HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL

By Janet Reed Ahearn & Dan Ahearn
With Music & Lyrics by Russell Kaplan & Sara Wordsworth
Directed by Michelle Bossy
Choreographer: Taylor Haven-Holt

Produced by Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters, between Park and Madison

Take a group of high-school students waiting at the bus stop on a Monday morning after a crazy weekend and watch the hilarity and anxiety explode due to unreturned texts from a girlfriend, parental pressures, friendship tensions, fashion mistakes that have "loser" written all over them, athletic ambitions and academic terrors. The teens express their expectations and uncertainties in the haunting song "High School." The bland announcer over the loudspeaker tells everyone that fellow student Josh Becker committed suicide over the weekend. Monologues convey each student's reaction—including hidden fears that bullying may have led to Josh's death. "Teenage Brain" is a brilliant point-counterpoint song that captures the panic of trying to retain the massive amount of information students are expected to know in every subject they encounter. "Gimme a Break" gets faster and faster as the time for lunch, fun and hanging with friends is running out. "Ask Me to Dance" reveals the dread and excitement of going to the high-school dance. By the end of the day, many truths are confronted as the students learn to face their lives with hope.

Featuring Javier Spivey, Kennebrew Taylor, Curtiss Cook, Hollis Alpert, Adrian Richburg, Zoe Wolfe, Phil Maldari, Jose Useche, Sarah Weiss, Caitelin McCoy, Daniel Froot, Katie Welles