Students in The Hill School’s Ellis Theatre Guild are working to provide entertainment for the community while giving back to Pottstown by collecting canned goods and cash donations for Operation143, an organization that provides food to children and youth in need in local school districts.

The students will stage a family-friendly theatrical reading with performed musical numbers from “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 14, at the new Mary Delan Amphitheater, an outdoor stage, located at The Hill’s Center For The Arts at 766 Beech St.  

Seating will be provided and the production will move indoors in the event of rain.

The students are asking that all guests bring a can of non-perishable, easy to open food that school-aged children and youths can easily prepare for themselves; items need to have a long shelf life to last through late fall 2022. 

Operation143 especially appreciates Chef Boyardee canned ravioli and similar products with pop-top lids that do not require can openers.  Students also will accept cash donations – all of which will be donated to Operation143.

Daniel Schlegel, a fifth form/junior at The Hill School from Douglassville, PA, will be directing the production.  He said he is excited about this community service endeavor, as well as the chance for students to literally run the show. 

“Having students helm the production puts their theater skills to the test,” Daniel says. “We have no doubt the fun we have in creating the show and the enthusiasm and good will is sure to be shared by the audience.”

With beloved music by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, “Forum” tells the story of a slave named Pseudolus and his attempts to win his freedom. 

Pseudolus will be portrayed by Luke Gerdeman of Chester Springs, Pa.; Philia by Cordelia Davies of Weston, W.Va.; and Hero by Timmy Woodward of East Greenville, Pa.   

They will be joined in a cast and crew of 23 students who have been working hard to put together this special production.