Gateway High School's 'Almost, Maine' production a fitting debut for director

The first time Kaylie Wallace saw her grandfather, Larry Cervi, direct a play was about a decade ago when Gateway High School performed “Almost, Maine” — the 2004 show written by John Cariani.

Recently, Wallace stepped into Cervi’s (dancing) shoes as the artistic director and choreographer at the nonprofit East End Kids, a song and dance ensemble that Cervi founded in 1990.

“I was dancing at the age of 3 or 4 and started taking voice lessons at 8 years old,” Wallace said.

She performed with East End Kids for seven years. After studying musical theater at the University of Michigan, Wallace did a two-year tour of the musical “Annie,” which took the cast to China for three weeks.

“No one has made me who I am more than Larry Cervi,” Wallace said of her maternal grandfather. “He is my best friend.”

It seems fitting then that Wallace’s directorial debut at Gateway High School is none other than “Almost, Maine.”

With the assistance of the Chase family — producer Mary, set director Charles and artistic designer Liv — the talented cast will enact nine short plays that explore loss and love in a secluded, fictious town.

Premiering at Portland Stage Company in Portland, Maine, “Almost, Maine” broke box office records and earned critical acclaim.

According to Playbill, “Almost, Maine” was the 14th most streamed play during the pandemic and remains one of the most popular plays in the country.

The play’s website states it was the most popular production for high schools this decade, until recently when it was beat out by “Clue.” To date, there have been 100 professional productions and more than 5,000 community, university and high school productions of “Almost, Maine.”

“The play is uplifting, almost cathartic,” Wallace said, adding the play makes you think, yet is charming and very relatable. “There’s a sense of whimsy around commonly felt connections.”

“I love that we’re doing this play with teenagers,” Mary Chase said, noting many of the emotions are things that teenagers are now starting to experience.

Chase and Wallace met at East End Kids in 2019, when two of Chase’s kids, Heath and Jayla, performed with the ensemble.

Eventually, Chase went from being an attentive parent to an integral part of the East End Kids’ family.

“Mary became important to Larry,” Wallace said. “There’s so much that Mary does that I could never do.”

Wallace attributes Cervi’s curiosity about people as one of the reasons for his success — and hers.

“Larry would sit down next to someone and ask, ‘So what’s your story?’ and I just took it a step further,” she said. “There’s a subtext there that’s not in the lines.”

Wallace and Chase have been incorporating their experience and education into the winter play.

Chase taught middle school science for 10 years and enjoys working with middle and high school students.

“It’s my vocation to work with kids this age,” she said.

Wallace is enrolled at Penn West University seeking a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling; she believes that her studies can help the cast, especially when it comes to nervousness and breathing techniques.

“Performing helps students have empathy for someone else’s experiences, since you are putting yourself in someone else’s shoes,” Wallace said. “We all have different ways of showing up. And acting inherently strengthens the empathy muscle.”

If you go

What: Performance of “Almost, Maine” by Gateway High School students

When: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 16; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 17

Where: Gateway High School’s Robert A. Read Performing Arts Center, 3000 Gateway Campus Blvd.

Tickets: Tickets can be purchased through Gateway School District’s website.