Luna Stage to Welcome Student Workshop of AVENUE Q This Week

Luna-Stage/">Luna Stage will welcome Montclair High School students in a Career Internship Program (CIP) project: a workshop production of the poignant and irreverent musical, Avenue Q!

The project is a collaboration between friends and graduating seniors Ginger Uhlfelder (Director), Elena Bachmann (Music Director), Maggie Hogan, and Elliot Albright (Tech Directors), who hit the ground running this month in a swift, three-week rehearsal process for the show. The team was supported by Luna-Stage/">Luna Stage artists and given the technical resources of a professional theatre space, but still allowed full creative autonomy in making their vision a reality.

The production features MHS actors Harry Carino, Guthrie Clark, Troi Gaines, Sunnie Hughes-Sellers, Kaelen Kinsella, Elodie Morss, Ava Read, and Rex Uhlfelder.

For Ginger Uhlfelder, who is helming the show, choosing Avenue Q for this opportunity was a no-brainer. "I love Avenue Q, it's my favorite show of all time...It propels conversations that we would otherwise keep in the dark. It talks about sex, it talks about racism, it talks about these big issues in society that we tend to shy away from because we're uncomfortable talking about them. It helps start those conversations, which I think is really important."

The students see the show as a kind of "last hurrah" for boundary-pushing theatre before they leave high school for their respective futures. Without the constraints of school oversight, the students have enjoyed taking the reins, particularly as they tackle riskier, more controversial subject matter.

"This year we were going to be doing a drama with SVPA that got shut down because some students didn't like the content," explained Uhlfelder. "Understandably so, some students were uncomfortable with what was being talked about in the show, and we ended up pivoting...but I still felt like after that experience, I wanted to show that we could do difficult material...and that high school students can handle difficult material."

For these seniors, this show is not only a creative outlet, but a bridge to their next chapter. The "Career Internship Program" or " CIP" at Montclair High School is an opportunity for seniors in their final semester to take on a project or internship that supports their future career or educational goals. It helps integrate students into the professional world before starting college, and provides them with the chance to gain valuable experience and skills in the field of their choosing. Uhlfelder, who has been heavily involved in theatre for years and served as SVPA President at MHS, plans to attend dental school at Temple University in the fall. "I wouldn't be where I am today without theatre...without stage management and directing in particular, I wouldn't have the confidence to run my dental office in the future and to work collaboratively with a team of people. I just think theatre is so important, and I will never stop singing or doing art, even if I'm not necessarily studying it."

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