Trisha Todd, one of Grant’s two theatre teachers, adapted Thornton Wilder’s play Our Town for the Grant Stage. Her goal was to highlight her “favorite theme…transcendence – spiritual, emotional, physical” while exploring the varying forms of love: romantic, familial, and its absence. Todd worked closely with Judith Rizzo, Tracey Durbin, and Jocelyn Edelstein, and Leah Jones, two Grant graduates, along with cast members - most prominently Annie Oldani - to create the stunning show, which recently graced the Grant stage. The play was divided into four movements, each of which was devoted to the four elements: water, fire, earth, and air, symbolizing birth, love, death and the ascension.

Within the movements, Todd and her team created a place for each of the cast members to truly shine. After seeing the show, Senior Suzanne Jaszczult noted that “Ms. Todd did a great job utilizing the cast’s unique talents. Overall everything was visually very artistic, sharing a simple, but profound message.” Cast member Madison unprofessional and unrehearsed. Hopefully this is not a precursor to their new album “No line on the Horizon,” because an album by some “true musicians” is sorely needed this year. After the performance, pop icon Whitney Houston made an appearance to present the award for R&B Album of the Year, before giving the award to Jennifer Hudson, first acknowledged Clive David with an Icon award. The rest of the night ensued with some really oddball performances, as the teen girl magnets “The Jonas Brothers,” teamed up with music icon Stevie Wonder to perform songs like “Superstition” and “Burnin’ Up.” It made my ears cringe, and one of the brothers forgot the lyrics to Superstition. How do you do that? Those are some of the easiest lyrics in Genovesse explained, “we were truly an ensemble, there were no stars.” Hannah Anderson-Dana, a fellow cast member, enjoyed creating, “something that wasn’t there in the beginning, working togetherto convey the complex emotions.” Zoe Nicholas also enjoyed, “being a part of the process.” Cast member Gavin Knittle was especially proud of the final product: “while on stage it affects me, it’s still moving every time I see it. I enjoy watching the birthday scene which concludes with the repeated line, ‘O earth you are too wonderful for anyone to realize you'.” He also likes that fact that there were several cast members playing George and Emily, for it reminds us of, “all of the Emilys and Georges out there.” Genovesse however favored the “ascension piece, it concludes the story for both Simon and the Emilys. It gives a sense of security, there is a point for us after death and we all have something to give to the world.

For many of the seniors in the cast this was their last play on the Grant stage. Clara Baker commented, “it was a really fun last show. I feel like I’ve come full circle.” She also explained how applicable she found the central message to the play, stating that life goes by so fast, “we are always looking to the future, or back on the past, but we never focus on the present.” As the story comes to a close, Emily looks out stating, “all that was going on and I never noticed.” While the question, “do human beings ever realize life while they live it?” is repeated within the story. The audience leaves the theatre asking themselves if they ever pause to truly enjoy their lives, and if they could learn to appreciate the seconds as they pass.