers written by our own Rev. Winstead, who was, sadly, side-lined by illness this year. But Fr. Al and Mr. Marsh got the audience clapping and singing to the older pieces and, often, on its feet. And Mr. Holsberg trumpeted some ‘red-hot-and-blue’ jazz cadenzas into a ‘jumping’ “Soon and Very Soon.” But, for this writer, the old standy-bys are still the best. Last night’s “Spirit Is a Movin” with Michael Wray’s marvelous bass solo at the beginning and the end remains our very favorite offering—with the calypso number “He Born!” running a close second. This year, Fr. Al added a ‘call-and-response’ approach to this one, and the two young singers who led the ‘call’ elicited a great ‘response’ from the audience. The monks now do some beautiful Gregorian chant-and, still, “Venit Divin Messie.” And many more people than this ‘fool’ stand and applaud these days—actually, most of the audience.
And so, from Fr. Albert (who was and is the ‘genius’ behind this unique musical experience)—with his guitar, and a pianist, and a handful of kids in the church in 1973—to the expanded and sophisticated production that all of us heard and saw last night, the St. Benedict’s Annual Christmas Program holds as one of the great spiritual mainstays of this school community. The ancient Greeks had two words for time: chronos, time that moves and changes and ends things—including us; and kairos, time-out-of-time-that mysterious mode in which things that ‘were’ somehow always ‘are’—always. And somehow, then, no matter how many Christmas Programs we attend, there is always present in whatever we see and hear and delight in—in any year including this one—that very first time for us in 1983, when the spotlight shone on the black-clad man with the raised arms—and all those children suddenly sang out across the brightness, “In the beginning, the Word of God came….He born!” Merry Christmas!
First, let Ms. Patricia Flynn and the remarkable actors and crew of Zooman and the Sign receive the highest praise for four days and nights of excellent theatre—free and on the premises here at St. Benedict’s on December 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th. Particular congratulations to the ‘ladies of St. Vincent’s’ who discharged the female roles with expertise, fine dramatic energy and beautifully clear diction. One can only wonder why our entire student body was not required to attend such an excellent and timely production.
Since this writer was, previous to attending the Saturday night production, unaware of the double-casting for most of the major roles, she is able to comment only on one cast—that which included senior Dan Sheehan in the title role and Armand Almeida, Aaron Walker, Santhos Sriradchatha and Tashawn Dashiell in other major parts. She did not see Codey Petit-Frere, the furthest thing from a ‘homeboy’ imaginable, play the street thug and inadvertent child-murderer, Zooman, nor Brandon Perez, a ‘white boy’ from Newark, as an African-American father of a little girl who is killed by the rapacious Zooman and whose teenage son is bent on avenging her death—by way of an illegal handgun, the same kind of weapon used by Zooman. We are assured that these actors and others in the ‘other’ cast gave high-level and moving performances.
But it was sufficient to watch another ‘white boy’, Dan Sheehan, completely immerse himself in the persona of Zooman, child of a drug house, beaten, abused and—we assume—twisted beyond redemption or recall. Sheehan completely drained himself of his ‘white’ persona and took on, not only the vocabulary and inflection, but the body-language and permanent facial expression of Zooman’s social ‘type’. Petit-Frere, despite his dark skin, and because of his Haitian background, also would have had to work at assuming the persona of Zooman. And this leads to what we see as the most ingenious and powerful aspect of the production: Pat Flynn’s intentional ‘trans-social’ and ‘trans-racial’ casting. Ms. Flynn’s remarkable casting choices were what created the powerful irony and stark tragedy of the story.
Such casting—without undercutting the struggle of decent African-Americans trying to live in and deal with the social ravages of an urban ghetto—took the play’s message to a level of universality that would not have been possible with a completely African-American cast. And, since some of the players were, indeed, African-American, the fact that the grief and emotional struggles of the characters were shared by a multi-racial cast forced this observer to re-think the very stereotypes of suffering. Suddenly, we were all victims of Zooman’s irrational and seemingly amoral shooting of a 12-year old girl. One found oneself checking the ‘real’ names of the cast: was the mother black?—no, looked like she was of some Hispanic background by her name. The uncle was Sri Lankan, the other women and the little ‘gun-runner’ African-American—or so it seemed! Some spoke African-American dialect; some did not. What did it matter? A little girl who had been sitting innocently on her front steps was dead.
Thus, the stunning message of Zooman and the Sign —that Zooman is the inevitable product of the violent and frightening world of ghetto drug-culture—carries, at the same time, the opposite message when presented by way of a multi-racial, multi-ethnic cast: Zooman is not inevitable; he is a learned persona. And while people may be living in the ‘zoo’ of the ghetto, they are still human beings—so, ‘zoo-man’.
And, thus, all social ‘identity’ is role-playing. Dan Sheehan and Codey Petit-Frere both had to ‘learn’ Zooman. The white and non-American actors had to ‘learn’ supposedly black roles. And because Zooman and the tragedy he creates are NOT inevitable—even in the worst of neighborhoods as witnessed by the values and attitudes of the bereaved family—the tragedy is that much more devastating. The world of the ghetto is not like the world of the Iliad, utterly controlled by all-too-human Greek gods, where no human action can alter ‘fate’. Rather, the world of Zooman was created by human beings. And Reuben’s ‘sign’ which hangs above the very steps where his daughter died, accusing the neighbors of not coming forward to identify the murderer, bespeaks the freedom of choice that exists in the most violent and seemingly-doomed neighborhoods.
Even Zooman had a choice, and, as so subtly developed in the persona created by Sheehan, even Zooman starts to feel uncomfortable with his ‘role’. He soliloquizes about his own little sister in direct parallel to Armand Almeida’s performance of Victor’s soliloquy over his murdered sibling. And Zooman consistently moralizes about the phonies, creeps and thugs that he sees every day and by whom he has often been victimized—with the passion of a Baptist minister, belying his shockingly offensive language. And just when we expect a brilliant moral transformation of Zooman and some possibility of a change in his persona, he is suddenly shot down by the little girl’s enraged uncle. Would Zooman have created a different persona had he spoken with Victor?—or with the man who shot him?
Today, the actors are all ‘themselves’, here at St. Benedict’s and up the hill at St. Vincent’s Academy. What roles will they play in the futures of their lives? What choices will they make? Thanks to their own talents and to the directorial genius of Patricia Flynn, they now know, more than ever, that ‘all the world’s a stage’, and that no one needs to become ‘Zooman’.
The St. Benedict’s wrestling team won its first dual meet last week before annexing the championship Saturday in the Holiday Duals at Loomis Chaffee in Windsor, Conn.
St. Benedict’s (5-0), which defeated Peddie to open its dual meet season last Wednesday, won it fourth successive title in the Loomis Duals, posting a 4-0 mark in the six-team tournament. The Gray Bees posted a 50-23 verdict over the host school in the championship bout.
Rob Ranalli (112 pounds), Patrick Hunter (125), Naeem Boucher (130), Quodeer Porter (135), Turtogogtokh Luvsandorj (152), Bagna Tovuujav (171), Chris Johnson (189) and Olushola Brown (215) all went 4-0 on the day. Zach Jacobs (119) won his first career varsity match.
“I was pleased with the day’s performance. We were prepared for the tournament and it showed in our results,” St. Benedict’s coach Mike DiPiano Jr. said. “We worked on some things this week during practice and guys went out and tried what the coaching staff was teaching them. It is great to see guys work so hard during training and then use what is taught to them during the match."
The basketball team continued its impressive showing in the early going, cruising to routs over Alta High (Utah), 81-45, and Upperroom Christian (N.Y.), 98-18. Louisville-bound Samardo Samuels led the way in both outings, scoring 26 points against Alta, two-more points than he scored against Upperroom Christian.
Off to a 3-0 start, coach Danny Hurley’s troops, led in the scoring department by Samuels (20.3 points per game), Gregory Echenique (14 ppg.) and Tamir Jackson (11.3 ppg), have a huge task on hand Thursday against Oak Hill, currently the No. 1 ranked team in the nation. The 9 p.m. game from Benton, Ky., will be televised nationally on ESPN.
The Gray Bees’ Prep team won its first basketball game on Sunday, beating Northfield Mt. (Mass.), 70-53. Anell Alexis scored 22 points, Dwan McMillan had 18, while Zach Rosen chipped in with 13 points and six assists.
The swimming team opened up its season last Friday and fell to a tough Pingry team, 116-54 in Martinsville. Pingry won every race, except one where St. Benedict’s freshman, Giovanni Urquilla, claimed the 100-meter freestyle in 1:00.84
The swim team will host its first meet on Jan. 15 against Hunter Central. Coach Glenn Cassidy expects a large turnout from the student body.
The fencing team, led by three-time State Prep champion, Marty Williams, will see its season get underway on Dec. 21 in Ramsey against Don Bosco Prep. The indoor track season will open this Sunday in the Tony Passarelli Relays in West Point, N.Y.
It wasn’t Lincoln Center or Carnegie Hall, but the walls of St. Mary’s Church could be heard reverberating with a musical tone that’s not uncommon with those cultural treasures.
A world-class quintet that have orchestral ties to the internationally renowned Orpheus Chamber and have played in such venues as the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, were welcomed to the St. Benedict’s campus on Friday, Nov. 16.
The group, which included Susan Palma, Seth Baer, Angela Cordell, Robert Ingliss and David Singer—each a member of the faculty at Montclair State University—presented works by Nielson and Barber. The production, which included a Q-&-A by the group with students of St. Benedict’s, lasted almost an hour in the acoustically responsive confines of St. Mary’s.
“Obviously this is truly a world class group,” said Peter Holsberg, Chair of the Fine Arts Department and Director of Music at St. Benedict’s. “To bring them here for a collaboration of this magnitude is just an unbelievable treat for all involved.”
Holsberg’s personal contacts with Singer, who is principal clarinet of Orpheus, led to the offering. The Orpheus is one of the finest orchestras in the world with a uniqueness that is second to none by performing without a conductor.
“I find this is really beneficial to the students of music,” said Holsberg, who puts together these types of performances chiefly for the students here at the school. “For them to hear an instrument played that well and at its highest level is so inspirational.”
Holsberg, an accomplished musician who has played on the world stage himself, including with the Temptations at Super Bowl XXV, was also responsible for a visit last month by Nick Kadajski. Kadajski, a graduate of the renowned Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., presented a master class here at St. Benedict’s.
“Whenever you bring in somebody in, it can only enhance a students desire to learn,” said Holsberg. “But to have people with virtuosic pieces is just awe-inspiring.”
The presentation was held before an audience made up of the 100-plus music students from St. Benedict’s.
“Having something like this here at our school means a great deal to me,” said senior Tashawn Dashiell, who plans on majoring in music in college. “It gives me inspiration to continue what I’m doing. We are lucky here at St. Benedict’s.”
Noreen Connolly, a journalism teacher and adviser for The Benedict News, has developed a publication that was nearly non-existent when she arrived a decade ago into one that has twice garnered a gold medal by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.
Connolly, who came to St. Benedict’s as a part-timer in 1997 before taking over the role as the adviser of The Benedict News a year later, was recognized this past weekend for all of her hard work and determination.
She was lauded as a Special Recognition Adviser in the 2007 National High School Journalism Teacher Awards competition and honored at the Journalism Education Association/National Student Press Association Convention in Philadelphia.
“I’m delighted and happy about this. It makes me feel proud,” said Connolly. “But this isn’t about me. This is for all the students who have given their time and effort to The Benedict News.”
Connolly, a English teacher who doubles as the adviser for The Benedict News, was one of 10 high school teachers nationwide to be recognized by the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund, sponsor of the awards competition.
“The Newspaper Fund believes your efforts toward improving journalism education have been demonstrated by the achievements of your students,” wrote Richard Holden, Executive Director of the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund. “We hope this award will call deserved attention to your work and also will provide support for journalism studies and activities in your school.”
When Connolly arrived on campus, the struggling paper was a mere shell of what it has become this century. It has grown from a one-page Xeroxed piece of paper to a well-organized 16-page publication. She gives her students the opportunity to interact with people who have made journalism a career by inviting newspaper writers as well as layout personnel from different publications into the classroom.
“The highlight of my St. Benedict’s experience was working on The Benedict News,” said Kehinde Togun, a graduate student at Georgetown University, who was the editor-in-chief at the school paper under Connolly. He is currently one of the executive editors of the Georgetown Public Policy Review.
“Largely because Ms. Connolly created an atmosphere where we all felt like real journalists and challenged processes at the school – we learned that it is what good journalists do.”
Connolly is humbled by the award.
“I’m happy that it brings recognition to St. Benedict’s,” she said. “It’s a shot in the arm to keep going.”
Those were just a few of the sentiments expressed by members of the faculty who attended Douglas Goetsch’s perceptive writing workshop presented Thursday in the boardroom at St. Benedict’s.
“It was really incredible,” said Rafael Sanchez, a member of the English Department here at St. Benedict’s. “I was interested in everything he had to say.”
Goetsch, who was a guest of Dr. David Wolf, chairman of the English Department, was on hand discussing his novel approach on teaching, specifically writing--some of which differed from the curriculum at St. Benedict’s.
“I wasn’t expecting anything, but I thought it was a worthwhile idea,” said Dr. Beth Breau, another faculty member who took part in the workshop. “It seems intuitively right. It lets some light in and maybe we can improve on what we are doing here.”
Goetsch, a noted American poet with six published collections, has developed a curriculum in writing that isn’t so much about quantity, but more about quality that allows students to express themselves succinctly.
His essays on teaching have appeared in numerous publications, including The American Scholar and The New York Times. He has also appeared in a number of segments regarding education on national television.
“I’m just another teacher with ideas that offer another perspective,” said Goetsch, who taught for 21 years in the New York City public school system, working with both the gifted as well as students who were challenged academically. “Coming here will hopefully allow me to enlighten them even a little.”
Dr. Wolf was introduced to Goetsch at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival. Their conversation culminated with the workshop that was attended by Sanchez, Dr. Breau, Noreen Connolly, Marc Riley and Lorraine Elias along with a few other staff members who stopped in.
“I’ve seen him speak and had a feeling he would come across utterly practical and engaging,” said Wolf. “My perception merged with the outcome. I’m just glad he offered us some insight to things we can use in our future to better St. Benedict’s.”
Goetsch was impressed with the response and subsequent feedback he received afterwards from those who attended his lecture.
“The group here has a wonderful openness,” observed Goetsch. “It’s nice to come to a private school where the teachers have more power and freedom to remake their standards and enhance the learning experience for the students.”
Brandon Jarrett’s return to the lineup was a welcomed relief for the cross country team, while a pair of reserves, J.P. Rosero and Chris Curley, provided a much-needed spark for the soccer team.
Both scenarios proved pivotal in each team’s respective state tournament showing on Wednesday.
Jarrett, who’s been fighting a nagging groin injury for the better part of a month, returned to competitive action for the first time since Oct. 13. He coasted to his third straight individual title while leading St. Benedict’s third successive team championship in the Prep A tournament at Blair Academy.
Jarrett, who wasn’t available when St. Benedict’s placed third in the Essex County Championships last Friday, posted a time of 15:42.8 and ran the 3.1 mile course unchallenged in Blairstown. His time was 15 seconds better than the winning effort he put forth a year ago, but this year’s course layout was a little different than the one used in past championships at Blair.
“I’m so happy, in fact, ecstatic how well he did,” St. Benedict’s coach Marty Hannon said. “It’s great news knowing Brandon had no problems running (with the injury) at all.”
Jarrett paced St. Benedict’s to the team title with 29 points, 19 points better than the second-place finish of Peddie. Rounding out the top five for the Gray Bees were Jorge Marques, who placed third overall in a time of 17:45, Kevin Branco (sixth in 18:01), Matt Jensen (eighth in 18:09) and Garland Miller (11th in 18:41). Mikolaj Mika chipped in with a time of 18:44 while Joao Simoes came across the line in 20:09.
The boys soccer team now has its sight set squarely on its 19th straight state Prep A Championship. The Gray Bees upended Peddie, 5-0, in the semifinals at NJIT thanks to the second half effort of Rosero and Curley.
Curley scored just 49 seconds after intermission before Rosero buried the next two goals before 10 minutes had elapsed in the second half to put the game away. The two juniors were inserted up top to start the second half.
“We were looking to get a spark,” said coach Rick Jacobs, whose team looked sluggish in the first half playing a team it had already beaten, 6-0, earlier this year. “It’s not a surprise. J.P. and Chris just came in and did what we expect of them and showed they can be very dangerous.”
St. Benedict’s (13-5-1), which wraps up its regular season with a game against Blair Friday, missed a couple of opportunities to bury Peddie (6-8-2) in the first half. But it did manage to build a two-goal cushion behind goals from its catalysts, John Agudelo and Walter Rodriguez.
St. Benedict’ will play Hun at 2 p.m. Sunday for the Prep A championship. The two teams played a very-highly entertaining battle the first time around with St. Benedict’s prevailing, 2-1, on Oct. 10 in Princeton.
Meanwhile, the water polo team won for the first time since the first week of October by burying Horace Mann, 14-6, in the Riverdale section of The Bronx.
Junior Spencer Vespole and senior Angel Maldonado scored four goals apiece to highlight the team’s effort.
“We’ve been in such a slump,” said coach Glenn Cassidy, whose tram upped its record to 4-13-1. “It was big just to get a win. We played decently.”
St. Benedict’s water polo team will be hosting the Eastern Prep School, B Bracket Tournament on Sunday beginning at 9 a.m. The Gray Bees are playing three times, beginning with the tournament opener at 9 a.m.
Rick Jacobs and Hank Cordeiro have been and continue to be an integral part of the St. Benedict’s community.
Neither of the coaching icons, however, could have ever suspected that their school-wide notoriety would leak
outside the gates of the school that has been so much a part of their lives and into the
public sector.
Well, it has.
Jacobs, H’90, and Cordeiro, ’72, are part of the current class of inductees for the Newark Athletic Hall of
Fame as representatives of the city among great athletes,
mentors and supporters of the community. The 19th
annual NAHF dinner will be held in their honor Thursday at the Robert Treat Hotel.
"I was surprised, elated and taken aback when I heard I was being inducted," said Jacobs, the soccer
coach at St. Benedict’s for the last 23 years, who, with over 470 victories and counting, has guided the Gray Bees to
six national championships. ``This is something that would have never entered my mind until I was told. Now it’s like
‘Wow! Are they really talking about me.’ "
Cordeiro, who entered the confines of St. Benedict’s as a student in 1968 and, as he says, "never left,’’
echoes the sentiments of Jacobs.
"I never reflected on what I’ve done, but this puts it all into perspective that people care,"
Cordeiro, the retired jack-of-all trades coach, who is best known for directing the basketball team to 220 victories and
seven New Jersey Prep championships. "They are saying thank you, but I’m the one who should be saying thank
you."
Both Jacobs and Cordeiro, each a strict disciplinarian with a compassion for the athletes they’ve coached, feel they owe their fathers a great deal for this honor.
"It’s sort of ironic that my job bought me back to the place where my father was born and raised," said
Jacobs of his father, Arnold, who passed away two years ago.
"I remember him talking all the time about the great
athletes who came through Newark. The same guys who are now
in the Hall of Fame are the ones he always spoke a great
deal about.
"I think he would be proud that his son is now
joining them."
Cordeiro, a foreign language specialist at St. Benedict’s,
had other plans after leaving St. Benedict’s in 1972. He
wanted to continue onto law school following his graduation
from St. Vincent College in Pennsylvania. But an accident to
his father altered his plans and thus, he returned to the
St. Benedict’s family.
His father, Henrique, a Portuguese native, is the chief
reason Hank also owns a degree in Spanish from the
Universidad de Valladolid in Spain.
"The only regret I have is that my father is not
alive to see me receive this honor," said Cordeiro, a
native of the Iron Bound section of Newark who lost his dad
in 1977. He enters the Newark Hall of Fame three years after
garnering a spot in the St. Benedict’s Hall. "I
thought being in the St. Benedict’s Hall was big. But this
has to rank right up there. Tons of thanks has to go out to
the players I’ve coached. None of this would be possible
without them."
The St. Benedict's water polo team left the school Wednesday at 1:30 and returned right on time, some seven hours later.
But, it's what happened in between that tested the nerves of coach Glenn Cassidy and the members of his team.
None of that, however, involved action in the pool.
While the team was making its trek to play Malvern Prep in Pennsylvania, a sudden turn of events took place.
First, there was an accident that snarled traffic on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The St. Benedict's vehicle, carrying the jayvee and varsity squads, was caught directly in the middle of the mess, which was at crawl for two hours.
Then, to make matters worse, the Benedict-mobile suffered a flat tire. After maneuvering the crippled vehicle to a service station, the team had to wait another two hours in a parking lot along the interstate until a tow truck could come and rectify the tire fiasco.
After order was restored, it was too late to continue to its match so the team turned around and headed home -- on time, but without ever taking a dunk in the pool at Malvern.
"It was a day that just kept getting worse," said Cassidy. "But I have to give the kids credit. They were very good considering the circumstances."
Brandon Jarrett continued his drive toward national title in cross country with a scintillating effort. But the boys soccer team’s run at a third successive national crown came to an unofficial halt over the weekend.
Jarrett, one of the premiere runners in the country, once again put up an impressive time despite nary a challenge. This time, the senior cruised to a 26-second victory over his nearest pursuer on Friday in the Cougar Invitational at Buck Mill Park in Colts Neck.
Jarrett’s winning time of 15:03 was the second fastest time ever recorded on the course and just five seconds off the pace established last year by Colts Neck’s Craig Forys.
“Brandon is running so well right now and he’s doing it without anyone pushing him” said St. Benedict’s coach Marty Hannon of his talented runner who won last week’s Passaic County Coaches Meet with the third fastest time in course history after winning by nearly one minute.
Jarrett’s victory Friday sets up what should be a colossal clash Oct. 13 between New Jersey’s top two runners. The St. Benedict’s phenom will go toe-to-toe with Gill St. Bernard’s Doug Smith in the Manhattan Mile at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
``It will be the Meet of Champions in New York,’’ said Hannon due to the fact that St. Benedict’s doesn’t compete in the NJSIAA-sanctioned Meet of Champions. Thus, the meeting at Van Cortlandt park will be for the state’s bragging rights.
Meanwhile, the boys soccer team is experiencing some serious growing pains. Coach Rick Jacobs’ club traveled to Illinois over the weekend and suffered a pair of losses in the Quincy Classic.
On Friday, the team gave a tremendous effort, but dropped a 1-0 setback to St. Louis’ Chaminade when it surrendered a golden-goal with under a minute left in overtime.
Things didn’t get any better on Saturday evening against the No. 3 team in the nation and another product of St. Louis, DeSmet Jesuit. The Gray Bees, despite getting a better part of the action, were shut down, 2-0.
Whereas in the past when the team could overcome youth with a proven goal-scorer, this year’s club hasn’t develop even one player who can score on a consistent basis. In fact, this year’s club, which is starting eight underclassmen, has failed to score in four games and has dropped to 4-4 on the season.
``It’s simple. We don’t have a legitimate scorer,’’ said Jacobs, who is hoping to get that when injured junior Chris Curley returns to action. But even Curley may not be the cure-all as he is yet another unproven entity. ``We’re in a position now where we haven’t been before. Let’s see how we respond.’’
The Drama Guild of St. Benedict’s spent 10 days this summer in Scotland participating in the 61st Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Four of those days were spent performing their production of Chango Macbeth. The following is a first-person account by the guild’s moderator, producer and director, Pat Flynn:
OPENING NIGHT
By Pat Flynn
I'm sitting in the last row, legal pad in hand, exactly fifteen minutes after entering the theatre for our set-up. It is 4:15pm, August 6th at the Blueside Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. At this latitude the sun will not set for another six hours, but for us, it is Opening Night. After over a year of preparation and intense fund-raising, the St. Benedict's Prep Drama Guild is about to debut its production of CHANGO MACBETH at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Apart from note taking, my job (director, teacher, coach, confidante, disciplinarian) is done. No one goes from omnipotence to impotence more quickly than a director on opening night. This is true wherever the theatre. But tonight it is a particularly scary realization because this company is decidedly outside its element. Several of the actors have never even been outside Newark and its environs. Accustomed to the familiar surroundings of Conlin Auditorium, with an audience of family and friends, how will my students react to the demands (and nerves) of an international festival, with audiences noted for being theatre aficionados, who travel to Edinburgh as if to Mecca?
And yet, I have reason to hope. After a two hour tech rehearsal the previous day, everyone has leapt to their tasks and responsibilities with nary a glance in my direction. The theatre tech director has informed me that our electrician, John Sarabia, is the first student whom he has encountered who already knows how to operate the two-scene preset board that is the house equipment. And so there is nothing for me to do but wait. And hope. And pray. Pray that having produced the play in Newark in the fall, and having spent the summer rehearsing five nights a week, the actors will have had enough experience to stave off any incipient panic or potential disaster.
As I wait for the signal from the House Manager that we may begin, I think back to the moment when we received notice that we had been selected as one of fifty schools chosen to represent the USA in the American High School Theatre Festival at the Fringe. What had seemed nigh on impossible in a year of belt-tightening had become a reality, largely due to the immense generosity of our alumni. And so, on July 31st, thirteen students and three adults had departed for London, for a half-day of sight-seeing, and a full day spent at the re-created Globe Theatre, taking an acting class there, and seeing a riveting production of OTHELLO. Then it was on to Edinburgh via British Rail, where tech rehearsal and four performances lay ahead of us.
How can I convey the import of this experience to those who do not follow theatre? For one month, Edinburgh becomes the world capitol of theatre. It is circus; it is fiesta; it is the Olympics. From amateur to seasoned professional, from the renowned to the obscure, the Edinburgh Theatre Festival with its attendant Fringe is the essence of popular theatre for performers and theatregoers alike. Everyone has an opinion about what is a must see or a near miss, from cabbies to critics. There is nowhere you can turn without being assailed by acrobats, monologists, magicians and musicians. The Royal Mile is awash in buskers. At the same time, Alan Cumming is in town with a much-heralded production of THE BACCHAE. Here also is TRUTH IN TRANSLATION, a South African musical drama about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which is awarded a Fringe First (and which we are lucky enough to see). It is highbrow and lowbrow and everything in between. And here we are. Here, our students may have arrived as strangers, but as artists, they will be immediately recognized and embraced as fellow travelers. If they can conquer their nerves...
The drumming begins, the house lights fade to black, and a soft light glows on the fog created by wafting yards of chiffon, as the Witches hover on their stilts upstage. In the audience tonight are Paul and Kathy Thornton. No one is more responsible for the success of our fund-raising than Paul, and I fervently hope the performance he sees will make all his work seem worth the effort. Is there one more note I can give, one last piece of advice or word of encouragement? No. It is time to let go. The production is theirs. In the end, it all comes down to trust. Trust in the work; trust in the kids and in their talent. After all, the Festival definitely celebrates the work of the ACTOR. In the economy of stringently enforced fifteen-minute load-ins and set-ups, sets, lights, props, are all kept to a minimum. It is the actors whom we have come to see. As the lights fade up to full, the small band of players takes to the stage to share their interpretation of a four hundred year old play written by an Englishman, but played by a troupe of boys from Newark, with all the wit and exuberance and ferocity of which our students are capable. It is their evening, and they play splendidly.
In the days to come, defying all expectations, they will deepen their performances, growing in confidence and commitment. But it is tonight that I will remember best - the night our guys became performers on a world stage - and they seemed right at home.
Peter Holsberg introduced a number of students from the St. Benedict’s music curriculum to a world class performer on Oct. 16.
Nick Kadajski, a graduate of the renowned Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., was on hand in the band room presenting a master class to the St. Benedict’s wood ensemble, beginning band and lower division music classes and woodwind musicians.
About 100 students participated in the event in which Kadajski showcased his incredible talents on the clarinet, flute and saxophone. He also fielded questions from students and gave tips on improvisation throughout different parts of his day-long stay on campus.
“It was a sincere treat to have a musician of Mr. Kadajski's calibre come and present to our students,” said Holsberg, who was connected to his fellow alumnus at DeMatha Catholic High School in Maryland by John Mitchell, the director of bands at their alma mater. “He is a world class woodwind player who was able to speak eloquently to our students.”
As an added bonus, Kadajski, who is an active player in the New York Jazz scene, has made himself available for lessons to the students of St. Benedict’s. Those interested should e-mail Holsberg at pholsber@sbp.org.
