Lights down, stage lights up. The front curtain parts, revealing the speaker. “Welcome to,” he begins slowly, “A Visit to Vaudeville.” The audience begins to get excited. Whispers are exchanged from children to parents, friends to friends. The buzzing of many quiet conversations fills the theater. The announcer silences them with a simple sentence, “Our first performance tonight is that classic song of love, Daisy Bell.”

From third grade on, Mary Zdrojewski has been involved with theater. From miming to improvisation, she has been involved in many things. Ms. Zdrojewski has been in many productions. She was in Oklahoma, Fiddler on the Roof, and even wrote her own production, called “Puente de Amor – Bridge of Love.” Since her first year of college in 2001, Ms. Zdrojewski has been a director. She loves being able to “tell stories and imagine myself as different people” she writes. Now, she directs plays here at Scio. This years play, “A Visit to Vaudeville,” is arranged, directed, and produced by Ms. Zdrojewski. With 11 acts, this wasn’t an easy task. A well-rounded, hard working lady, Ms. Zdrojewski deserves a round of applause for her effort.

From “newbies” to our more experienced actors and actresses, we have a variety of students. Although most students have been in plays, musicals, and skits, such as Pied Piper, “Crimpled Classics,” and The Wizard of Oz, some students have not. An interest in theater grows throughout the student body, however. Most students have enjoyed their experiences this year, and plan to act in next year’s production. Even students too late for this year’s production are hoping to join in next year. One student is even hoping for a production next year, saying, “I would like us to do Hairspray.” With there being only fourteen students this year, several students are in multiple productions. One student says when asked what she is preforming, “O, in “Invisible Bench”, and our closing song.”
The play, mostly comical, features a multiple humorous skits. Three examples each involve an “Invisible Bench” but there are three different endings. Another is called “Niagara Falls”. It is about a conversation between a bum and a citizen, the “Stranger with a kind face”. A third skit, called “Who’s On First?” is a confused conversation between two friends over baseball. The skit, preformed originally by Abbot and Costello, is very humorous. Although comedy filled, the play has serious moments, such as a song called “A Bird in a Gilded Cage”, preformed by Leila L.

In all, the four performances of “A Visit to Vaudeville”, three at Scio Central School, and one at a nursing home, were a success, with laughter throughout the audience. As the actors and actresses recited their lines with smiles on their faces, you could tell they enjoyed their performances, too.