Since day one, students at Jackson Academy have been challenged and thrilled with the 2022 production of “West Side Story.” The classic retelling of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” required vigorous choreography, dialect rehearsals, vocal training, educational sessions to introduce students to Puerto Rican culture, set building, and countless rehearsals. But as Director of Theatre Arts Kerri Sanders pointed out during her opening comments at Sunday’s performance, 2022 is not the first time that has been so.
In the fall of 2008, JA produced “West Side Story” while the Performing Arts Center was under construction. JA held that performance in the Activities Building. To help celebrate this year’s production, 2008 participants returned to watch the current show in a facility some of them had never performed in or seen a performance in, but they helped support with hard work, fundraising, and prayer.
Wally Kennedy, JA’s choral director in 2008, was on hand Sunday to see the “West Side Story” performance. He pointed out that the cast, crew, and parents of that era were permitted to write scripture on the concrete floors and studs of the PAC before the paint, wallpaper, and flooring were installed. “JA students today are literally standing on the Word of God,” he said at Sunday’s performance. The scripture is primarily in the choral music room, but Kennedy said it is also written throughout the building.
