Laura Benanti: Kinnelon, Broadway, The Playboy Club

Laura Benanti : from Kinnelon to Broadway to ‘The Playboy Club’

By Mary Beth Grybowski

I am sitting here trying to recall, the first time I heard or read about Laura Benanti. I believe it was in the November 2009 issue of ‘New York Magazine’. But I just reread the article and it does not mention Laura growing up in Kinnelon at all. Hmmm. Now I am stumped.

Yes, Laura Benanti grew up here in town. Her mother Linda Wonneberger, a former actress and vocal coach, and step-father Salvatore Benanti, a psychotherapist, moved here when Laura was still young. Laura performed in many local productions as well as musicals at Kinnelon High School, including ‘Evita’, ‘Follies’ and ‘Into the Woods’.  At 16, she even played the title role in KHS’s production of ‘Hello Dolly’. There was a bit of foreshadowing of what was to come, when she won the Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Award for Outstanding Actress in a High School Production. Laura graduated from KHS in 1997. There is so much more to tell about Ms. Benati. If you’d like to learn more, check out Wikipedia entry.

I only moved to this town in 2006 and, as I noted, I never knew about this local talent until two years ago. Now, I have to say, Laura Benanti is one of my favorite Broadway actresses. The first time I saw Laura, was in the Broadway production, ‘In the Next Room’. That was my request for my birthday present back in October of 2009. When I showed my parents the picture from the ‘New York Magazine’, I informed them, “This actress grew up in Kinnelon.”

I did not expect them to reply, “Yes, Dear, we saw Laura Benanti in ‘Gypsy’. She won a Tony for that performance in 2008.”

Last year, for my birthday present, I requested tickets for ‘Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown’. The tickets were for the week between Christmas and New Years. I got to see Laura perform on stage again, just before the show closed.

Last Monday night just before 10pm, I turned on my TV and set the station to NBC Channel 4. I had heard a quick news piece, during the week, that Laura Benanti was going to be on the new TV series ‘The Playboy Club’. I assumed that it was going to be a cameo appearance. Within the first minute of the show’s start, that Broadway voice entertained us with the song, ‘Chicago, That Toddlin’ Town’. Well I am glad to say, it appears that Laura is going to be the star of this new show.

If you have ever seen Laura Benanti perform, there is no doubt that there is beauty and talent. But for me, I find her beauty goes much deeper that what you see on the surface. Check out her contribution to the “It Gets Better” campaign. Laura talks to students about how she was bullied during her time in school. She also talks to parents and tells them to get involved.

This Kinnelon resident and fan wishes a former Kinnelon resident continued success,

Mary Beth Grybowski

Stonybrook Overture by Chris M. Bernotas

Were you aware that Kinnelon's Stonybrook school has its own 'Overture' composed by Chris M. Bernotas?  According to Mark Mongon, Stonybrook Principal in a post on the Our Stonybrook Blog in November 2010, Stonybrook Overture,” a piece that was commissioned thanks to a grant from KEHSA, has been published."

It was also performed by Stonybrook 5th graders this past May during the Stonybrook Band Festival.

[Note: KEHSA stands for Kinnelon Elementary Home & School Association.]

I learned about this from Emma who, after hearing Stonybrook band director, Alan Tedesco, describe the piece, excitedly referred to a YouTube video of the Stonybrook Overture, which  I include below.  Before you listen, I thought I'd share with you some of what I discovered while piecing this story together.

From the Stonybrook Friday Folders, I found this note from Alan Tedesco:

"Next week, the Star Ledger will be visiting the Stonybrook School band program and interviewing Alan Tedesco and Chris Bernotas (Mt. Lakes High School Band Director). The ledger’s story will cover how the Stonybrook Band Festival began at the 5th grade level and the “Stonybrook Overture”. Mr. Bernotas was commissioned to write “Stonybrook Overture” two years ago with money funded by KEHSA through the annual grant committee. Since the piece was written, it has been published worldwide and will be debuted at the National Band Clinic in Chicago in Dec. The actual musical score includes information about Alan Tedesco and the 4th and 5th grade band program here at Stonybrook School. We are all very excited and look forward to the festival this May when the 5th grade band will perform the now nationally acclaimed “Stonybrook Overture”.

Which led me to the Star Ledger and an article titled Kinnelon elementary school band to have music to call its own.

Click on Stonybrook Overture to view the video on YouTube


Here is the description that Chris Bernotas includes on YouTube:

"Stonybrook Overture was written for a concert band festival hosted by the 4th and 5th grade band of the Stonybrook School in Kinnelon, NJ. Beginning with a majestic statement, it moves into a legato melody with a lively percussion accompaniment. The melody makes its way around the ensemble with harmonized countermelodies. The piece concludes with a restatement of the festival fanfare and a bold ending. This is a terrific vehicle for students to work on phrasing and articulation."

If you'd like to learn more about the composer, check out the Chris M. Bernotas' Blog as well as the Chris M. Bernotas' Channel on YouTube with many other compositions.

Did your child perform the Stonybrook Overture during this year's Stonybrook Band Festival? What did you think? Emma can't wait to make it to 5th grade now...

The Grand Hall Character Ball - Book Now Available

Do you remember The Grand Hall Character Ball theatrical presentation at the Kinnelon Library?  It took place at the Kinnelon Library Winter Festival on January 2nd, 2009 [see Kinnelon's Winter Festival for full description].

Great news! The author, Lynmarie McCullough - who performed the role of the rabbit - has just informed us that The Grand Hall Character Ball is now available as a printed hardback book filled with engaging illustrations.

You can purchase the book - available for $14.99 + tax/shipping/handling - by visiting www.mcculloughbooks.com where you can also watch several videos of Lynmarie's budding-author-son Marshall who has several books in the works.

Congratulations, Lynmarie, on the publication of The Grand Hall Character Ball!

Morris County Hiking Trails In Daily Record

A few weeks back, I spoke with Jillian Risberg from the Daily Record. She was writing an article about hiking in Morris County at this time of year and had questions. The resulting article, titled "Morris offers miles of scenic hiking trails, and this is an ideal time to enjoy them," was published on September 24, 2009 and includes some marvelous Morris County hiking trail references.

More specifically,

Patriots' Path, a 45.5 mile trail running from East Hanover to High Bridge in Hunterdon County

The Columbia Trail, an 8 mile hike along the former Central Railroad High Bridge Line in Washington Township

The Traction Line, a paved trail along a former trolley line from Morris Township to Madison

Did you know about the "Hike a Park a Month" that has been taking place for three years now? To learn more, I contacted Russ Nee, the trails foreman at the Morris County Park Commission [ rnee [at] morrisparks [dot] net ], who shared the following:

Hello Christine. Yes we hike year round. We have many options for hikes in Morris county -- too many to list. I have been with the program almost two years and we hike the first Saturday of every month. No restrictions you just need to able to walk safely. I hope this helps you. Thank you. Russ

That makes the next hike Saturday, November 7, and the next park Jonathan Woods in Denville's Tourne Park. Definitely check in with Russ to confirm details. CORRECTION: NEXT HIKE IS 11/14 and JONATHAN'S WOODS IS IN MOST NORTHERN AREA OF DENVILLE NEAR CEDAR LAKE.

Per the article, 30 to 40 people meet at 9am in the designated park facility or trail connection for these hikes. Sounds like great fun.

The article also discusses maintaining trails with perspective from Dave Peck of Denville who maintains the Four Birds Trail, from Hibernia to Split Rock Reservoir.

Finally, did you know that there's a place for watching Hawks? At Wildcat Ridge Hawkwatch. You can reach it from the southern portion of Four Birds Trail off of Split Rock Reservoir.

I enjoyed my conversation with Jillian, but learned even more from reading the article she wrote. Thanks, Jillian!

Which of these trails have you taken and what were the highlights?

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Suburban Trends: Bloggers Share Local Highlights

As published in the 12/10/08 issue of Suburban Trends, the Living Section, page D10.

Get Connected

Bloggers share local highlights

by Julia Dunn - Correspondent

NORTH JERSEY - Among the small-town life and woods that surround Northern New Jersey live a couple of residents who have exposed their New Jersey towns to the blogosphere.

While Kinnelon may appear charming and small, there is a vast and mostly unexplored history that Charlotte [a.k.a. Christine] Whittemore is working to piece together and post on her blog.

J. Douglas Fisher, a Butler resident, posts about things that interest him like the "PizzaFest" that was thrown by the Riverdale Volunteer Fire Department.

Fisher volunteers at the Butler Museum. Fisher chooses topics to write about in his blog by looking at stories that are not getting a lot of public attention or that he feels he needs to highlight.

"I've lived in North Jersey a long time and there are a lot of really cool things to do, but no one knows about it," Fisher said.

Whittemore maintains three blogs currently, two of which involve her job.  "The Smoke Rise Blog," Whittemore's only blog that is not work-related, is run mainly by Whittemore with two other contributors.

Whittemore has been blogging since June of 2006 professionally and noted many aspects of her life that she wanted to capture in a similar way to her work blogs.

"What got me to actually take action was a combination of events that took place around July Fourth weekend, a hike around Lake Kinnelon along a trail I had heard about but wasn't sure where it was and during the hike we heard more about Lake Kinnelon and the day-t0-day activities in maintaining a lake, it seemed like these were things everyone should know about and has a responsibility knowing; just caring for the environment."

In her research and story writing for the blog, she has developed a focus of finding out the history of the area as well as the town of Kinnelon.

"A lot of this is trying to help me understand where the area fits in terms of history and help my daughter understand and appreciate all that and enjoy all this area has to offer," Whittemore said.

"The Smoke Rise Blog" aims to capture the stories of Kinnelon and its history.  Whittemore plans to keep up the blog in the future and get more contributors who are interested in Kinnelon and the purpose of the blog.  "The blogs are great fun because they lead to conversations," Whittemore said.

For these bloggers, there is a personal and a local aspect to what information they are publishing in the blogosphere.  Many have just started blogging and will catch up to more experienced bloggers further down the road.

For a .jpg copy of the article, click on this link.

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