Students from the Long Island High School for the Arts are performing a new iteration of “Balloon Boy,” a dark comedy musical written by Long Islander Billy Recce. Recce, who first wrote the musical as a high schooler at Hauppauge, revisited and revised the piece, showcasing the students’ talents.
“They’re the very first people to ever do it in front of an audience,” Recce said about some of the new compositions in the musical.
Recce was only 17 years old when he wrote the original musical, the same age as many of the actors on stage. The musical was inspired by the 2009 “Balloon Boy hoax,” when Richard and Mayumi Heene claimed their 6-year-old son was trapped inside a helium-filled gas balloon.
Now years later, he said he’s been able to see the musical more objectively while revising it.
The Long Island High School of the Arts, located in Syosset, is a BOCES program that accepts and educates about 200 students from across Nassau and Suffolk in the performing arts. The high school’s principal, Laura Vega, said the school aims to provide students with a professional atmosphere, involving them with new aspects of the performance industry.
“Workshopping an original production directly with the playwright is exactly the kind of immersive, real-world experience that sets LIHSA apart. Our students aren’t just studying the arts—they’re living them,” she said.
Director and Choreographer Chris Brick said the musical is teaching the students how to “create something that hasn’t been done before.” He said many performers don’t have the opportunity to work on new material until college, which is why he was inspired to work on “Balloon Boy” with the high schoolers.
“It was a way to do new material, but also learn how to be professional and work on new material,” he said.
Brick said Recce came to the high school in February for auditions with a “first draft” of the script, and has written four new songs for the students’ production. Recce said the original script did not reflect the amount of talent at the high school, inspiring him to compose several new pieces.
“I was just so floored by some of the talent, and that was not yet reflected in the script,” he said.
Both Recce and Brick said the students have embraced the opportunity to originate their roles, ready to dive into the characters and explore the script.
“I really commend them all for taking on the challenge of stepping into a show that has never been done before in this way,” Recce said.
But the students are the not the only ones who have learned more about the musical. Recce said he had already wanted to revisit the piece with the goal of creating a new high school version, but throughout the process with this year’s students, he has been able to “sharpen and refine” the script.
Students said the production has allowed them a deeper look inside the industry and, by working with the playwright, offered them professional experience.
“Working on ‘Balloon Boy’ has been such a great experience. Not only getting to see the inner workings of a show in early development, but seeing my classmates be the first to make acting choices and decide who these characters really are is incredible,” said Anderson Maziero, a junior from Bethpage High School.
“This is what I hope to be doing in my future. To be able to get a view into what the process would be like is truly an experience I’ll never forget,” said Hannah Waller, a junior from Smithtown West High School.
“Balloon Boy” will appear on stage at the Long Island High School of the Arts on Tuesday, May 13 and Wednesday, May 14.
