03.19.2020 Community ‘Matilda’ — Keep rehearsing, keep washing A catastrophe two weeks before opening night is more or less expected when it comes to the school musical, but traditionally the setback has to do with the music...
03.05.2020 Community ‘Matilda’: School musical debuts in less than a month At the first full-cast rehearsal of “Matilda” after the mid-winter recess, director John Kaasik was giving his high school actors some notes on creating the necessary intensity in their...
02.21.2020 Education A rehearsal diary: Waltzing ‘Matilda’ John Kaasik has directed many successful Shelter Island school musicals, so of course he has a definite opinion about when to start practicing the elaborate dance routines that are...
02.16.2020 Education A rehearsal diary: Blocking on the fly while preparing for ‘Matilda’ “Your track coach will thank me for this,” said John Kaasik to the cast of “Matilda” as they ran through a musical number that involved jumping jacks. The rehearsal...