Almost showtime at the Riverdale Community Theater

Charles Stahl sat in the middle of the auditorium, scribbling notes on a sheet of paper as the actors from The Teen Theater at the Riverdale Community Center performed their scenes from the play “Almost, Maine.” He is the show director and was making final notes for the actors and production crew the day before show on Dec. 2 and Dec. 3.

“Let’s see if the scene change works,” said Mr. Stahl, who is also a middle-school English teacher at the Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy M.S./H.S. 141.

“Who presets the stools?” he said. “They are so wrong. They can’t do the blocking. Josh, show her please.”

“Good. Thank you,” Mr. Stahl said.

During a short rehearsal break, students and the director reflected on their time on the production and what they enjoyed the most.

“Everyone hates Tech Week, but I love it. You just get the adrenaline rush. You are like, ‘Oh, my God. You have to do everything right.’ You have to do the scene changes, costumes. You have to do every single line just as it’s written,” said Priscilla Blanco. She has been with the group since sixth grade and is now a senior at RKA.

“I learned that doing theater is a team effort. You can’t do it by yourself, especially in a cast like this… You have to be able to work with people and communicate,” said 12th-grader Karissa Leonardo. Karissa said she plans to minor in theater and study veterinary medicine when she is in college.

Performing on stage, said Makayla Tralongo, an 11th grader made her happy. Makayla added that acting was something she wanted to do for a long time and this year, she had the chance to pursue it.

“I feel like all my nervousness just goes away and I have such a supportive cast with me. And, these are my friends. These are my co-workers. I love being here. I love being on stage and this is something I want to do more of in the future,” said Makayla.

Joshua Bautista and Gianna Gonzalez also said they enjoyed the camaraderie of working with their fellow actors. Both said they planned to continue studying acting while in college.

Production manager JoAnn Chiodo, who has been the community center for nearly 10 years, said her favorite part of the show is working with students. She said the downside is that she never gets to see the show because she works backstage. “I only hear it,” she said.

“Almost, Maine,” a play by John Cariani, is a series of vignettes that take place on a cold Friday night. Residents find themselves falling in and out of love in unusual and humorous ways.

“It’s actually one of the most produced plays for non-professional theaters and the kids seemed to like the way it worked and the feelings are whimsical,” said Mr. Stahl.

He said that he enjoyed working with students and seeing them grow as actors during the production. He added he had one surprise this semester—one student, who waited until her senior year to join the group, was a terrific actress. He said he asked her where she had been all this time.

Mr. Stahl said, “She had this great answer--getting self-confidence.”

“It broke me up. It absolutely broke me up,” said a laughing Mr. Stahl.

Seconds later, he said, “Okay, places,” to the actors.

Break time was over. It was back to rehearsal and more note-taking for Mr. Stahl.