soon turned over to Michelle Massa, who choreographed the first
production in 1995. According to
Massa, over the past two decades
there have been 170 performers
in the show. As one might expect,
her biggest challenge every year
is coordinating rehearsals – especially over the holidays. “We have
27 actors in the cast. Every year
the amount of new cast members
changes but usually the number
is very low and the people returning is quite high. For example,
this year we only have three new
cast members. The new cast mem-
New Jersey Stage
bers need to be at every rehearsal
since they are the ones who have
to learn the show. So I have to create a schedule around the ‘newbies’ but trying to make sure that
the majority of alumni can attend
as well.”
Two alumni who’ve been with
the show the longest are brother
and sister Joe and Katie Riley. Joe
has been involved longer than
any other cast member – 16 years.
For all of that time he has sung
the country western ballad “One
More Angel in Heaven,” which
also includes some harmonica
December 2014
pg 60