Student Leadership Made Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival A Success

Two weekends of sold-out crowds packed the Severna Park High School auditorium in March to enjoy Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival, and though many in the community left the show impressed by the singers, dancers and musicians, the talents of the student leadership behind the production went (pardon the pun) largely unsung.

Every year, a select group of students undertakes the responsibility of making the school’s sell-out music revue come together. This year, student producer Miles Michalski, student directors Alena Carhart and Rachel Kalafos, student choreographers Ella Collings, Elizabeth Hines and Clare Gentile, student band director Josh Lyon, student tech director Louis Cannon, student sound director Julia Brierley, student light director Belle Ziethen, and student makeup chairs Olivia Carhart and MaryElle Fontaine all stepped up and took leadership roles.

“They all work very hard behind the scenes coordinating practices and smoothing over issues with the cast or parent volunteers,” said teacher adviser and producer Angie Germanos. “Sometimes they are not respected by their peers or parent volunteers, but in general, they are helpful to mediate issues before they become bigger problems. They also set an example for their peers of focusing and working hard.”

For cast members, rehearsal means learning the music or dances for five or six numbers, but for student directors Rachel Kalafos and Alena Carhart, rehearsals meant assisting with each one of the 38 numbers in the production’s lineup. “While most people had one rehearsal a week, I would stay after school every day and stay long on Sundays to choreograph backup moves,” Carhart said. “Some vocals also required multiple rehearsals.”

Every time something with Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival was happening — from band, dance or vocal rehearsals to tech meetings or costume fittings — there was a student leader involved.

This meant there had to be good communication, with Kalafos and Carhart serving as the go-betweens. “It was a lot of getting people to talk to each other,” Kalafos said. “Sometimes, the music wouldn’t match up with the choreography, or the singers and the band were doing the song the same way. Tech might want you to add a few more measures so they have time to do something. It was about making sure everyone was on the same page. It was fun to see everyone work together.”

Now that Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival has wrapped up for the season, the student leaders are able to turn their attention to other important matters — part-time jobs, other extracurricular activities, other practices and rehearsals, going on college visits, doing homework, and still finding time to socialize.

They have also been enjoying time to do something else important — sleep. “There wasn’t a lot of sleep in the month of March,” Kalafos said.