History

The Halsted Players began putting on productions in the 1970's under the direction of Phil Perestam and Pam Juvrud/Pinnegar. For many years murder mysteries were performed by the students of Halsted. There are few records of these earlier plays but the first one was "Any Number Can Die" some of the other productions were "A Tomb with a View" and an earlier production of Hurricane Smith. In the late 1980's "The Pirates of Penzance" was also performed.

In the 1990's some staff wanted to put on a production so the all staff production of "Bone Chiller" was put on the stage of Halsted in the winter of 1993. After that production it was decided to try a larger musical with both staff and students working together on an equal status. Under the direction of Phil Perestam (and Donna Corso for musicals), these intergenerational activities have been well-supported by the community. In fact, since the winter of 1996 we have had an anonymous benefactor who sends several hundred dollars anonymously, in cash, toward our productions. Below is a listing of the productions for which we have records

The Sping 2002 production of Fiddler on the Roof was the last school play that Phil Perestam directed. He retired from teaching in June 2002. Jean Perrier and Kathy Swaneveld carried on as directors from 2002 through 2009. Melissa Flores and Meg Penny took over as directors during the 2009-10 school year. In 2012 Jocelyn Keppler joined Meg Penny and they continued to keep the Halsted Players in production until 2020.

After a 2 year hiatus due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, Choir Director Alexander Miller took over the helm of Halsted Players Artistic Director with Jocelyn Keppler remaining in her position to mount a production of High School Musical Jr. in 2022.

With new management in 2023, under the direction of Alexander Miller and Assistant Director Laura Evans, the Halsted Players will continue to bring community engagement and quality entertainment to the Newton Public School community for the foreseeable future.

The Spring Musical is announced every October and auditions occur in November.

Recent Productions

2006-2007
Peter Pan

2007-2008
Annie

2008-2009
Cinderella (Rogers and Hammerstein)

2009-2010 - Thoroughly Modern Millie

2010-2011 - The Sound of Music

2011-2012 - Once Upon a Mattress

2012-2013 - The Pirates of Penzance

2013-2014 - Beauty and the Beast

2014-2015 - Honk Jr.

2015-2016 - The Big Bad Musical

2016-2017 - The Music Man Jr.

2017-2018 - Peter Pan Jr.

2018-2019 - Annie Jr.

2019-2020 - Frozen Jr. (unable to perform due to Covid 19)

2021-2022 - High School Musical Jr.

2022-2023 - Seussical Jr.

2023-2024 - Oliver Jr.

2024-2025 - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Jr.

2025-2026 - Finding Nemo Jr.

Halsted Middle School

Halsted Middle School Clubs and Groups

Yearbook

Honor Society

Halsted Players

Student Council

After School Programs