The second decade of theatre at BHS ushered in new bonds as well as triumphs over challenges facing the community. From eventual marriages to rising above natural disasters and unexpected trials, the program continued to strengthen.

 

For Rick Cox, becoming involved in theatre helped to connect him with his past, and—unknowingly to him—his future.

 

“The spark that made me audition for [the Class of 1985’s] “Gigi,” was hearing my father share how he had enjoyed being in theatre.” He continued by saying that “without my initial involvement with my senior play, my life would most definitely be quite different.

 

“My younger brother Robert saw how much fun I had with the senior play so he got involved his senior year in “Hello Dolly.” While supporting his efforts, I happened to meet an attractive and intriguing young lady I ended up marrying,” Cox continued.

 

This “lady”—Kathy Bryant— played the lead role of Dolly in the 1988 production.

 

“I met my husband at the cast party, and I’ve been with him since I was a senior,” said Bryant.        

The Class of 1986’s production of “Guys and Dolls” found itself up against a formidable foe -Mother Nature.  

 

“When we were working on the show, we were still coming off the flood of 1985,” said Julie Fulks.

 

The show served as a way to bring students back together after missing such a great deal of school.

 

"None of us had ever really had any experience with being in a play,” said Fulks.

 

Despite this, Fulks said that “we all became really good friends really fast. Everything that I remember about the show was that it was so fun. It is definitely my favorite thing that I did in high school.”

 

Another aspect of Fulks’ experience was getting to help behind the scenes.

 

“The students in the show assisted with the set. I helped build skyscrapers for it,” said Fulks.

 

Helping with the set was another memory Rick Cox had as well.

 

“One of my best memories includes construction that allowed the set to change by spinning five three-sided periactoids,” Cox said.

 

Set construction was a great undertaking for student J.T. Sutton when he created a ship for “Anything Goes” in 1987. He said, “Mrs. [Mary] Reppert asked me if I’d do it and I couldn’t tell her no,” despite the fact “it was the first time I had done anything like that.”

 

Although Sutton had entered new waters, he said, “I was pretty happy with how it turned out, but it was a lot of work. Some of my friends who were also cast members helped me when they weren’t busy with rehearsals.”

 

“I loved being with and working with everyone who was a part of helping. It was lots of fun getting to work from the initial design plan to watching it during shows,” Sutton said. And once show time arrived, he was in for a treat. “Probably the best part was to sit back and see the set function.”

               

Sitting back and watching theatre at BHS became an event that Jodi Romeo Muller and many others began enjoying when they were younger. “I remember looking up to the kids that were performing and always thinking how the plays were really neat,” Muller said.

               

That was one factor that led Muller to audition for her senior show, “No, No Nanette,” in 1990. And the event proved to be a wonderful bonding experience. “I loved the fact that all the class did it together. There was something for everybody whether it was performing on stage, making costumes, building the set, or doing make-up. It was the last big thing to do as a senior.”

               

But as performances drew nearer, the cast was faced with a challenge. “It was really hard towards the end of rehearsals because there was a teacher strike,” Muller explained.  “We had no place to practice—no set because all extra-curriculars held at the school were cancelled. Because of this, we went to different houses of the cast so that we would be ready.” However, Muller described it as a “fun, frantic time.”

               

Even with the interruptions, the show opened on schedule. “Opening night—I can see it now; it was amazing,” Muller said. “…It was such a neat feeling when the lights went out and you couldn’t see the crowd, but the spotlight was on your face.”

               

Kathy Cox expressed this same idea when she said “My favorite part of theatre was the feeling of going out in front of an audience, doing my best, and hearing them laugh or cry after pouring my emotions out to them.”

 

Muller shared a memory that revealed the vulnerability of performing. “The hard part of theatre is that when you mess up, you really mess up. I remember that another actor or I kept messing up a line, and we ended up made a joke of it in rehearsal.  During one of the actual shows, when it was time for that line we started laughing on stage and had to pull ourselves back together and stay in character.”

 

Students involved in “Guys and Dolls” also faced an embarrassing situation when “One night,” Fulks said, “Anthony Webster was running off stage while carrying Kim Hall. When he did this, he tripped over a cord and they both went rolling. They had to come right back on stage though, and Kim had dirt all over her. We were all dying laughing.”

 

Through all that came from BHS theatre’s subsequent decade, the experiences allowed students to grow and mature with the community. As Rick Cox said, “I think students should be encouraged to participate in theatre because it forces you to look and experience the world from different perspectives. Seeing the world this way increases our understanding of others and allows us to be more empathetic—a very useful attribute in many career paths as well as day to day interactions.” 

 

This was certainly the case for many that helped shape the history of the program from 1984 to 1994, allowing them to become more well-rounded students and people.  

 

Editor’s Note: Maggie Lohmann is a student in Mrs. Alice Rowe’s journalism class and submitted this story to Connect-Bridgeport.com. The photos were also submitted courtesy of the journalism department at the school. Cover photo of Jimmy Christie and Jeff Smell in the Music Man. Top photo of Richard Cox who played the lead Honore Lachaille in “Gigi." Second photo of Kathy Bryant Cox who played the title role in “Hello Dolly.” Final photo of Gina Caputo Church played the title role in “Annie Get Your Gun.”