Friday, May 1, 7:30 pm, Saturday, May 2, 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm, and Sunday, May 3, 2:00 pm Spieker Center for the Arts
Elle Woods takes on Harvard Law in this high-energy musical about confidence, resilience, and discovering that being yourself is your greatest strength. Tickets on sale Monday, Apr. 20.
Winter Play
Lost Girl
Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 5-7, 7:30 pm Spieker Center for the Arts
This bold, contemporary reimagining of Peter Pan explores what happens after the fairy tale ends. Lost Girl picks up where Peter Pan leaves off, following Wendy Darling as she wrestles with lingering memories of Neverland. Written by Kimberly Belflower (John Proctor Is the Villain), the play challenges romanticized notions of childhood and explores themes of love, loss, and renewal.
Fall Play
Humbug! A Menlo Carol
Nov. 13-16 This spirited adaptation of A Christmas Carol brings Dickens’s timeless tale to the Menlo stage with music, mischief, and holiday magic.
Spring Musical
Legally Blonde
May 1-3 This high-energy, feel-good musical is packed with catchy songs, big dance numbers, and plenty of humor, following Elle Woods on her journey of confidence, ambition, and self-discovery.
The Creative Process
Urinetown Set Design, by Page to Stage
Crafting Creativity from Page to Stage
The Urinetown set design and execution were a collaborative effort between the creative team and students from the Page to Stage class.
It’s inspiring to see how an idea, sparked by creativity, evolves into a fully realized stage production—created by students, for students.
Working on a project like this brings a deep sense of fulfillment, as we witness an idea grow and take form. It’s a powerful, tangible reminder of what we can achieve together.
Theater is far more than what’s written on the page or performed on the stage.
It’s about joy, balance, harmony, order, design, and composition. Theater is a process, a laboratory where we can experiment with creative expression and storytelling. It builds self-confidence and fosters empathy. Theater gives us permission to have fun and make a difference, even if all we have is a bare stage and a light bulb!
Menlo’s Upper School drama program includes courses in drama and musical theater in addition to producing full-length plays each fall, winter, and spring. Past productions have included Spelling Bee, Mathilda, Peter and the Starcatcher, Little Shop of Horrors, Heathers, Twelfth Night, Cabaret, The Laramie Project, Fiddler on the Roof, The Miracle Worker, Urinetown, The Diary of Anne Frank,Avenue Q, and more.
“If all we had was a bare stage with one light bulb, we could still do theater!”
—Lou Volpe, Drama Teacher, Harry S. Truman high school, Levittown, PA
Menlo Drama Gives Back
The Urinetown company raised $1,518.85 for Menlo Drama to Give Back to One Drop, a global company that strives to improve water access across the globe, recognized by the United Nations for their impact across the world.
Menlo Drama Gives Back has raised and distributed almost $71,000 to various charities globally. Menlo’s Drama Department strives to “Give Back” both on and off stage. Through donations during our productions, we encourage public support for both national and international programs benefitting people affected by health, wellness, and community issues.
Thank you for your generous donation to Menlo Gives Back. Menlo School does not provide acknowledgment letters for these donations since Menlo is not the ultimate receiver of those funds. We are grateful for your support of the Menlo School Drama Department and for supporting the charity chosen by our brilliant student actors.
This class can be taken in either FALL or SPRING as a semester-long course or taken both semesters as a year-long course.
This one-semester introductory theatre course helps you discover your individual voice through the fundamental elements of all things on stage. Through improvisation, observation, character development, and performance technique, you will help bring to life stories that are diverse and engaging, including but not limited to, monologues, scene study, and performance-based classroom presentations. By developing a greater understanding and appreciation of what theatre is, along with your unique perspective, Drama On-Stage can help you build confidence as you “bring it all together” in a culminating project.
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Menlo Upper School Drama
The Upper School Spring Play:
Peter and the Starcatcher
Thursday-Sunday, Apr. 28-30 Spieker Center for the Arts Buy Tickets!
With some ordinary rope, a couple of ladders, a few household appliances, two toy boats, and, most important, one another, a motley group of seafarers and storytellers take us on a journey you’ll never forget!
Adapted by Palo Alto’s own Rick Elice from Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson’s 2004 children’s novel, this play with music tells the story of how a nameless, angst-ridden orphan became the immortal Peter Pan, how Hook became Hook, how the Lost Boys became lost, how Tinker found her bell, and how Wendy, never gave up hope.
This play is all about storytelling as a lively art, as a comic tale that bounds the tellers and the listeners together like never before. Simultaneously being told and celebrated by a merry band of seafarers and Mermaids, the story is as elaborate, simple, cozy, and scary as the best bedtime stories are. Its elements include an ocean voyage, a shipwreck, a cargo of something called stardust, a blissful Edwardian chorus line of mermaids, and three orphans who have never seen the light of day before.
Find your way to this magical tale of Peter and the Starcatcher, ”For once you have found your way there. You can never, never grow old.”*
* “Never Never Land” from Peter Pan, the musical, lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green.
The American High School Theatre Festival (AHSTF) selected Menlo Drama to perform four performances at the prestigious Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, July 30, 2022-August 12, 2022! Take a look at their incredible experience.
Where we’ve been!
Here’s a look back at the 2021-2022 drama season. It was thrilling to have Menlo Drama return to the stage with students performing to in-person audiences in Menlo’s new state-of-the-art Spieker Center.
Spelling Bee
Spelling Bee features an eclectic group of six middle schoolers vying for the spelling championship of a lifetime. While candidly disclosing hilarious and touching stories from their home lives, the tweens spell their way to the coveted title of winner.
Senior Spotlight—a historical retrospective of Menlo Drama seniors showcasing their talents over their last four years onstage along with newly filmed live performances on the Spieker stage. This video retrospective and recorded-live-performance hybrid celebrates the drama accomplishments of Amay Goel, Kate Richardson, Peter Hanson Tucker Gold, Uma Misha as well as many others.
A heartwarming story based on the beloved novel by Roald Dahl about an extraordinary girl who, armed with a sharp mind and a vivid imagination, dares to take a stand and change her destiny!
This class can be taken in either FALL or SPRING as a semester-long course or taken both semesters as a year-long course.
This one-semester introductory theatre course helps you discover your individual voice through the fundamental elements of all things on stage. Through improvisation, observation, character development, and performance technique, you will help bring to life stories that are diverse and engaging, including but not limited to, monologues, scene study, and performance-based classroom presentations. By developing a greater understanding and appreciation of what theatre is, along with your unique perspective, Drama On-Stage can help you build confidence as you “bring it all together” in a culminating project.
MENLO SCHOOL Since 1915
