Florida Catholic | New Drama Director

New high school drama director stages Disney musical

PAT LANGFORD | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Published: 10.19.07

Vince Castellano, new drama department director at Pope John Paul II High School in Boca Raton.

Vince Castellano, 55, formerly of Walt Disney in Orlando, is Pope John Paul’s new theater director. The troupe's first play of the season, Disney's "High School Musical," opens Nov. 30 with additional perfomances Dec. 1 and 2. For ticket information, call (561) 314-2157.
COURTESY PHOTO

BOCA RATON | Pope John Paul II High School has a new faculty member kicking off the school year with a popular student stage production.

Vince Castellano, 55, formerly of Walt Disney World in central Florida, is the school's new theater director. For his opening performance, he plans to stage "High School Musical," the hot Disney production about two teens, an athlete and a really smart girl, who meet at a party and end up auditioning for a school musical, which turns their world and their school upside down.

"It's brought out a lot of responses," Castellano said about the production, planned to open in November. "Disney has a very clean-cut image. By doing a show like this — 'High School Musical' — it's very easy to incorporate the Catholic philosophy with the Disney style."

The curtain rises for the first time Nov. 30 and performances will run through Dec. 2 at the school auditorium.

"High School Musical" requires a large cast, but that is no problem. Castellano heads a program that includes about 100 performers. They meet three to four times a week after school and on Saturdays.

Castellano said the cast includes students who have been part of the theater department for several years and some less-experienced actors. Some local middle school students are invited to join in with some stage time, too.

"Our theater department not only has our group of drama kids, but it now has athletes in it, cheerleaders in it. A great number of our students are being exposed to the arts," said a delighted Principal Sister Eileen Sullivan. "It's great not only in terms of the actors and actresses, but the other behind-the-scenes talents that are also being utilized. They seem really excited about it. Indeed I am. We're looking forward to it."

A former Boca Raton resident, Castellano is not a new face at Pope John Paul II. He directed several plays for the school in the 1990s. On a return visit, he stopped by the school to attend a production when he met up with Sister Sullivan.

"When I saw him there, I casually mentioned to him, 'Hey, Vince, I think, maybe, it's time for you to come home,'" she said. "So I had to say to him then, 'Please contact me,' and that's where we began."

Castellano comes from Disney World where he worked his way up the ladder from a front-desk job to convention services for the Disney Yacht and Beach Club. His next step was a position in the Disney theater department staging live shows, but after his visit to Boca Raton and the school, he felt called back home.

Originally from Massachusetts, Castellano, an education professional for 21 years, moved to Florida in 1992 to be with his mother after his father died. He is a parishioner of St. Jude Parish in Boca Raton and the parish's former director of religious education.

"I sort of missed the kids," he said. "I missed teaching. I just missed the whole dynamic. I've always prided myself in devoting myself to grooming young people, and to preparing and helping them have an appreciation of the arts."

The new director holds theater and teaching degrees. His career experience includes a position at North Broward Preparatory School, where he served as chairman of the Fine Arts Department and directed plays and works, including "Sweet Charity" and "The Scarlet Pimpernel," received outstanding marks from local critics and national awards.

Angela Miller, a senior and co-president of the school drama group at Pope John Paul II, was a bit skeptical when she first heard about the new director and the opening production.

"So far it's been a lot of fun," said the promising young actress, who earned recognition last year from the Cappies, short for The Critics and Awards Program for High School Theater, for her performance in "Pippin." With the honor came the opportunity to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

"'High School Musical' — at first we all thought it was going to be silly, but it's a lot of fun for all of us," she said. "We're all having a great time. When it first all started happening, it was almost like hope was high. Everybody was involved and everybody was talking about it. All the teachers were talking about it and for the first time our theater program was really getting recognized within the school."

Twenty serious drama students at the school are involved in the drama club and competition. In addition to earning high school credits for courses, they take part in a dual-enrollment program in which they attend Lynn University one day a week and earn three college credits.

The group competes against drama students from other schools, performing one-act plays and individual event competitions in their district. This year, the students' aims are set on the state competition in Tampa in April 2008.

As he takes on his new role, Castellano is trying to get a variety of students involved in the arts outside the hard-core acting group, even the athletes.

"I'm very sensitive to their schedules of sports," he said, "so I work around them rather than them working around me. They've come to me and said, 'You know, you have me now; we're going to try out.' That's kind of neat, because here comes a student who might never be exposed to theater — who might not even attend a show — but now is in."

In addition to heading the theater department, Castellano teaches courses in acting, debate and Christian theology.

"Being a strong Catholic and very active in my faith … this gives me a great combination to do the arts in a Catholic setting and work for the school," he said. "Pope is one of the finest theater departments that I've worked for and they've come a long way. I am very grateful to be here."

"It's very good to have him back," Sister Sullivan said.

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New high school drama director stages Disney musical

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