"45 Seconds From Broadway"

A small cast of 11 students performed Neil Simon’s “45 Seconds from Broadway” Thursday night in the auditorium for a crowd of family and friends.

The two act play was performed by students:

• Julian Marquardt as Andrew Duncan
• Nick Sieban as the famous Mickey Fox
• Tom Amato as Bernie the waiter
• Arjun Nagpal as Playwright Solomon Mantutu
• Brooke Cradin as Megan Woods
• Floril Thomas as Arlene
• Sarah Maxwell as Cindy
• Betsabe Espinal as Rayleen
• Matt Cherson as Charles
• Lucia Terry as Zelda
• Imani Black as Bessie

The scene was set in a coffee shop/restaurant off a mid-priced, second rate hotel in the Broadway Theater District of New York, circa 2000.

The Edelsteins, (Bernie and Zelda) childhood sweethearts from Poland, ran the Café Edison and offered moderate prices and a place that felt like home whenever a customer walked in. Famous faces could be spotted on any given day, much like that of Mickey Fox, and many passers-by came in to enjoy a cup of tea — or to get a little work when money was tight.  

The play was directed by Mr. Tom LoConte, who was constructed the set design.

Of the play, tenth-grader Nick Sieban, who played the lead role of Mickey Fox said, “The play was exciting, but it wasn’t the most greatest play that we ever put on here, but I did like it. We had a lot of rough patches towards the beginning, and it finally came together in the past couple of days.”

This was Sieban’s seventh play at the school and for this one he and his cast members practiced pretty much every day for one month.

 “I actually heard about [this play] last year because we were going to do it last year, but we had so many good people that we ended up doing it now,” Sieban said, who isn’t sure if he’ll pursue acting in the future.

Next up for New Hyde Park Memorial will be the school’s musical performance in March, which Sieban will once again star as the lead role.