Dutchess Day visits the Round Table

MILLBROOK — What happens when a middle school student from the present travels back to the day of King Arthur? Music, laughs and a serious Camelot upgrade. The sixth grade of Dutchess Day School recently presented “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court,” a musical adaptation of the novel by Mark Twain. The show was performed in the Abu-Haidar auditorium. The students were directed by Susan Bialek and Vanessa Park. Alison MacFarlane designed the set. Numerous parents helped out with costumes, props, photography, sets and practical and emotional support.The modern fellow, nicknamed “Sir Boss” by the medieval cast of characters, was played by Connor Finemore. He met Merlin the Magician, Morgan Le Fey, Lancelot, Arthur and Guinevere, played by Will Stack, Amelia Smith, Benjamin Meyers, Jack Ellis and Katherine Fousek, respectively. Other characters he encountered included: a clever page and a diabolical slave trader, both played by Corey Rundquist; two trouble-making jesters, played by Sarah Chalk and Alexander Salnikoff; a buffoon of a knight, Sir Sagamore, also played by Alexander Salnikoff; and four industrious, if emotionally overwrought, ladies-in-waiting, played by Ava Quartararo, Amanda Luzzi, Tiffany Hatfield and Pamela Yang.The show was a delight for all ages. While the original novel was published in 1889, the tale remained fresh and funny 122 years later. Many different iterations of Twain’s classic have come to audiences in the intervening years, but the Class of 2014 made it fresh and their own. Audiences, both for the school performance on Wednesday, Nov. 17, and the public performance on Monday, Nov. 21, were delighted by the adventures of the middle school time traveler. For more information visit www.dutchessday.org or contact Hillary Henderson, director of development and parent affairs, at 845-677-5014 or henderson@dutchessday.org. Submitted by Hillary Henderson, director of DDS Development and Parent Affairs.