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BRIARCLIFF MANOR, N.Y. Briarcliff Manor senior John Alecci and junior Dan Levine have come up with a unique way of advertising for the high schools upcoming musical Sugar.
Weve been telling everyone to come to see the show because you get to see us dress up as women, Levine, 16, said. I mean, its got murder and us cross-dressing.
The musical based off the 1959 film Some Like It Hot starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe revolves around two musicians, Jerry (Levine) and Joe (Alecci), who witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago and join an all-female band led by singer Sugar Kane (junior Jessica Lynch) in order to escape gangsters hot on their tails. The show features nearly 40 Briarcliff Manor High School students, a full 10 member orchestra and dozens of costume changes. But Director Ian Driver said the musical comes together to make the most ambitious show weve ever done.
We wanted to do a show that would surprise everybody, Driver said. I think doing comedy in high school is very difficult. But I think this play is so beautifully written that actually, I think this is one of the funniest shows Ive seen. I think people are really going to have some belly laughs with this one and I think thats quite rare to genuinely achieve in a high school.
Driver added that Alecci, Levine and Lynch bring enormous talent to the show.
When the show comes together Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Alecci said he thinks people are going to be blown away.
This is like my 10th musical but this easily is my favorite, Alecci, 18, said. When it comes to musicals, youre going to see Grease or Footloose but Im going to say 10 times out of 10 people arent going to know what Sugar is and thats such a shame because this is the funniest and most fun show out of all of them.
Lynch, 16, said Sugar marks her seventh show with Briarcliff High School.
I think the script is brilliant, she said. Its a rare show that people arent that familiar with and I think its awesome to be able to get it out there. Weve worked so hard and the cast is awesome. It takes a lot to make it work but its been really exciting.
The show kicks off with a free dress rehearsal show for senior citizens at 8 p.m. Thursday with opening night at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Additional shows are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday and a 2:30 p.m. matinee show Sunday. Tickets for the show are $13.50 and are on sale online. For more information or to make reservations by phone, residents are asked to call (914) 847-3096.
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