FOR THE LOVE OF THE ARTS
Gray intended to run track in college and study English at the University of Southern California . However , he became indecisive , and pondered the possibility of staying in NYC for acting . He wound up in a program at New York University Gallatin which allowed him to audition for shows , write essays on his work , and ultimately use his professional career as the focus of his studies .
In 2020 , before the COVID-19 pandemic broke , Gray returned to the Prep at the request of FPDS moderator TJ O ’ Sullivan ’ 98 to speak to the students in his Fundamentals of Acting class . Gray is ultimately happy that he decided to stay in New York to attend college and further his career .
The community aspect fostered at the Prep is one of the things he loves most about acting . “ I would say my favorite thing about acting is the sense of joy — especially the sense of joy it brings within a community ,” Gray stated . “ People want to be around that joy . They want to see that up on the stage . They want to see that on film . That ’ s the stuff that kind of brings people together ,” he continued .
While starring as young Ray Donovan in the 2022 film Ray Donovan : The Movie , Gray reflected on the sevenseason journey and the familial atmosphere developed amongst the cast of the show it is based on . “ It was a surreal moment for me because it was kind of everything I wanted to do ,” he stated . “ I was working with people that I ’ ve always looked up to . I thought to myself , ‘ At some point in my life , I will build this kind of family and theater troupe ,’” he concluded .
I would say my favorite thing about acting is the sense of joy — especially the sense of joy it brings within a community … That ’ s the stuff that kind of brings people together .”
— Christopher Gray ’ 15
A Few Good Faculty and Staff
On February 15 , 2013 , music teacher Douglas Otis and FPDS moderator TJ O ’ Sullivan ’ 98 sat down for a postmortem on the musical Oklahoma , which students had performed at the Prep the week prior . The exercise led to a discussion of what plays the Prep should license for the next year ’ s productions .
“ Those choices in large part depend on prospects for casting ,” explained Otis . “ You can ’ t pick a script only because you like it . There must be some degree of faith that you can cast it ; who is available to play what parts . Some would say that is pre-casting — a real no-no amongst those in the high-school age group . However , it would be a difficult situation to put yourself into if you paid for the leasing rights to a script and then couldn ’ t cast it ,” he went on .
They liked the idea of doing A Few Good Men , but while looking at the different roles , the two realized that the play wasn ’ t castable for a student production . However , Otis noted , “ certain faculty members would fit into particular roles really well .”
The first on their list of choices was religious studies teacher Nelson Ritter ’ 96 for the role of Capt . Jack Ross . Then math teacher Lauren Zefran for the role of Lt . Galloway .
“ After that , the dominoes fell . We laughed at the prospect of a faculty production but concluded it might be fun ,” said Otis . continued …
The faculty cast and student crew of A Few Good Men in the spring of 2014 .
BELOW : Viele as Lt . Daniel Kaffee , Zefran as Lt . Galloway , and Febles as Lt . Sam Weinberg in A Few Good Men .
Classics teacher and school archivist Louis DiGiorno ’ 88 P ’ 26 informed the two that Prep faculty of the mid-1800s through the 1920s performed in the school ’ s plays . There was no turning back once they had that tidbit of information from the source . Otis and O ’ Sullivan moved forward with notifying the 14 faculty members they had chosen for the main cast .
“ We were all like , ‘ It ’ s not gonna happen , because there ’ s no way you can get all the faculty together in the same room ,’” English teacher Michael Viele ’ 01 , who played the role of Lt . Daniel Kaffee , remembered .
In addition to Ritter , Zefran , and Viele , the cast featured George Febles P ’ 15 ’ 22 , Daniel Nolan , Edward Jennings , Patrick Deane ’ 88 P ’ 25 , and Matthew Bobo ( social studies department ), Chris Helmsley ( math department ), Russel Baker ( modern languages department ), and Randy Pedro P ’ 17 ’ 19 ( Diversity , Equity & Inclusion , religious studies ).
WINTER 2024 VOLUME 44 , ISSUE 1
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