Family Tides
In the week leading up to Atlantic Christian School’s Nov. 21-22 production of “The Sound of Music,” (Youth Edition), the school becomes a flurry of activity as teachers, students, parents, staff and volunteers rehearse scenes, finish costumes and add final touches to the scenery.
At the center of it all is Genevieve Huff, head of the drama department and the show’s producer and director, working scene by scene with students. But getting to this point, she said, is only possible because of the many people who help the program thrive.
“The work that goes into it is unbelievably so much more work than anyone would realize because there’s so much that goes on behind the scenes,” Huff said. “But it’s all worth it.”
Huff’s passion for the stage is unmistakable. When she stepped into her role a few years ago directing the school’s production of “Peter Pan,” she said she’ll never forget the audience’s gasp as the curtains opened to reveal Captain Hook’s pirate ship.
Since then, the program has snowballed, with enthusiasm among students and parents continuing to grow. Even behind-the-scenes roles like stage crew had waitlists this year.
“After that first show, everyone’s like, ‘I think I want to be in the next play. I think I want to be involved. How can I be involved?’” Huff said.
And the excitement has only continued to grow.
“People anticipate it like, ‘I can’t wait to see the next one.’ That’s such an awesome feeling,” Huff said.
Beyond the auditorium, classrooms have been transformed into staging areas for costumes and set design. Inside Rhapsody Hahn-Chaney’s classroom, temporarily lined with racks of labeled garment bags, she and parent volunteer Christy Wagner talked through the work of capturing the musical’s iconic style, describing it as a “color story” that moves from somber to bright. Quick changes and staying organized were also priorities this year.
“Almost every actor has three costume changes—some have seven. So, we have them all labeled and numbered, helping them to have everything where they need it in the right order,” said Hahn-Chaney, head of costuming for the school’s drama program. “It’s more of a technical challenge this year.”
Before joining the school to teach computers, Hahn-Chaney spent years in the fashion industry. She estimates about 30% of the costumes are made unique and about 70% are repurposed, and since stepping in, she has found ways to maximize that work by cataloguing every costume the program owns and expanding its reach.
“We have photographed and cataloged every piece and launched an online catalog where people can actually go online and rent our costumes now. So, we have actually brought in some money to the drama department,” she said, adding that she also developed a Facebook networking group that connects South Jersey performing arts directors, costumers and set designers.
During rehearsals, Wagner confers with Hahn-Chaney about taking a dress up a few inches. The pair joke about shuttling costumes back and forth in Wagner’s kids’ backpacks after she works on them at home on her industrial sewing machine. With a background also in the fashion industry and her 11-year-old daughter, Analiese, in the cast, she has embraced the chance to contribute.
“For her, it’s normal because I’m always doing some kind of sewing things at home,” Wagner said. “I’ve been sewing since I was 10. My mom is a seamstress, so she always had a sewing machine, and she just taught me how to do it.”
Like Wagner, Lee Martin first got involved when his daughters were involved in the plays. Now the technical director, Martin has been supporting the program ever since.
“Being involved in the arts was what I saw really made my girls come alive. It’s what they loved, and it’s where they could really shine, not in a proud look-at-me way, but in a ‘this is a gift God gave me, and I get to use it, and I love it’ kind of thing,” he said. “Obviously, as a parent, you want to support your kids in what they’re passionate about and, from my perspective, what God made them to do.”
Like others, he has watched the drama program evolve into a strong community.
“We’ve developed a really great flow of how we work, really great friendships. Inside jokes, all the fun stuff … I think there’s value in the kids for that because they see the teamwork; they see their parents supporting what they’re doing. They see their teachers, volunteers and staff members working together,” Martin said. “It takes so many more people and so much more time than anybody probably realizes to give these kids an hour and a half of a professional environment to perform in, and so I really, really value everybody that’s willing to do that.”
Much like Martin watching his daughters thrive in theater, Huff is experiencing the same; her daughters have taken part in the plays over the years, with her daughter Luci cast as Liesl von Trapp this year. The productions have also become a family effort, with her husband and sister helping behind the scenes.
As a parent, she said it’s an “honor” to share the experience.
“To be part of something I get to see them be passionate about, it’s a win-win. It’s family time; we do this together,” she said.
Woven through that sense of connection and community is the program’s foundation of faith. Huff said that at its heart, the program aims to “tell a story and honor God with our gifts.”
“We do it for the glory of God, and that’s not just a Christian school answer. Yes, it’s our passion, but I think everyone involved believes that passion is from the Lord,” Huff said. “For us, telling a story is more than telling a story—it’s pointing to God, even if it’s a secular show.”
Madison Russ is an award-winning journalist, copy editor and adjunct professor of communication based in Atlantic County. An Ocean City native, Madison is passionate about telling stories that matter to locals, often spotlighting nonprofits and exploring the area’s vibrant arts scene.
