Oakland Mills - Teach Me How to Cry

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Permalink Reply by Gabrielle A. on December 1, 2010 at 5:49pm

STARS Review: Oakland Mills High School- “Teach Me How To Cry"
Long Reach High School- Gabrielle Amaro

Imagine what it would be like to be living in the 1960’s again. Elvis Presley and Chuck Berrylet out guitar riffs in the background as you take in this world of new, exciting, and subversive events. From Thursday, November 11 through Sunday, November 14th, come back to the 60’s with Oakland Mills as you marvel at the remarkable “Teach Me How To Cry”directed by Steven Flemming.

“Teach Me How To Cry” tells the story of two young adolescents in the 1960’s, whose world is seemed paralleled tothe love story of Romeo and Juliet. Melinda Grant is daughter to Mrs. Grant, a semi-insane seamstress with a secret past and an obsession to give her daughter the childhood she always wanted. When Melindameets the new student in her school, Will Henderson, they form a loving relationship witheach other. The teenagers face issues with their families just like in Romeo and Juliet in the sense that both parents forbid their children from seeing each other; however they are unable to break their bond and continue to see each other in secret at a burnt down and supposedly haunted bandstand.

Although the story was somewhat unresolved, the actors shone continuously throughout every scene with complimenting characteristics. The set was nothing short of extraordinary and set an atmosphere of the 1960’s with ease from the moment you step into the theatre. The whole production keeps you anxious and waiting to find out what happens next.

The cast of ten worked wonders on the stage from start to finish, each with a complimenting acting technique and a remarkable character to contribute to a remarkable ensemble. You have Jenna Pekofsky (Melinda Grant) and Adam Vaughn (Will Henderson) whose characters are opposites that are brought together and find a sense of belonging. Melinda has formed a habit of protecting herself from hurt and suppresses all emotion; but once Will enters her life, his understanding connects with her, thus releasing a new Melinda into the world. The relationship between these two characters is uplifting and heartwarming.

The supporting characters of the show are to be applauded. Malak Soussi’s (Anne) scene onstage was one of the most memorable in the whole show. Her presence on stage defined the moment and shows that you do not have to be the star of the show to be remembered.

Every technical aspect of the show was astounding.Along with a clear sound system and outstanding lighting effects, the set was the highlight of the whole production. The bandstand for example was beautiful and although the flowers seemed to get in the way of the actors, they still contributed to the set with color and demonstrated how Melinda was blooming and coming alive with Will.

Overall the cast and crew put on a commendable performance. Oakland Mills production of “Teach Me How To Cry” was definitely a noteworthy and great performance.

Permalink Reply by Cecelia Holt on December 2, 2010 at 3:15pm

The rain falls and the lightning strikes at the haunted bandstand where two teenagers, who are forbidden to see each other, secretly meet, in Oakland Mills production of Teach Me How to Cry directed by Steven Fleming.

In Teach Me How to Cry two teenagers try to find themselves in a constricted environment. Melinda Grant is being pressured by her mom to be perfectly happy and never question anything. Will Henderson is being pressured by his parents to only hang out with the most prestigious families. Brought together during a dance, Will and Melinda become attached. As he helps her prepare for the role of Juliet in their high school’s play, they find a disturbing truth within their selves. After a rumor spreads about Melinda, and a fight, they are banned from seeing each other. Still trying to find the truth they carry on their secret meetings.

The overall production was anchored by all the different acting styles. Mrs. Grant was impossibly happy all the time, while Mrs. Henderson lives in a dream for a better life. Everyone having different styles keeps the audience’s attention even when there wasn’t much happening on the stage.

Starring in Teach Me How to Cry was Adam Vaughn as Will Henderson and Jenna Pekofsky as Melinda Grant. Though they are both only sophomores they made their chemistry very real. Acting very maturely in such roles showed their acting talent. The kiss they did was believable as most high school students are awkward in their first kiss.

Also in the play was Rebecca Martinez-Griewe playing Melinda’s mother and Katherine Taylor and Stephen Fox playing Will’s parents. Malak Soussi and Cally Roosa were also in the play as Anne and Eleanor, school mates of Melinda, Kate Bailey and Will Eastham as the schools “it couple”, Polly and Bruce, and Natalie Beach as the school teacher, Ms. Robson. Even though their characters were different, Rebecca and Katherine played amazing mothers, especially when they had to react to what their children have done. Being the mean characters can be hard but Kate and Will did amazing jobs as the stuck up kids that are always found in schools.
The first thing the audience noticed when it walked in was the amazing set. Cut into 4 places, the Henderson house, the Grant house, the bandstand, and the patio of the school, every part made an impression. For something that a stagecraft class did, it looked professional. During different parts of the play, the lights would be on at the certain place and were made to look like they were in a house or out in the dark. The costumes were on point though a little ill fitting for a girl who has a seamstress mother.
Though the audience might not like the plot, the amazing acting talents of 10 high school students blew the audience away along with their fantastic set in Oakland Mills production of Teach Me How to Cry.

Permalink Reply by Hannah Lew on December 2, 2010 at 4:22pm

Oakland Mills High School has done it again. Once again the theater department has put on an excellent show. This presentation of Teach Me How To Cry was truly captivating.
Teach Me How To Cry is a modern Romeo and Juliet with a twist. It tells the tale of 2 two teenager and their estranged families, as they try to find themselves and fall in love.
Part of the brilliance of this show was in the collaboration of all of the different show aspects. Seeing this show brought many different effects together and made a production worth envy.
The show was centered around the romance and connection between Jenna Pekofsky, as Melinda Grant, and Adam Vaughn, as Will Henderson. The amazing connection between the two allowed the scenes to have amazing flow and chemistry. The roles of Will’s Parents, portrayed by Katherine Taylor and Stephen Fox, also were excellently developed and showed true commitment. The same can apply to the role of Mrs. Grant, played by Rebecca Martinez-Griewe.
Not only was there excellent commitment in the roles of the leading cast members, but also in the roles the supporting cast members. The characters were brilliantly developed and helped to make the show that much more convincing.
In addition to the excellent show put on by the actors, the technical aspect of the show was amazing. The clever costume plot, as designed by Magdalene Brenner, helped to portray the growth of characters. Also the the lighting design, by Ethan Knister, helped to focus the audience’s attention towards different aspects of the show.
As a whole, this production Teach Me How To Cry was stunning. The acting, set, costumes and lighting all helped to make the show amazing and beautiful to watch.

Permalink Reply by Kaitlynn Motley on December 2, 2010 at 8:22pm

The daughter of a demented seamstress and the son of an oblivious, untalented door-to-door salesman find love in one another in this Romeo-and-Juliet-esque play titled Teach Me How To Cry. Oakland Mills High School combines strong directing, unique acting, genius set design and lighting with a great plot line to provide their audience with a story that will both make you laugh and pull at your heart.
Set against the backdrop of a small town in the year 1960, Melinda Grant is the fatherless daughter of a mentally unbalanced seamstress, Mrs. Grant. Melinda is searching for someone to take care of her and take her out of her shell, but is unable to find a helping hand- until she meets William Henderson, the new boy, the outcast, the loner. William is a poet and the son of a failing door-to-door salesman and a mother misunderstood by her family. The two find solace in one another and fall in love against their parents' will- a love that is ultimately tested by both society and distance.
Teach Me How To Cry is a romantic drama with a light air to it. Everything about the town and the homes of Melinda and William are pleasant and agreeable, but this warmth is just a mask of the problems that lie beneath for each character. The detailed set and warm lighting helped contrast the two moods of the play, as did the random outbursts of suicidal thoughts from each character.
Paragraph Four: The Leads
Jenna Pekofsky stars as Melinda Grant, a proper, lonely high school girl yearning to come out of her shell but too timid and afraid. Her sing-song voice and demure mannerisms accentuated her inner need to gain confidence and break free of her mother's mold. Mrs. Grant, played by Rebecca Martinez-Griewe, is a mentally fragile seamstress with a questionable past, determined to fill her life with “nice” and “lovely” things. Martinez-Griewe's use of gestures and her eager, maternal values showed her inability to be be a mother figure in Melinda's life. Adam Vaughn portrays William Henderson as the new boy worth getting to know: smart, funny, romantic. He has a need to “figure things out” and finds comfort in knowing how the world works. Adam Vaughn's spirited attitude lit up the stage and captured the audience's attention every time he spoke.
The supporting characters in Teach Me How To Cry helped illustrate the views and atmosphere of the small town they lived in. Kate Bailey and Will Eastham played Polly Fisher and Bruce Mitchell, the typical popular couple. The two were a joy to watch as their characters brought comic relief and were relatable even in modern day's time. Katherine Taylor, performing the role of Mrs. Henderson, gave a magnified representation of a misunderstood mother holding too many values for her family to handle. Her use of vocal inflection and stage presence helped show Mrs. Henderson's need for appreciation.
Each aspect of the set matched the personality of the characters that performed there, and the detailing of each room complemented the mood of the play . The clever use of strobe lights and music also helped set the mood of each individual scene, whether it was to accentuate the weather or impact character's silence.
By director's choice, a slightly extended ending to this play will leave you yearning for more of the brilliant acting, technical genius, and entrancing plot line in Teach Me How To Cry. Teenage love, scandal, and comic-relief will cause you to leave yourself behind and become emersed in the world of this production.

Permalink Reply by Shelby Smith on December 2, 2010 at 9:53pm

I want to learn how to cry. Well, maybe I already know how to cry but in the play "Teach Me How to Cry" performed by students at Oakland Mills High School and directed by Steven Fleming, they learned so much more. This production was very enjoyable with a fabulous set, and flawless lighting. All the characters were strong and any one can tell that a lot of time was put into this play.
"Teach Me How to Cry" is not very well known, and doesn't even have its own Wikipedia page-now that really says something. It is a drama that takes place in the year 1960 about two adolescents, Melinda and Will breaking out of their shell and finding true friendship, and learning to follow their own path rather than their parents. It is about how one person can completely change the life of another, and help one find hope and joy past all obstacles, and disapproval of others.
The main characters Melinda Grant and Will Henderson were played by Jenna Pekofsky and Adam Vaughn respectively. Jenna was fabulous and very convincing as a character that was facing social issues. Scenes that require an actor to cry are usually very difficult and she most certainly pulled it off. Will was also great in his portrayal of an optimistic teen just wanting to help a friend. He gave his character fun quirks and a very specific personality.
The supporting characters were also strong especially both mothers. Rebecca Martinez- Griewe who played Mrs. Grant was very effective and had fun developing her character. Katherine Taylor who played Mrs. Henderson was also notable, and in all of her scenes had a certain presence that really showed the tension in the room. The students in the school were all interesting to watch as well. They may not have had many scenes, but they played the characters very uniquely, and were very memorable.
On the production side, the set was very impressive. They kept the curtains open the whole time and the set was built to show the 4 places separately. There were also noticeable contrasts in the set that really aided in the portrayal of the story. Bright colors contrasted with the feeling of despair that was hidden by false happiness, and a drab environment that seemed to cultivate hope in youth. The costumes designed by Magdalene Brenner stayed in the style of the 1960's and fit the personalities of the characters as well.
The lighting in this show was fabulous. The lighting designer Ethan Knister used the lighting effects to create a seamless transition between the focus on stage and the different settings. The sound effects were very accurate and even the transition music was music played around that time period and helped to foreshadow the mood of the next scene.
Overall, all the aspects of Oakland Mills High School's production of "Teach Me How to Cry" was interesting to watch and very effective at conveying the message, that it is better to cry.

Permalink Reply by Lauren Reiser on January 15, 2011 at 2:55pm

Have you ever felt that no one truly understands you?  That you have to show the world a falsely happy persona to gain acceptance?  Oakland Mills High School’s Production of Teach Me How to Cry conveyed the emotional trauma that teens go through, bringing to light issues as relevant now as they were to the play’s 1960 setting.

 

Melinda Grant is teen girl living with her slightly scatter-brained mother, Mrs. Grant.  Melinda has a carefully constructed façade that she wears to protect her mother from knowing how unhappy she really is.  When Will, a sensitive boy who wants to be a writer despite the reservations of his parents, moves in, Melinda finds a friend she can confide in.  Throughout the show, Melinda’s growing relationship with Will helps her to gain the confidence she needs to face the world and play the lead in her school’s production of Romeo and Juliet.

 

Teach Me How to Cry was a moving piece, powerful and thought-provoking.  What anchored the production were a very creative use of pathetic fallacy, and the character-revealing and differentiating acting choices of the leads.

 

Jenna Pekofsky played the lead role of Melinda Grant, displaying extraordinary depth of character.  Melinda became a real and relatable person through Pekofsky’s portrayal of how Melinda would change her tone of voice depending on who she was interacting with.  Adam Vaughn, as Will Henderson, put on an enjoyable performance, exhibiting charm, sensitivity, and optimism.

 

A supporting character of note was Rebecca Martinez-Griewe, as Melinda’s mother, Mrs. Grant.  Martinez-Griewe demonstrated her character’s insecurities through her elusive responses to queries regarding her wedding, and added a more light-hearted element to the play.  Additionally, Polly Fisher, played by Kate Bailey, stood out as flirtatious and narcissistic, boldly distinguishing her character from the rest of the cast.

 

This production featured superb sound and lighting that added to the mood of some of the most dramatic and important scenes.  The tech crew’s simulation of rain, lightning, and thunder, greatly increased the effectiveness of the more emotional parts of the play.  The set was also artistically crafted to suit the feel, and period, of the play.  The homes of the Hendersons and the Grants reflected the personalities of the families, and the image that they wanted to show to their community.  The Grant home served to exemplify Mrs. Grant’s desire to keep “the rain” out, and the Henderson home revealed their unhappiness with their social status. 

 

Some of the most real problems, like depression and the destructive nature of gossip, are enduring, allowing us much to learn from a play first performed in 1955 and set only five years later in this performance. Oakland Mills High School’s fall production of the rather obscure, Teach Me How to Cry, left audiences inspired and moved by the expert rendering of the unique, timeless, and brutally realistic show. 

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