The West Babylon Senior High School Music Department boasts of many talented students. Some display their talents during band and chorus performances, while others share them with the community from the stage.
The district’s theater program has been recognized in the community in past years. District performers and performances have been the recipients of several Town of Babylon Toby Awards that identify the best among teen theater performances in several categories. The district has collected Tobys for Outstanding Set Crew in 2010, 2011 and 2012 for performances of “Footloose,” “Seussical” and “Sweeney Todd.” In both 2011 and 2012, “Seussical” and “Sweeney Todd” received awards for Outstanding Production Value, and in 2012, student Tyler Smalling earned Best Supporting Actor for his “Sweeney Todd” role.
Most recently, Tyler led a cast of talented students as he portrayed Jesus in the spring musical performance of Stephen Schwartz’s “Godspell.” The performance consisted of a 31-member cast, 30-member stage crew and eight-piece pit orchestra. “This is smaller than our typical musicals,” commented district teacher and “Godspell” director Joseph Barone. “It is a unique show in that, aside from the roles of Jesus (Tyler Smalling) and Judas (William Valenti), all of the cast members play themselves and have equal parts in the show.”
Throughout the performance, students sang and danced their way through several parables in the modern-day take on the teachings of the Gospel according to Matthew.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
