Mordy Barnett is a 14-year-old eighth grader at the Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey who shares many interests with others in his class. The Teaneck resident loves reading, baking and seeing plays and shows, but, thanks to an advertisement he and his parents saw in The Jewish Link, he also added acting to his list of cultural pursuits.
“I think he always wanted to get into acting, so when we saw the advertisement for the Black Box Performing Arts Center, I realized how easy it was to help him take a class,” said Mordy’s mom, Shula.
That one semester was all it took. Mordy has been involved ever since in a variety of artistic programs offered by the not-for-profit center.
Before the coronavirus pandemic changed everything, he and the others in his Black Box teen acting class had been working on an upcoming production of the musical comedy, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” by William Finn. The Tony Award-winning show is the story of a fictional spelling bee that takes place in geographically ambiguous Putnam Valley middle school. It features six quirky adolescent competitors in the spelling bee, which is run by three equally quirky adults.
These past several weeks have made it clear that it will take more than a virus to stop the Black Box’s teens from pursuing their thespian aspirations. While work on the show is on hiatus for the time being, the budding actors continue to meet online.
“Instead of rehearsing for ‘Spelling Bee,’ we’ve decided to work on acting skills, such as monologues and improvisation, through Zoom sessions,” explained Mordy. It is the same platform that his school uses to make sure students stay current in their secular and Judaic studies programs.
According to Black Box’s artistic director, Matt Okin, the center’s teen acting company is only one of the groups meeting via Zoom. “Like all Black Box teachers, our teaching artists for kids and teens are all actively working hard to keep our young students interested, busy, engaged, and growing as artists,” said Okin.
By Susan Rosenbluth
