Bellmore-Merrick's Extended School Year students shine on stage during annual production

Every summer, students in the Extended School Year program in the Bellmore-Merrick Central School District, put on “play” — but with a unique twist.

For a decade, the production chosen by the district’s summer school program, has been recorded and made into a movie, thanks to Kathy Brickmeier, a paraprofessional at Sanford H. Calhoun High School, and her son, Vonn. The annual production is shown to audiences during the last week of the program.

The ESY program is for students with Individualized Education Programs, who have been deemed in need of schooling during the summer to ensure they do not regress educationally, socially, or emotionally. This past summer, ESY was operated out of Grand Avenue Middle School in Bellmore, for district students ranging from seventh grade through age 21.

Kathy Brickmeier, who has worked for the summer program for nine years, said that while ESY focuses on academics, the program also strives to incorporate fun events into students’ schedules that promote socialization and enrichment. The program lasts six-weeks and concluded on Aug. 16.

Brickmeier said at first, ESY decided initially to produce a play featuring the program’s students about 10 years ago. “That’s when we realized that the kids loved to act, but

there was a limit,” she said. “A lot of kids couldn’t do it because of anxiety, stage fright, or just the inability to remember lines.”

Brickmeier spoke to her son, Vonn, who has a background in acting and production, and they toyed with the idea of creating a movie instead — utilizing green screens, recording equipment, stage lighting, special effects and more. According to Kathy, “film is forgiving” — meaning that if students mess up their lines, or if a scene needs to be reshot, it is easily accomplished.

Past productions have included, “Suessical the Musical,” “Cinderella,” and “Alice in Wonderland,” and most recently, “Wicked” and “Oliver Twist.”

The Brickmeiers formed a production company, Autotroph Films, after the success of some of ESY’s earlier productions. Kathy creates a modified screenplay for each summer show, and Vonn handles most other production aspects, including the recording and video-editing.

This summer, the Brickmeiers chose Les Misérables, a French musical based on an 1862 novel of the same name by author Victor Hugo. It tells the story of Jean Valjean, a French peasant, and his desire for redemption, after he is released from jail after serving a 19-year-long sentence for stealing a piece of bread for his sister’s starving child. The book and Broadway musical contains dark and intense themes, which Kathy worked around while creating the script.

“I was apprehensive, because it is such a big piece — it’s heavy, and you know, it’s a little dark,” she said. “But of course, we put our own spin on things, because that’s what we do.”

Vonn said he wanted to produce Les Misérables with the students because he thought some of the show’s themes were important. “I just thought that it had a good message,” he said. “It’s about social injustice, forgiveness, redemption and you know, just the power of love.”

The Brickmeiers have just six weeks to cast students, record the show, and turn it into a movie. Kathy said the script is written  prior to the summer, so they can immediately begin. They get several returning students, who are eager to participate in the show, but the movie from the previous summer is shown to new students, to encourage them to join. This summer, Kathy said there were just over 60 students participate in the production.

Up until last summer, some ESY’s teachers and administrators participated in the show as well, collaborating with their students. But for the last two summers, the show featured only students — which Kathy said is a testament to their abilities.

“As the program’s grown and our student-actors have grown, they want bigger and bigger parts,” she explained. “That’s wonderful — that’s what we always hoped for, and that’s actually what happened.

“In the early years, when we first started the films, we would say to our actors ‘Show me happy,’ or “Show me angry,’ but now we actually talk about why the characters are happy, why the characters are angry, and what events made them feel this way,” she added. “And then they start asking questions, and they understand the character they have on a deeper level, resulting in a much richer performance. They really are incredible.”

Kathy noted that each student receives a link to the show, meaning they can watch themselves and their peers perform as many times as they want throughout the school year. It keeps the students excited, and eager to get back on stage, year after year. .

“We’re part of the enrichment program,” Kathy said. “It helps the kids build self-esteem, self confidence — and I’m really proud of that.”