Pali High’s Performing Artists Gear Up for Another Busy Year

By MATTHEW MEYER | Reporter

In a town so filled with star-power, it’s no surprise that Palisades Charter High School’s theater and arts programs often offer a glimpse at the next generation of talented performers.

This year projects to be no different—Pali High’s thespians are already hard at work.

Writers and cast members of “Friday Night Live,” the school’s “Saturday Night Live”-inspired sketch comedy show, were busily honing their craft a month before school even started.

Alumna Alana Kern, a former president of the group who’s gone on to study at UC Berkeley and the Upright Citizens Brigade theater in Hollywood, returned to campus to lead summer writing workshops.

Drama teacher and director Nancy Fracchiolla told the Palisadian-Post that the voluntary meetings were a first—she was thrilled when some 15 students arrived with scripts in hand, ready to pitch ideas and develop characters.

With a significant portion of the show’s writing staff having graduated last year, there’s plenty of room for new voices to step forward and seize a more central role—the early enthusiasm suggests this year’s cast is ready and willing.

The ensemble will perform for the first time this November.

Pali High’s first week of school also marked auditions for the fall musical, Mel Brooks’ “The Producers.” It’s an irreverent and hysterical classic that delights in caricatures of Nazis and show business-types, among many others.

Fracchiolla said she’s looking forward to exploring the “real comedic promise” of the musical.

“We have this wonderful tool of satire and comedy to drive home important points,” she told the Post.

With opening night set for October, set-design and table-reads are already underway.

Members of the school’s excellent marching band and orchestra will assemble under musical director Elizabeth Stoyanovich to provide the score.

As for the cast: “We’ll rehearse every minute we can,” Fracchiolla said.

It’s business as usual for Pali High’s young performers. Creatives hit the ground running.