Between Thursday, November 20, and Saturday, November 22, SCH Players delivered four outstanding performances of their fall play, The Phantom Tollbooth. An adapted version of the popular children’s book, the play spanned two hours and included an impressive set, breathtaking puppets, and outstanding acting performances from SCH students.
The story is centered around an uninspired boy named Milo who, after receiving a magical tollbooth, embarks on a quest for knowledge. Milo travels through various lands, solving issues and learning different perspectives along the way.
Reflecting on the dedication required to bring The Phantom Tollbooth to life, Players co-president Colin Salas ’26 said, “There was a lot of effort put in by everyone, the cast and crew included, and everyone in the leadership team.”
Considering the impact he makes as co-president, Salas noted, “It was really fun from my job because I was able to encourage students to put in all their confidence and act better.”
Salas also highlighted the importance that his co-president, Jo Leon-Palfrey ’26, had on the show’s success. “Jo, my co-president from the crew perspective, was able to encourage everyone to have fun,” he stated.
In addition to being co-president, Colin also performed in the show, portraying the Mathemagician. In his role, Colin enjoyed a chance to present his emotions to an audience. “I love performing, it’s one of my favorite parts of high school,” said Colin. “I feel like it’s very freeing that I’m able to put out my emotions on stage. Even when I’m stressed out, it’s just always so fun to be on stage and be able to express myself.”
Players member Gray David ’28 also understands the unique emotions that come with performing on stage. In his role as Milo, the story’s protagonist, David put extra work into making sure that these emotions would be absorbed by the audience, stating that he “did a lot of work on stage and off, working with directors to craft my character and making a character that the audience would connect with and would interact with the show through.”
When detailing the process that he went through to get ready for his performances, David claimed, “I’ve done a lot of shows with SCH and outside of school. So it’s less about learning physicality and how to act within a role than it is about learning my lines so that I can be my character on stage. It required a lot of work over long weekends and after school to get my lines down and then figure out how I was going to portray my character through my motions and through my vocal inflections and stuff like that.”
Despite the overall positive sentiments that Salas and David shared when reflecting on the show, both mentioned one clear issue that restricted Players. Since the Rec still was not available, the show had to be presented in the Middle School auditorium, a space much smaller than Players would have liked. David stated that, “A show can only be so good if it’s in the Middle School that Players put on, because the space can restrict actors, their mindsets, and also the set and technical abilities.”
Salas echoed this sentiment, mentioning how excited he is for Players to finally move back into the Rec for their spring musical, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella. “It’s going to be absolutely amazing. Being in the Rec is going to encourage a lot of students to try out, which I’ve already seen from the sign-ups.”
