On Friday, March 6, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” premiered. The play ran through the weekend with three showings.
In the play, the superstitions and stories alive within the quiet town of Sleepy Hollow, New York, assert their influence when Ichabod Crane, the town’s new school teacher, played by Jack Dillon ‘26, arrives.
In a show brimming with humor, personality, and fun, a spooky story became the catalyst for an exploration of the town of Sleepy Hollow and its inhabitants.
Director Taous Khazem said the decision to choose this play rested partially on her proximity to the play’s creators. “I know the original writers of it, and I thought it would be fun to be able to do a play where the actors could meet some original people who worked on it.” Khazem said. “You don’t really always get that opportunity.” Original contributors included Lori Opsol, the original costume designer; Erica Zaffarano, the original set designer; and Jon Ferguson, the original creator.
Khazem also mentioned the acting skills required in the play as a factor in the decision: “It’s very physically demanding, and it works on a lot of comedy and rhythm in a way that we haven’t worked on anything since I’ve been here.”
Dopp emphasized the play’s larger-than-life style. Their character consistently has a large presence on the stage. Dopp said, “I’m usually pretty big, and [in] other plays I’ve had to kind of reel myself in to make it a little more realistic… I started like that, and then Taous was like, ‘You need to go big.’”
Barisonzi mentioned the amount of technical effects involved in the production. She said, “The lights and the sound, especially for this show, really made it come together. It kind of just looked like a rough concept sketch until we got it onto the stage.” Lighting effects help to set the tone of the scenes, especially those involving the supernatural, and sound effects are crucial to off-stage storytelling.
Assistant Director Hannah Barisonzi ‘26 mentioned the unique makeup of the cast: “I think we have a great cast of rising actors…less than half of our cast is upperclassmen. So it was really our show to regrow this year’s department. And I have a lot of hope for what’s to come in the next four years.”
