We arrived early on Saturday evening, Feb. 28, at the Oyster Bay-East Norwich High School to watch the students perform The Sound of Music. Members of the press often have access to events in ways that make it helpful in doing stories. In this case, we went into the cafeteria and saw Assistant Principal Frank Imperiale at work with students making a stained glass window for the church in the first scene. Tina Garces, Liz Miller, Jessica Beardsley were working with Mr. Imperiale and Sunny Winkel, who designed the window that would make its first appearance at the evening performance. On stage we saw Brad Goldberg painting a window for one of the sets, as well as the crew at work.

What impressed us most was the professionalism of the students and the way they were comfortable in their jobs and at home in the school. It really shows a great feeling of "Gemütlichkeit," a German word that has many meanings.

Oyster Bay-East Norwich Reference Librarian Dr. Leonard Lehrman gave us the correct spelling and said, the choice was apropos since the production took place in Austria.

"Gemütlichkeit has many meanings, all basically pleasant: good fellowship, good atmosphere, good hospitality, good character, good mood. The root of the word 'müt' is the same as the English word 'mood,' so it is a very pleasant mood and could be translated as 'geniality,'" he said.

It appeared to us that the teachers and students work together in a relationship that is easy, natural and professional. The first act, for some reason, had three school administrators dressed as nuns in an opening scene. The kids got a big kick out of it. It is a play with few male roles, commented Dr. Lehrman.

Upstairs in the balcony, where we chose to sit, the students were eagerly watching their friends perform. One girl, with long legs was stepping over seats to return to sit with her friends as they watched scenes of the play. Two students were pantomiming the musical score. [Not to mention adults saying hello, and chatting.]

What we liked best, as we said in other ways, is what we see as a "private school atmosphere" in the high school.

Mr. Imperiale was in charge of the crew, and at one time he arrived to call for assistance and several young men went off to help. Another young man told the crew the stage needed sweeping and they went to work.

There is a lot going on that is good. We just wish we could live life over, to attend OBEN schools. What a great place to learn and shine.

As always, the play was great. It must be very hard to fit the available talent into the mold of a play. In this case, we think the choice was made easy by the talent of Sveta Bout who took the role of Maria. She was on stage throughout the play and is a natural talent. It will be wonderful to see her mature into her full strength.

We also loved the children; the way they defined their roles and the way they sang together. They were wonderful singing with Maria and wonderful when they illustrated they missed her through song. The children were a great focus for the show - all seven of them. And, congratulations to Seanna Burke for her performance of Climb Every Mountain.

We have ordered our video of the musical and are looking forward to a home performance. If you want a copy, contact Stuart Rauch, director of fine and performing arts. He, by the way, was in charge of the box office. Conductor Linda Koevary was walking around in her tuxedo shirt and denim slacks before the performance as she coached students. She walked out in full black tux when the musical began. As we mentioned set designer Frank Imperiale was working right up to the opening chords of the orchestra.

Congratulations to everyone for a great performance and a great learning experience for the students.