Mr. Skrzesz is the director and choreographer of the Middle/High School Spring musical, Songs that Tell a Story. Under his professional guidance, students have been delving into the foundations of theater education. Mr. Skrzesz comes to Onteora with more than 40 years of experience in performing arts education, and has joined forces with Music Director Brittany Caroll and Producer Jennifer Wentland to lead the Onteora Central School District in its first steps to create a more constant and consistent theater education program for its students. 

Songs that Tell a Story is a “cabaret” (musical revue-style) show that focuses on the journey of each student as a performer, as well as the reciprocal relationship between stage actors and the audience. Mr. Skrzesz chose a selection of songs from the past 100 years of Broadway musicals to give the students experience with a repertoire that was broader than contemporary musicals. 

The students have been eagerly absorbing all of Mr. Skrzesz’s lessons and one-on-one time, which largely focus on vocal technique and lyric interpretation. Using a workshop approach, Mr. Skrzesz first helped students develop songs and learn a dance phrase to perform at the official auditions, which were held in December. Student interest and  response was very favorable, with 20 young people auditioning and being selected to perform.  

The cast was then asked to research each of the shows that have songs featured in the production and write a brief monologue to be performed to introduce and inform the audience about the next song being performed. “With this approach,” Mr. Skrzesz said, “the performers have the opportunity to focus on learning the techniques and skills of performing musical theatre that sometimes get lost when mounting a full scale production.”

Mr. Skrzesz, who has been living in our region for almost two years, is finding the experience of working with Onteora’s students incredibly rewarding. “The students have been fantastic, and are already making lots of discoveries that they can use in all aspects of their lives,” he said. “Sharing what I know with great kids in a beautiful part of the world…what could be more rewarding?”