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Drury High Class Bringing Tony Winner to Perform at School
By Jack Guerino, iBerkshires Staff
01:36AM / Friday, February 20, 2015
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Students in the Performing Arts Management meet to plan the upcoming production.
The Drury High School's Performing Arts Management class is bringing singer and songwriter Duncan Sheik to the school in April.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Drury Performing Arts Management Class will bring in Grammy and Tony-winning artist Duncan Sheik to the high school this April.

Tucked away in the arts wing of Drury High School, you can find Jamie Choquette's Performing Arts Management (DPAM) class sitting around a table conference style and talk business.

At first glance, one would not think they were standing in a high school classroom as the students talk marketing, lighting specifics, ticket sales, and fog machines.

Many of these conversations are focused around Sheik, who rose to fame with his 1996 debut single "Barely Breathing" and continued his success on the Broadway stage with his award-winning musical "Spring Awakening."

The students are serious about this production. They don't see it as just as class. There is much more riding on this project than a grade.

Kyle Clairmont said "failing" the class really isn't even an option.

"It gives you a sense of responsibility," he said. "It's not like we are just being graded on it. We actually have a lot riding on this."

Choquette said the class encapsulates every aspect of performance production. Students book acts, advertise, produce shows and events, and even design posters and write press releases. They have booked and produced three national acts, run graduation, and produced all of the school's performances.

"It's a lot of out-of-class work and evening work because of the shows and a lot of the class time is meetings and working out who is going to do what," Choquette said.

The students have to wear many different hats in the DPAM class depending on what they are producing.

Nicholas Burchard said he is an actor himself and if DPAM is producing a play, students have to be able to take on different jobs depending on who has to perform. He said this flexibility demands a lot of responsibility and makes the class seem more like a college-level course.

"It's also really important to be able to just jump into a job or something and also people skills Is another very important skill you learn in this class," Burchard said. "You have to contact people, and you are always emailing a lot."

Ryan Forrest said learning how to use the equipment is important and can prepare students for college and other jobs in the production field.

"There are job opportunities like staging," Forrest said. "Anyone can do staging, but you have to deal with thousands of dollars' worth of equipment and you have to really trust that one person to be able to do that."

Choquette said the class came out of a collaborative of performing arts teachers who wanted to push the envelope of what a high school class could do. Choquette taught a similar class at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and thought it could be brought to the high school level.

The class started two years ago when the concept was brought to the administration and the superintendent. Choquette said the idea was popular and everyone was committed to doing things right. The school purchased touring grade lighting and a top-of-the-line sound system for the newly named Drury Performing Arts Center.

"The administration and the department spent some money to really set up the platform for the students to take responsibility, and I think that is important," he said. "So when they say we are dealing with the real world they are dealing with really hundreds and thousands of dollars worth of equipment … When you see a show now, the show is huge. It has fog machines, it's got robotic lights, hundreds of channels of lighting, and scores of channels of sound."

All of these components will add to what DPAM considers its biggest show this April. Choquette said the Sheik concert will be held in the gym, where the students will construct a stage. He said the touring grade equipment will be able to handle any presentation Sheik wants and elevated the DPAM's production quality "to 11."

Choquette said students learn about the business and one of their first assignments is to find how much it would cost to book their favorite band.

"They go find what their favorite band costs, knowing what our budget is, and then all of the sudden they come back saying 'well, Green Day is $2 million for an hour,' " he said. "They literally find out that some of their favorite bands cost in the millions."

Above, the class meets with teacher Jamie Choquette, right, to discuss scheduling and other requirements to make the show a success. Right, Berkshires native Adam Michael Rothberg will appear with Sheik.

He said this leads to the class making a compromise. Sheik was within the budget, he was interested in the program, he is a Grammy and Tony winning artist, and MCLA performed his musical recently.

Choquette said the program needs a lot of money to book shows such as Duncan Sheik. He said the class relies on grants such as the Pauline Young Music Grant. However, the students are not just given the money; they are expected to make up all they have spent in ticket sales. Choquette said just about every performance has broken even through lots of hard work.

He said this facilitates a very real learning experience and provides a foundation for the class.

The class also provides a real service for the community and the school.

"There is a real nostalgia for people who hear 'Barely Breathing' on the radio then find that Duncan Sheik is coming to the high school," Burchard said. "That is going to get people excited."

Clairmont said the community itself allows for the program to grow.

"We have a connection with the student body here that could just fill the auditorium, but we are able to reach the community too," he said. "DPAM is really able to grow as a class and bring in bigger acts."

DPAM also works as the engine that moves student-driven productions within all of the performing arts at Drury.

Choquette said it gives the Drury band the capability to pursue much larger creative shows that include many aspects of the performing arts department. He said the department is organizing a tribute show to Pink Floyd's 1973 classic album "The Dark Side of the Moon."

"Mr. [Christopher] Caproni is able to do things most band directors can't do because they don't have the support," he said. "… Here our entire music department can cover, from beginning to end, 'The Dark Side of The Moon.' Imagine all the technology we would need to do that, but Drury can do it."

Choquette sees the class as a perfect fit for Drury and is excited to see the program continue to expand.

"As long as these guys sort of buy in, I think generally speaking they do, there will always be a place for a program like this," he said.

Tickets for the April 10 Duncan Sheik show, with guest and Berkshires native Adam Michael Rothberg, here.

 

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