The classic stage show “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” may bring back memories to a lot of people, but few will have as detailed memories of the popular musical as Peter Bellantoni, music director for the play at Carmel High School.
“I played trumpet in the pit orchestra for ‘How to Succeed’ when I was in high school,” said Bellantoni, who is the high school’s orchestra teacher. “I still remembered a lot of the vocal cues for the songs to start when we started rehearsing.”
The CHS Music Production Workshop will present the show Friday, March 15 at 7 p.m., and Saturday, March 16 at 1 and 6 p.m., at George Fischer Middle School on Fair Street. Tickets can be purchased for $18 at https://chsperform.booktix.com, or for $20 at the door.
Annie Davey, who teaches chorus and music at GFMS, is directing the spring musical. While she has directed the middle school play in the past, this is her first time directing high school students.
“It has been a pleasure working with them,” she said. “I have known many of them since they were in fifth grade, and it is amazing to see how professional they have become. They are extremely creative and take direction well, and they have a terrific work ethic – they never give up.”
The musical is expected to bring Carmel audiences back in more ways than one.
“We haven’t had a pit orchestra of this size since before COVID, but that was only because the shows we have done in the recent past did not call for such a full instrumentation,” said Bellantoni. “It’s been a lot of work to get so many people back to being able to play Broadway-quality music at such a high caliber, but it’s been so much fun watching the kids improve their musicianship through this process.”