Calvi and Pallitto talk master class, mission 2.0, the bright future of Playhouse
SOMERS POINT — Bringing Broadway actors in to teach master classes is nothing new for the Gateway to the Arts program, but the latest star signals the next step in the Gateway Playhouse mission since its reopening in 2017.
The latest star, who taught a master class for the high school-age students working on the teen edition of “A Chorus Line,” is famed actor/dancer/choreographer Baayork Lee, who helped originate the show.
The Gateway to the Arts, introducing and teaching children about theater, has been around for seven years, but there has been something new afoot since the beginning of 2024 with Katie Calvi becoming chair of the board of directors and Phil Pallitto director of educational programming.
Broadway legend teaches master class
Calvi and Pallitto talked about the master class, how the young people have energized the theater since its reopening and how the Gateway Playhouse mission has moved onto version 2.0.
Pallitto, a native of Somers Point who teaches at Jordan Road School and directs productions at Mainland Regional High School, said when the students did productions of “Chicago” and “Funny Girl,” they had someone from those Broadway productions come in to teach master classes.
When they were looking for this summer’s teen production of “A Chorus Line,” Pallitto reached out to his network of contacts. And then, he said, “Someone reached out to me and said, ‘How about Baayork Lee?’ And I was like, ‘Um, yes!”
He didn’t expect Lee would teach an eight-hour, in-person master class.
“I thought it would be a one- or two-hour Zoom. I didn’t think it would be as intense as it was,” he said.
“What we learned is that … she was tasked with passing on ‘A Chorus Line’ and Michael Bennett’s work and passing on the legacy of keeping the show alive. She was insistent on having the eight-hour master class and insistent on keeping this work alive for the next generation.”
When Lee was at the Gateway two weeks ago, “the kids were eating up everything she said.” “A Chorus Line” is based on aspiring dancers who sat in a room for 24 hours and recorded their life stories. “So (Lee) calls it the original reality show. She was part of those original tapes and she was part of the original conception of the show.
“These characters were personal friends of hers. She was sharing little tidbits and little insights. … Whether it was their character or not, I think it gave them a whole new purpose of doing the show, of telling the story of these real dancers and their struggles of making it on Broadway or not making it.”
Pallitto said the students, ages 14 to 18, “persevered” for the eight-hour class. “She did a really great job of breaking it up. We started with going through the script and character work and talking about each individual character and then we had time when she taught the original choreography and when she taught the choreography she would give” anecdotes of the individual dancers’ moves, Pallitto said.
Lee directed the staging of a scene with the anthem of the show, the number “What I Did for Love.”
“It clearly wasn’t her first time doing this,” Pallitto said.
Mission 2.0
Calvi said Pallitto has been behind Gateway to the Arts since its inception seven years ago, calling the program the “backbone” of the theater, supplying the energy behind the Gateway Playhouse.
“The staff and team that Phil has personally curated, (choreographer) Karen (Cleighton) included, is so overly qualified, so giving of their time and energy,” Calvi said. “We’re a non-profit. We have literally been living paycheck to paycheck. Each show sort of pays for each show, then it’s a lot of fundraising on my behalf to keep this place running.”
The Gateway to the Arts program has summer classes for three age groups and takes in more than 100 students each year. The classes bring in needed revenue. (Scholarships are available for young people in need.)
“That’s the back history of how important Gateway to the Arts is to keeping the lights on here — energy-wise, financially. Now the Gateway is at the point where we can produce our own shows, but it’s really incredible how powerful of a team Phil has put together, to not only engage the community, and engage the students, but then take it to the next level and have someone like Baayork Lee here in person with us.
“To me, our foundation has been set,” Calvi said. “We have a strong foundation, but now we’re going to the next level. This is not going to be an anomaly. Something like this is going to happen summer after summer and now curated throughout the whole year with our main stage productions. So the sky is the limit. The energy is really high and we’re setting the bar. This is just the beginning.”
“The original mission statement of the Gateway Playhouse was to reopen the place, just get the doors open and get people in it,” Calvi explained. “Now, Phil and I have revamped the mission statement to a 2.0 version of bringing affordable theater to South Jersey. We’ve lowered ticket prices, but not our standards. The bar is set really high. The tickets used to be $35, $40. For these shows it’s $15. For all other shows it’s $25.
“I would rather see an absolutely full house. I would love to see 220 seats full than 100 seats at higher price level,” she said.
“A Chorus Line,” the teen version has four shows, at 1 and 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Aug. 9-10. The Friday evening show already is sold out. Tickets are available at gatewaybythebay.org.
This show has live music, costumes and full sets.
“It’s as professional of a show as you’re going to get, except it’s high school actors. And our high school actors are phenomenal singers and dancers,” Calvi said. “It’s not just a run-of-the-mill, oh, it’s a kids show. We try to make is as professional an experience for the kids, for the audience, as possible.”
The Gateway to the Arts program draws students from local high schools and from families summering at the shore from Philadelphia, New York and other areas.
“We have so many high schools represented. We have kids who summer here … and then we obviously have Ocean City, Mainland, Holy Spirit, Absegami, Oakcrest. We have so many high schools locally represented as well. It’s great to see them interact with each other, not just kind of stay with (their own classmates),” Pallitto said.
Pallitto started the Pat Cucchi-Pugliese Memorial Scholarship. Part of Calvi’s fundraising efforts goes to funding scholarships for students.
Cucchi-Pugliese was a founder of the Sea Isle City Players and a board member of the Theater Collaborative of South Jersey from its inception.
“Her mission is everyone should be included, everyone should do theater,” Calvi said. “That’s what our mission is. No matter what their circumstances are, everyone should be able to participate in our programming.”
The cast of “A Chorus Line” is 35 students. They have about the same number in the Musical Munchkins programs for children 7 to 9 years old and for the middle schoolers, age 10 to 13, doing “Footloose Jr.”
“The theater in the summer is just vibrating with the energy of our students from 7 years old to 18. This is our really busy season,” Calvi said. “This is the time, for me personally, that all the volunteer hours are all worth it.
“There is no better place in South Jersey to hang out and volunteer than in the theater.”
Learn more at gatewaybythebay.org and gatewaytotheartsspnj.org.
– STORY by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
– PHOTOS by KATELIN KEANE/For the Sentinel
