Opening night for the Upper School fall play, Dead Man Walking, is a little over a month away, and the students have been working hard on this year’s production. The show will be staged in Founders Hall from Wednesday, November 8 through Saturday, November 11.
The talented cast will include (in order of appearance):
Sister Helen Prejean - Bridget Ewing ‘24
Sister Marie Augusta Neal/Sister Helen’s Mother/Woman #1 - Charlotte Sussman ‘25
Herbie - Jake Breslow ‘27
Louisa Montoya - Louisa Marks-Sergent ’25
Matt Poncelet - Henry D'Andrea ‘24
Guard #1/Man #3/Mitch Poncelet - Joey Laviola ‘26
Female Guard/Mirabeau/Nurse - Juliana Falzon ‘26
Chaplin Farley - Jay Spencer ‘25
Sister Colleen - Shira Radin ‘24
Reporter #1 - Tyler Pottratz ’26
Reporter #2 - Julia Karosen ‘26
Reporter #3 - Gwyneth Geoghan ‘25
Purvis Slade/Hilton Barber - Adin Kasmin ‘24
Lucille Poncelet - Indiya Weinmann ‘25
Guy Gilardi/Walter Delacroix/Man #2/Warden Hartman - Oliver Blum ‘26
Clyde Percy/Trapp - Patrick Birnbaum ‘25
Marybeth Percy - Kaitlin Brown ‘24
Earl Delacroix/Governor Fredericks - Daniel Raimer ‘26
Mrs. Delacroix - Gwyneth Geoghan ‘25
Hope Percy/Emily Percy - Sydney Samson ‘25
Reporter #4 - Suri Shah ‘27
Man #1- Jack Gonyea ‘25
Woman #2 - Andie Bergman ‘25
Woman #3 - Gigi Graziano ‘27
Sgt. Believeau - Jack Gonyea ’25
Troy Poncelt - Jake Greenwood ‘28
Jim Poncelet - David Mattle ‘30
The show is being directed by Broadway veteran Jim Ruttman, a theater and dance teacher at MBS.
Dead Man Walking by Tim Robbins is a play based on Sister Helen Prejean's memoir as well as the Academy Award-winning film of the same name. It explores the emotional and moral complexities surrounding capital punishment. Centering on Sister Prejean’s relationship with a death row inmate, the play offers a gripping portrayal of the human side of both the condemned and the victims' families. Dead Man Walking challenges the audience to confront their beliefs about justice and forgiveness while shedding light on the deeply divisive issue of the death penalty.
The play will be staged in Founders Hall at 7:30 p.m. on November 8, 10, and 11. There will be a 3:30 p.m. matinee on Thursday, November 9.