Woodstown High School Drama Club celebrates 100 years of musical theatre from ''All At Sea' to Brigadoon'

Backstage (stage left dressing room) students of the WHS Drama Club began cataloging every show the high school had produced. Though at times incorrect (see 80s and early 90s), these students have continued this tradition for more than 20 years. In 2024, damage to the wall containing the Great List was repaired with plaster and much of the list was covered up. A new effort by the Curtain Call Club will preserve the Great List -- but going back more than a century.

CLICK HERE FOR
'THE GREAT LIST'

(Note: "Woodstown Theatre Department" refers to the Woodstown High School Drama Club and Woodstown Middle School Drama Club, which as of 2024 produces a Fall Play, Spring Musical, and Junior Musical each academic year. In the past, the Theatre Department operated under different names and produced a Junior Play, Senior Play, Junior-Senior Play, Drama Club showcase, and, at times, an Operetta.) 

Hear ye, hear ye! O yez, o yez!

As a proud Woodstown High School Drama Club alumni, I am always eager to learn about the storied history of the Club I got to perform in from 2002-2006.

Did you know the first 'musical' at Woodstown High School was performed 100 year ago?! Let's take a step back in time ...

In 2003, an effort was begun by Drama Club students to list every musical since the 1980s backstage on the backstage wall. From the late 80s until the late 2000s, the backstage area was full of signatures and messages from members of the Theatre Department (High & Middle School Drama clubs). It was called "The Great List."

These messages ranged from silly and bawdy to cathartic and inspiring. Sadly, most of these message have been painted over due to regulations and repairs, but the dressing room writings remain in tact.

"The Great List," however, was born out of an interest in the High School Drama Club's history. Anyone who's been part of the Drama Club in the past 40 years knows the group is laden with traditions — from reciting "Modern Major General," to shouting a line from the show before each performance, to singing the "Senior Song" at the final cast party (to name a few), the Drama Club is rich with history.

Cut to: In 2024, I announced I would be creating a booster club to support the Theatre Department by reviving The Curtain Call Club of Woodstown — a group started in 1934 by Woodstown alumni performers who fundraised a scholarship for Woodstown students during the Great Depression. They went on to operate the Woodstown Opera House until May 1964. The new Curtain Call Club will support the Woodstown Theatre Department by providing, in the function of a Booster Club, accessible funds to the Drama Clubs, fundraising, educational enrichment, and legacy (history) preservation.

Building a Booster Club takes a lot of time and money, and I'm still working hard on getting it all together — but it's coming along, and A LOT of progress has been made. My goal is to have the Curtain Call Club incorporated by Summer 2024, ready to fundraise in the 2024-2025 academic year, and able to fully fund the Theatre Department by 2025-2026.

In the process of building the Curtain Call Club, I have been doing considerable research into the Theatre Department at Woodstown High, and found incredible resources in our past yearbooks at the Woodstown-Pilesgrove Library, Woodstown-Pilesgrove Historical Society, and the Woodstown High School Library. 

Since the backstage Great List was partially covered over in 2024 due to damage to the backstage wall, I've decided to create a virtual "Great List," honoring the tradition that was started my Freshman year, and providing a glimpse at every show ever produced on the Woodstown High School stage. This interactive catalogue will grow over time with cast lists, photos, and more from Woodstown productions of the 1920s to today.

Damage to the wall containing the Great List required a plaster repair that covered part of the writing.

One of the great discoveries I found was that 'musical theatre' (as we call it today) was first introduced to Woodstown High School in 1924 with the founding of the Woodstown Music Club. The Music Club was first organized in December 1922 with the mission to "promote better music, social welfare, and scholastic standards not only in our school, town and county, but wherever it may be demanded. The world or nation today is in need of proper music as it is in need of proper literature," as described by the Woodstown 1923 Yearbook, the "Susan Tatler."

This group began by producing a musical showcase in 1923 created by students and faculty called "Princess Chrysanthemum." It was a fundraiser to support the Woodstown Radio Club (which I'm still researching).

The success of the 1923 showcase led to the production of a full-scale operetta the following year titled: "All At Sea" featuring music by Gilbert and Sullivan. This operetta was the first of its kind at Woodstown High School, as operettas were the precursor to musical theatre. Music was accompanied by the Woodstown High School Orchestra. The production played February 14 and 15, 1924.

Thus, we can safely say the Woodstown Music Club introduced musical theatre to the high school 100 years ago.

The Cast and Creative Team of ALL AT SEA, the first operetta produced by the Woodstown Music Club at Woodstown High School, February 14 and 15, 1924.

For the 100th anniversary, we are producing "Brigadoon," a musical about a village in Scotland that only appears out of the mist for one day every 100 years. We've also made it a tradition, in the spirit of Brigadoon, to produce it every 15 years — the first two being in 1994 and 2009.

As for the Woodstown Music Club, they existed until the late-1920s, producing operettas, until the Theatre Department produced solely Junior and Senior Class plays. Modern musicals, as we know them today, were introduced by the Drama Club in 1984 with "Babes in Arms." Thus, "Brigadoon" marks the 41st consecutive musical produced at Woodstown High School — how exciting!

If you attend a performance of "Brigadoon" this March, be sure to visit me representing the Curtain Call Club in the lobby to learn more about "All At Sea" and the history of our Theatre Department — and how you can help contribute to the lasting success of our Theatre Department through support of the Curtain Call Club.

Performances of "Brigadoon" run Feb 29 (3:30 p.m.), March 1, 2, 7, 8 (7 p.m.) and March 9 (2 p.m.). All performances are at Woodstown High School , 140 East Ave. Woodstown, N.J. 08098.

For tickets, visit www.whsdrama.org (or click the link). 

For more about The Curtain Call Club of Woodstown, visit www.CurtainCallClub.org (or click the link)