By Graydon Webb

The winter season is just around the corner, and with this time of year comes Franklin High School’s annual performing arts events! From musical-lovers to concertgoers, there is something for everyone on offer this year. We spoke with the school’s Visual & Performing Arts Director, Diane Plouffe, to get some more information on the school’s musical activities.

Plouffe began teaching middle school orchestra in Franklin in 1997 and became the Director of Music back in 2016. Like many districts across the state, Franklin Public Schools has faced difficult budget decisions in recent years that have affected several program areas, including performing arts. Franklin suffered reductions in the performing arts programs during the school day. 

Last year, Franklin High’s theater program was cut from the school day due to a combination of ongoing budgetary constraints and enrollment shifts. With it went a multitude of classes including Theatre I, II, and III; Stagecraft; and even Musical Theater Workshop.  The high school wasn’t the only one affected by these budget cuts, either. Franklin Middle School’s musical theater program - the Footlighters - have been facing some tragedy of their own. Their lighting system has begun to fail.  Without proper funding, fixing this will be quite the uphill battle. 

Fortunately, the drama program at Franklin High has stayed alive through the use of additional funding allocations to the district and donations, allowing for a drama club to meet after school and perform musicals and plays.  Headed by alumnus Chloe Selznick, the group is looking forward to bringing the hit musical Mean Girls to the stage in November (see the list below for details). 

As Plouffe tells us, the afterschool drama club has a “limited budget,” and they are “facing a lot of challenges.  With these budget cuts, she says it’s challenging to maintain “the level of instructional support it had before.” Plouffe laments the loss of such strong, creative offerings in the theater program, as it teaches qualities like “team-building, musicianship, self-expression and theatre tech skills.” 

So how can the community get involved? Well, seeing the school musical is a start! With a struggling budget,” the ticket sales of Mean Girls may drastically shape how Franklin High’s drama club looks going forward. Also, thanks to a communal group dubbed the FHS Theatre Company Boosters, donations can be made online to help out the drama program. Their website can be found at https://tinyurl.com/FHSTheatreBoost.

In other good news for the town’s musical endeavors, Franklin Middle School’s orchestra program is back in business this year After losing the orchestra during the school day and having it placed after school last year, it has returned in the 25-26 school year.   Another alumnus of the program,  Steven Sergi, is serving as the new middle school orchestra director. Young students once again have the opportunity to learn to play a string instrument as part of their curriculum! 

The FHS performing arts community is working hard to stay afloat in Franklin, and a fascinating note is that the two aforementioned programs rising from the ashes are being led by alumni; students who were shaped by the very classes they now teach. Both Selznick and Sergi stand as hopeful examples, proving just how important the arts can be to an impressionable young talent. Plouffe shared, “[the performing arts] are a safe place for so many kids that need that space.” 

The community’s continued support will be essential to sustaining these valuable programs in the years ahead.  Please read on to see what fun these talented students will bring to the public soon!

• November 5 - There will be a Chamber Concert at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium. Snow date for this concert is the following day, November 6. 

• November 11 - Franklin High Chorus will be performing for Veterans’ Day at the local Elks Club at 11 a.m. 

• November 21, 22, & 23 - The Franklin High School Theatre Company will be performing their next musical: Mean Girls. Three nights only, at 7 p.m., with a matinee performance on November 23 at 1 p.m.

• December 9 - Franklin High Band Concert at 7 p.m.

• Snow date for this concert is December 15. 

• December 11 - Franklin High Chorus Orchestra Concert at 7 p.m. Snow date for this concert is also December 15. 

• December 16 - Franklin Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Band Concert at Franklin Middle School, 6 p.m.  Snow date for this concert is December 22. 

• December 18 - Franklin Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Orchestra Concert, as well as 6/7/8th Grade Chorus Concert.  Snow date for this event is December 22. 

To all the students in their winter events, break a leg! 

For further details, please contact Franklin High School. 

Thank you again to Diane Plouffe and the FHSTC Boosters for talking with us!