By J.D. O’Gara

Jason “Jace” Dimatteo is just 17, and he became president of the Franklin High School Theatre Company (FHSTC) last year, at the end of his junior year. In the meantime, a Proposition 2 1/2 override came to a vote in Franklin and didn’t pass. Franklin High School’s theatre arts teacher, Skylar Grossman, was let go, and Theatre Arts was essentially dropped as a course of study.

“At the beginning of this year, we were a little lost,” says Jace, who had never directed but still wanted to put on a play with other students this fall. He had seen The Outsiders, on Broadway, and felt the “timeless” theme was ideal for FHSTC to perform, but he needed to do some convincing. “It was stressful,” he says, “It seemed like every idea we had and brought to administration was just shot down immediately. There wasn’t a clear solution on what we could do to run the show, because there had to be faculty supporting our rehearsals.”

Dimatteo was determined to make The Outsiders happen one way or another. The senior planned a production calendar, character work activities, learned to set up a ticketing website, applied for the rights to put on the show by himself, printed posters, created programs and did his own photo shoot for promotional activities. “I acted like I knew what I was doing. It was hard. I had to think of every possible situation that could arise,” he says.

The hesitant go-ahead came, if a faculty member would be present during rehearsals. Jace and other FHSTC students had to ask FHS teachers to volunteer time, and many generously complied.

“As we got further into weeks of it, (asking teachers to volunteer) became a burden, and I hated to ask them, but I also knew we had to open our show,” says Dimatteo, “In the end, they came together and really pushed through. I am really grateful,” he says, thanking Ms. Amy Edson, Mr. Kevin Enos, Ms. Danielle Laplante, Ms. Shelly Laquinta, Ms. Helen Hoffenberg, Ms. Gina Johnson, Ms. Madelyn Degutis, Ms. Maria Gentile, Ms. Katherine Quigley, Ms. Jennifer Briggs and Mr. David Soulard. 

Between 50-60 students were involved in the production.

“I think the way Jason stepped up was so amazing,” says sophomore Kayla Harwood, part of the crew. “I know many people who have no comfort at school and T-co (sic) is the only thing they look forward to at the end of a school day.” 

In October, the school was, ultimately, able to hire a theatre advisor and program director on a part-time basis through the rest of the year – Chloe Selznick, a 2020 FHS graduate who recently her BFA from Hofstra University.

 “When I saw the override wasn’t going to go through, I needed to do something to help. I wouldn’t have made it through (high school) without theatre and the music program,” says Selznick a former FHSTC student.

Describing the current FHSTC students as “a very resilient and passionate group,” Selznick takes her hat off to Jason. “Without an adult in the room, he had to take charge. There was a lot of student effort as well,” she says. 

“I feel like I’m getting a lot of recognition for the whole program, but it really couldn’t be done without every single person we have doing what they do,” says Jason, proud of the students he directed, “I hope that people can learn that the things that they love shouldn’t’ be limited by anything.”

Jason heavily credits fellow senior Eden Donovan, 

“I was both the head of set design and construction for the company, and I’m the social media ambassador and marketing manager,” says Donovan, who also acted as “Dallas” in the play. Donovan, pleased with the outcome, says she’s “very grateful that we have all these people that are willing to get involved and stay involved and fight for this company,” admitting it took “a lot of trial and error” to get things off the ground, including the set build.

“We didn’t really have a tech director locked in for the year or any idea of when we would get that figured out,” explains Donovan, adding, “(The school administration) wanted it to be safe, and even though most of our tech crew does know how to be safe with tools, because of Stagecraft classes in the past, they wanted to make sure we had supervision.” Luckily, Mr. Ryan Fitzgerald, who had worked as tech director in the past, volunteered. “He came in for a day after doing CORI checks and getting all set up with the administration, and we built the whole set in one day,” says Donovan.

“(The Outsiders) was a different experience than past theater shows, but in the end, putting on a great show just felt like such a wonderful reward for all the hard work every member of T-Co. has been putting in to keep this company alive,” says Riley MacDonald, who acted as “Jerry” in the production,” adding, “… I think there was no way we were letting this program die, so if it means more work to keep doing what we love, so be it.”

Junior Charlie Nash, who played “Ponyboy,” echoes that sentiment. “It felt awesome to be a piece of something that would show everybody that we were still making awesome things,” he says. 

Dimatteo has hopes that in the future, students in FHSTC will once again have a teacher to lead the way. In the meantime, he hopes to leave a packet of resources and tips, “so in the future it’s not something (other students) have to completely figure out on their own,” he says, “I learned everything I know about running the company from Mr. Grossman, and I’m trying to teach as much as I know.”