Swashbuckling Sisters
Cecelia, Constance, Clare and Christabelle Swashbuckling live on the small island of Cessabit and run their family’s candle shop. They dream of adventures like they’ve had in their bedtime stories, but it never seems possible until one day…when they accidentally commandeer a pirate ship. Now the world is their oyster…where will their adventures take them? This musical, written by Erin McGrath, will be performed on May 3rd, 4th, and 5th, 2024.
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Visit our Thespian Page to see who has become a thespian and what they have done for OKP. Thespians are dedicated members of OKP who have contributed over 200 hours of work.
See our student leaders
At the end of the school year, a person or a pair (depending on the position) is elected to do a specific job for OKP for the benefit of the club as a whole. Learn about which student leaders have been elected and what they do.
View Our Constitution
Created with the establishment of the Opening Knight Players and amended to fit our current needs, the Opening Knight Players Constitution is one of our club’s most important documents.
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Gordon C. Getchell Auditorium, 37 Maple Street, Ellington High School, Ellington, CT, 06029.
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William Prenetta
Nicole Willis
Braeden Lagasse
Sawyer Brown
Outgoing Seniors
Julian Diamond is a senior at Ellington High School, responsible for the set of this year’s CDA performance of “Eyes of Evil,” the rhythm section drummer for the jazz band, and the loudest senior in OKP. He is going to UConn to pursue a double major in music education with a minor in Jazz Studies. He won the award for technical adjudication at CDA and has helped with the set work for all shows starting his sophomore year. Beyond that, he also received the Connecticut Association of Schools award for the arts with his homie, Rylan Fischer; the director of “Eyes of Evil.” Julian is a seventh year Connecticut Music Eastern Association festival member, a third year New England Music Festival Association festival member, and a fourth year Allstate member. He played most recently in the regional jazz band at Jorgensen theater at UConn, as well as playing for the last three years in a Jazz trio dubbed “The Gentlemen’s Trio,” consisting of himself, Rylan Fischer, and Jacob Kindall. Throughout his time in OKP, through the ups and downs, it is like a family to him and he is extremely grateful for the experience that he has shared.
Rylan Fischer is the Thespian President of OKP along with Vice President Mo Veach. He has been with the club for four years
and in that time has student written and directed three performed plays. These were Bluebird, a story of a man grappling with his
Alzheimer’s diagnosis, The Flurry, the story of two friends getting
caught in the struggle of a cursed whaling crew, and Eyes of Evil,
the story of a detective tracking down a serial killer, as well as her
own personal identity. For Swashbuckling Sisters, he was in charge
of pit recording along with senior Julian Diamond for the show’s
music. Rylan is a bass player and has also been in the EHS jazz
band for four years. Rylan is committed to Emerson College to pursue interdisciplinary studies with a focus on filmmaking. In his free
time, he has been known to write obnoxious film reviews, work on
writing projects, go on hiking trips, fly fish, and destroy his bank
account on vintage clothing.
Colleen McGrath is currently the President of the Opening
Knight Players after being a dedicated member since before her
freshman year. Though she started her time at OKP on stage in the
2013 performance of Charlotte’s Web, since beginning high
school, she has been working behind the scenes, as Stage Manager
of every production since The Statue Garden. She has been a member of Thespian Troupe 5226 since the end of her sophomore year
with over eight hundred hours of work. This year she also took a
stab at directing, and since September has been working on direction for the Swashbuckling Sisters and the Story of the Seven Seas,
a show written by her oldest sister. Following graduation, she will
be attending Emerson College in Boston to study Theater Education. Though there are too many people for her to thank at this
time, she would like to shout of every member of OKP past and
present. Without each and every one of you, none of this would be
possible.
Landon Moreau is the current Publicity Supervisor, and former Pubs Chair after officially joining OKP the second half of their
junior year. While they have not been involved as much compared
to the other seniors, they have tried to be super helpful and help out
in many different crews where others need help. This year they also
took a shot at acting, being seen in the productions of 30×60 as well
as Christmas Lights. Following graduation, they will be attending
the University of Connecticut (UCONN) to study Music Education.
They would just like to thank everyone who is involved in OKP for
making their senior year the best it possibly could have been, including students and advisors. They would just like to thank all of
you for being here, and making everything possible .
Charlotte Mund is a senior at Ellington High School. She has
been in OKP all four years of high school, and has been a part of
the hair crew for four years as well. She has worked as a chair
since freshman year. She has acted in parts through these four
years, including the natural curl redhead Freida from A Christmas
in Pinetree Corners, and Rockette Tootie Conlon in Christmas
Lights. After high school she will be attending Eastern Connecticut
State University. Along with theater, she has been dancing for
years and will continue to do so in college. In her free time she
loves hanging out with her two puppies and supplying herself with
her espresso. She is also a big housewives fan and loves to watch it
with her mom (especially the Jersey housewives). She would like
to thank her parents for being her biggest supporters in everything
throughout her life.
Everly Oliver is a senior at Ellington High School who discovered theater through dance, and has fallen in love with it ever since. She has been involved with OKP since her freshman year, and has helped out both onstage and off. She has acted in various productions including Covid Conversations (2020), 30×60 (2020-2021), Christmas in Pinetree Corners (2021), High School Musical (2022), One Acts (2023), and Christmas Lights (2023). She has also helped out many crews including props, house, stage crew, and scenic painting for other productions such as Twelfth Night (2021), Radium Girls (2023), The Flurry (2023), Eyes of Evil (2024), and Swashbuckling Sisters (2024). She is incredibly grateful for the opportunities and experiences she has had with OKP, and all of the amazing people she has met along the way. She would like to thank her parents for their unwavering love and support, and her OKP advisors for the feedback and encouragement they have offered her throughout the years. After high school she plans on majoring in Early Childhood Education, though performing will always hold a special place in her heart.
Mo Veach has been a member of the Opening Knight Players since moving from Utah two years ago. While she assists backstage with crews such as makeup, costumes, and painting; you’ll mostly find Mo onstage acting. She’s been in several OKP productions such as One Acts: Bluebird (Lucy), Christmas in Pinetree Corners (Sally Brown), Radium Girls (Mrs. Roeder/Sob Sister.), The Flurry (Sabathia), 30×60 (Company), Christmas Lights (Marlene Snippet), Eyes of Evil (Amanda Sheffield), and The Swashbuckling Sisters (Constance Swashbuckling.) Mo also wrote and directed her own staged reading for her Senior capstone this year. Caught in Black Ink donated all of its proceeds to The Trevor Project. Mo is pursuing a degree in Secondary English Education from Central Connecticut State University. She still intends to make the arts a major part of her life by getting a minor degree in theater. Mo hopes to run a program just like OKP one day. “Thank you to everyone who was so welcoming when I first came to OKP and thanks to those who will stick by me when I’m gone. I love you all.” -Mo.
Mollie Virkler is senior at Ellington High School and has been a part of OKP all 4 years of her high school education. You would have mainly seen her in House selling tickets, concessions, and making sure everything runs smoothly. However this year you would have also seen her acting in our final two productions of the year, Eyes of Evil and Swashbuckling Sisters. She is still undecided about what college she would like to attend but is very excited to continue her education and major in Nursing. Mollie loves to read, bake, watch TV shows, and do anything with music in her free time. She is a vocalist in the EHS Vocal Ensemble and loves playing her alto saxophone in the Concert Band and Wind Ensemble. Not only does she love playing, she also loves her job as Drum Major of the EHS Marching Knights during the bands marching season. She would like to thank her parents and all the teachers who made an impact on her life throughout her education, especially those in the music departments who helped her find her love of music.
