The honors keep coming for the Staples High School boys soccer team.
In addition to being state champions, they are ranked #1 in the nation by Max Preps.
It’s been more than 20 years since the Wreckers were rated that high. This week, they edged out perennial #1 St. Benedict’s Prep of New Jersey. What a kick!
#1 in the nation! (Photo/Melissa Garrity)
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Speaking of remarkable Staples achievements: Players actors, pit orchestra — even the box office — have all received lavish praise, for their part in the rousing success of “Les Misérables.”
The tech crew — set designers and builders, lighting and sound — have gotten well-deserved kudos too. The turntable was particularly impressive.
But here’s one more member who may have been overlooked.
Because he toiled — literally — behind the scenes.
Junior Theo Rowan spent all 10 performances on stage, but beneath the back bridge. He made sure that each turntable cue went according to plan.
A couple of times, it malfunctioned. Theo thought quickly, and solved the problems so the show could go on.
Bravo, Theo! You were indeed the “master of the house.”
Theo Rowan, on stage. (Photo/Kerry Long)
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Speaking still of Staples Players: 2024 graduate Cameron Mann has been added to Hulu’s “Foster Dade” pilot, Variety reports.
The show is a “sophisticated mystery set at an East Coast boarding school that explores privilege, scandal, sexuality, and masculinity amid the rise of social media, millennial anxiety and pharmaceuticals.”
Cameron has appeared on TV and movie screens in a number of roles, including “Mare of Easttown” and “Eddington.” He is a sophomore at the University of Michigan.
Fun fact: His mother, Jill Johnson Mann, grew up 2 houses from Aimee East, in a small Rochester, New York suburb. Aimee’s daughter Chloe East is also in the “Foster Dade” cast.
Cameron Mann (Photo/Michael Kushner)
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And … one more Staples Players alum story.
Class of 2003 graduate Justin Paul and his writing partner Benj Pasek are teaming up with J.P. Brammer to bring one of their favorite animals to the page.
People magazine calls their new book, “Axl the Axolotl Is Not a Frog,” a “funny and inspiring picture book about ‘learning to love and what makes you different.'”
Pasek and Paul — whose previous Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award-winning projects include “Dear Evan Hansen,” “La La Land” and “The Greatest Showman” — tell People: “We hope this character and the world he inhabits inspire readers of all ages to embrace and celebrate the things that make them uniquely themselves, in this first of hopefully many Axl stories to come.” Click here for the full story.
Justin Paul has not forgotten his Staples Players roots. Last year, he worked with the cast of one of his earliest shows: “James and the Giant Peach.” (Photo/Kerry Long)
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Tacombi — Danny Meyer’s Mexican restaurant — appears to have closed. It opened near Stop & Stop just over 2 years ago, building on 11 locations in trendy New York neighborhoods.
Google says it is “temporarily closed,” but a recording on its phone number says “closed” — leaving out “temporarily.”
Meyer’s other Westport eatery — Shake Shack — appears to be doing quite well.
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Not far from Tacombi, there’s another change.
The house on the corner of Maple Avenue North and Old Road has been demolished.
For years, it was the subject of Blight Prevention Board discussions and enforcement actions.
(Photo/Jack Krayson)
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Westport psychotherapist Dr. Allyson Maida has published a new book.
“180: A Counterintuitive Method for Personal and Professional Change” is about brain function and behavior. Written in an easy, conversational style, it’s brief, to the point, and filled with relatable examples
The “180” comes from the fact that while people often promise themselves things will be different, somehow and somewhere, they tend to end up back (or close to) where they began.
Maida offers a 5-step guide to reshape brain connections rather than battling them, so real change can last. “for the most part, it’s all in your head,” she says.
Click here for more details, and to order.
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Today’s “Westport … Naturally” image features a big — very big buck.
Steve Halstead knows him well. He eats at their backyard feeder regularly.
When he’s not posing for a photo like this, anyway.
(Photo/Steve Halstead)
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And finally … Jimmy Cliff died yesterday. The singer who helped introduce reggae to the world was 81.
I was part of that audience. Shortly after “The Harder They Come” — the film he starred in — was released, it was shown at the Westport Country Playhouse.
That was my introduction to the Jamaican genre. Though Cliff’s fame was eclipsed by Bob Marley, that soundtrack remains one of my favorite albums of all time.
Click here for a full obituary.
(“06880” continues to salute the many achievements of Staples students and graduates. We cover everything else in Westport, too. If you enjoy this blog, please click here to support us. Thanks!)
The film was inspired by Wynston Browne. The story of the non-speaking autistic Staples junior — for years believed to be developmentally disabled, now using a keyboard to stun everyone with his remarkable intelligence — has inspired people all over town.
