Where does Zachary Mazouat go from here?
Morristown High School’s new theatrical director debuts this weekend with Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, which pretty much covers the entire human condition in three acts.
The people of Grover’s Corners quietly go out about their business, the business of everyday life. They go to school, go to work, fall in love, raise families. Eventually, nature runs its course.
This low-wattage drama unfolds in countless towns, generation after generation. Yet we seldom take time to realize how even our most mundane moments are precious…until time’s up.
Our Town is sobering stuff, and to expect a bunch of high school kids to convey it convincingly is a tall order. But that’s what Theater is all about, according to Zach, 25.
“There’s nothing more exhilarating than going on stage and not knowing what’s going to happen,” he said.
At a preview this week, most of the surprises were pleasant.
OUR TOWN
Morristown High School, 50 Early St.
Nov. 22 at 7:30 pm
Nov. 23 at 7:30 pm
Nov. 24 at 2 pm
Tickets: $11 for adults, $6 for students, faculty and seniors, reserve online.
Senior Estefania Giraldo put a new spin on the role of Stage Manager, narrator of the story.
Traditionally, the character is played by a wizened gent. But the bold casting switch works in this case.
A vibrant young woman who should be juggling Saturday dates instead grapples with expiration dates. Estefania plays against type, and it’s powerful to see someone so full of life contemplating mortality.
Likewise, Camille Bourland, as Emily Webb, skillfully straddles the hereafter and the here-and-now.
“I think the show is beautiful and poignant. Everyone can relate to it, because everyone is from their own small town,” said Zach.
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For him, that small town was Mount Olive, where he made his stage debut as Harvey Johnson in an eighth-grade production of Bye Bye Birdie.
He became president of the musical theater group at the College of New Jersey, where he studied art education. This fall, he started as an art teacher at the Thomas Jefferson and Woodland schools.
After directing rehearsals at the high school each afternoon, he dashes to the Cranford Dramatic Club, where he is preparing to appear in the rock musical Spring Awakening. He played Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, the club’s last production.
“I like to take what I love and share it with people, and see the ‘aha’ moments,” Zach said during the intermission of Our Town.
The Pulitzer-winning 1938 drama struck him as appropriate for several reasons. It’s an American classic with a large cast. The story is character-driven, requiring minimal sets and few fancy costumes. And it’s G-rated.
His new charges at Morristown High welcomed the challenge, he said.
“I was blown away not only by their level of talent and training, but by their seriousness. Everyone was really into it,” said Zach.
“These actors are so strong. Where did that come from? When I was in high school, I wasn’t good at all. They seem so mature.”
So where do they go from Our Town? Their director said there is only one logical choice for the spring musical:
Seussical.
