Siblings Share Spotlight On, Off Stage at Westlake

Family Bonds Run Deep for Tight-Knit Theater Program

Article and Photos by Todd Sliss 

After spending nearly four months together rehearsing and working on the set and other technical aspects of the show, the Westlake Players—students and adults—were shocked to learn something unique about their make-up (no not that make-up): 12 sets of siblings are involved in this year’s ambitious production of “Les Misérables,” the most talked about Westlake High School musical in years, which wraps up with two more shows this weekend.

Six sets of siblings are in the cast:

• Junior Ashley and freshman Michel McKiernan
• Junior Tycho and freshman Duncan Force
• Senior Henry and freshman Jeff Sliss
• Senior Jayden and freshman Ethan Roazzi
• Senior Lucas and sophomore Logan Piñeiro

Then you have two sets of siblings in the crew:

• Junior Keira and freshman Will Borello
• Senior Alison Tsoi and sophomore Bethany Tsoi

And finally the hybrid families:

• Sophomores Owen (crew) and Sean (cast) Samoyedny
• Senior Michael (cast) and freshman Ryan (crew) Newell
• Senior Savannah (cast) and sophomore Cecilia (crew) Park
• Seniors Alyssa (cast), Gianna (cast) and Paul (crew) Occhiogrossi
• Junior Aiden (crew) and freshman Addie (cast) Kelly

And when asked about it, no one involved in the show realized that number was so high. “Wow, really?” fourth-year musical director Emily Denler said as she thought about it.

“It’s great to see families, including getting to know the parents and get them involved, but it’s interesting seeing the differences between the siblings,” she said. “One might be a tenor, one a bass. One might play evil characters, one might play happy characters. What I love is that they’re here to support each other and be there for each other whenever they need anything.”

Thankfully Denler hasn’t had to preside over too many sibling quarrels over the years, but does see more tension between siblings who are closer in age that “tend to bicker.” Recently she heard siblings arguing over who gets to drive the car, but said, “As long as they made it here safely that’s fine.”

Tycho Force was stunned hearing the news, even though the siblings are all in close quarters with each other on a daily basis.

“I did not even realize that,” he said. “That’s actually kind of crazy. I noticed we have the twins and triplets because they were more obvious, but yeah, that’s a lot. My brother and I have gotten a lot closer through doing the past couple of shows together. It’s one of those times where you’re being forced to be together and it kind of ends up working out well.”

As a parent, there is nothing better than seeing your child, especially one you never thought would be up there, on the stage for the first time and going, “Who is that person?” as they are transformed into their character. And then to see a sibling get inspired by that is priceless.

Henry Sliss loved seeing the middle school musicals when he was in elementary school, and some of the more appropriate high school shows, and said he was going to join when he was old enough, despite no previous experience or inkling it’s something he’d be interested in. His father (and the author of this story) didn’t think it would happen, but Henry auditioned for the Head Guard in “Aladdin Jr.” because it was the smallest part that had a “title.” At WMS they double-cast the main roles and he was chosen as one of the Iagos for the show to everyone’s surprise and delight, but nothing could have prepared his parents for what they were about to see on opening night and in the years that followed. And then with a brother who followed suit a few years later.

“I was in awe of my child,” Mom Carrie Sliss said. “Henry was up there in front of hundreds of people dancing and singing and clearly having the time of his life. It was his first show, but it was as if he had been performing for years. I just knew there was something special going on behind the scenes that encouraged these students to get up there and give it their all. Over the three years Henry was in middle school, Jeff couldn’t help but notice that even while working hard in sometimes long rehearsals for months, Henry was still smiling. He was making new friends and learning from mentors.

“Jeff jumped at the chance to audition for his first musical in sixth grade. Henry helped him prepare and cheered him on. He was eager for Jeff to experience the thrill of performance and excited for him to become part of the theater community that he already held so dear.”

With the Piñeiros it’s a more unique situation where younger brother Logan began doing theater several years before older brother Lucas and now they are both on stage together.

“It’s kind of nice because I don’t really see him a lot during the day at school, but I get to see him a lot more during rehearsals,” Logan said. “It’s kind of new for us. I never really heard my brother sing or do anything like that before and he got cast as the Bishop, so that was really cool. His friends got him to join and now we’re able to do this together. I think it’s made our relationship better. I think it’s very similar to what I see with Tycho and Duncan and Jeff and Henry. Now that they’re in high school together they seem more together and it’s really cool.”

 

Triplets and twins

Alyssa and Gianna Occhiogrossi were thrilled to join the ensemble for “Mamma Mia!” as freshmen due to their dance background. It didn’t take them long to get the bug and they’ve been getting leads in dramas and musicals over the last couple of years. This year, Paul designed and led the building of the set for the musical after working behind the scenes for a few years.

“I’d say it’s pretty incredible,” Alyssa said. “I’ve done all four musicals in high school and I’ve gotten to see my sister grow as a theater person and I got to see my brother get more involved in the theater group. We share the same friend group, so our bonds with everyone else have grown, too. We have become closer because of the shows and we can help each other run lines and songs at home, so it’s really fun.”

Though Paul is usually working in the shadows, he did get on stage in the fall acting in the fourth annual Sketch Comedy Show (more about that later), showing he is another multi-talented theater kid. “Oh, I forgot about that,” Alyssa said. “He just looked like he belonged on stage, so that was also really cool and we also helped him rehearse lines. That was fun to get him involved on the other side of things.”

If Owen Samoyedny wasn’t working the sound board, no one would be able to hear Sean—or anyone for that matter—on the stage during the show. Both twins have found a way to shine in the theater program.

“I think it’s really great to be able to be up here in the booth controlling the sound while seeing my brother down there acting and singing,” Owen said. “It’s just a really great way to connect to him and my other friends. Whenever I’m not in the booth I’m usually backstage talking to him, talking to my friends about what’s going on with the show and other stuff.”

Sean has been doing theater since middle school and Owen didn’t get started until sophomore year. Junior Lucas Finkel, who has done both on-stage and off-stage work over the years, got Owen interested in checking out the stage construction and technical side of theater, and Owen took over the sound from Beni Wilches, who graduated last year. All those afternoons and evenings Sean was out of the house have now turned into Sean and Owen being in the same space working together to create live theater.

“This has definitely made me closer to him because I never interacted with him when he was doing his shows,” Owen said. “Now I definitely see him a lot more and spend more time with him.”

Beyond brothers and sisters

The family connections for Westlake theater run far beyond the current siblings in the musical this spring.

Senior Patrick Weemaels is following in the dance shoes of his mother and New York City music teacher Kathleen Hart (class of 1985), uncle Michael Hart (class of 1973), aunt Joanne (Spiconardi) Hart (class of 1973), uncle and professional actor Joseph Hart (class of 1975), uncle Chris Hart (class of 1978), and sister Kate Weemaels (class of 2021), who all performed at the John Whearty Theatre at Westlake. Patrick’s grandfather, Joe Hart, played in the pit orchestra and grandmother, Joan Hart, designed costumes for their three kids.

After doing some theater when he was much younger, Patrick resisted getting on stage for many years until freshman year. His mom took him and Henry Sliss to a sketch comedy night at Hastings High School that fall and by the spring of 2022, Patrick and Henry produced and directed Westlake’s first ever Sketch Comedy Night, with both also appearing in the skits. Spring of sophomore year, Patrick was in the ensemble for “The Addams Family” and the next fall was the lead in “12 Angry Jurors.” He’s had a major part in every drama and musical since.

“It’s great to know there’s so much past here for my family and to be on stage and perform the way I do it’s from all the tips and tricks my mother’s taught me over the years,” Patrick said. “All of that really just makes me feel like this place is a second home to me and it makes me feel good because I love everything my family has told me about this place.”

Patrick said it’s “very spiritual” for him with the “wonders” that are created at the Whearty Theatre. He regrets being stubborn at a young age and not joining his friends on stage in middle school. He learned quickly that Mom was right.

“She was always talking about it day-in, day-out, and being young I just never wanted to listen to my mother,” Patrick said. “Now pretty much everything I do is because of her.”

Kathleen even arranged a master class for the theater kids during “Les Mis” rehearsals in which Craig Schulman, the only actor worldwide to have played The Phantom, Jean Valjean and Jekyll & Hyde professionally, spoke to, performed for and gave notes to some of the leads for nearly three hours.

The student-driven Sketch Comedy Show has been a pivotal addition to the Westlake theater program. Right away it got some kids back on stage after they phased out during the COVID-19 pandemic, it got others on stage for the first time and for many it was an extra chance to perform, which helped several students as they later pursued bigger parts than they’d had in the past. While Patrick stuck to acting, Henry continued as producer and director, and has now passed the show on to Tycho Force to keep it going next year when Henry will study to shift off stage to being behind the camera in college.

Familiar surnames

If you look at the cast and crew pages for middle and high school shows this year and past years you’ll see names like Palumbo, Mishra, Clark, McKeon, Vulaj, Suriano, Quin, Kiernan and McCabe to name a few—all siblings who are or were involved in the theater program.

Senior Gabriel McCabe is a little younger than some of his four siblings, but two of them were involved in the theater program—Patrick (class of 2013) on stage and Riley (class of 2020) with lights—so he does remember seeing their work when he was growing up. It was really Patrick who inspired Gabe to take improv classes in elementary school and audition for “Aladdin Jr.” as a sixth-grader.

“I remember Patrick was Young Scrooge in ‘A Christmas Carol,’ and watching that and thinking, ‘Wow, this is awesome,’” Gabriel said. “I loved it and that was years ago, but I really remember that. Then two years ago we were cleaning out the prop close and found tons of CDs and there was one of ‘Our Town’ that he was in and I took it home and watched it.”

Two of the longest-running involved people with the theater program got involved as parents volunteering to make costumes. Evelyn Varga and Marykate McCabe (class of 1980) are fixtures in the costume closet and outside the stage door where they put themselves to work sewing as many costume pieces as they can for the high school and middle school shows.

“It’s something that we’ve enjoyed over the years and became more involved,” Marykate said. “Gabriel, I think, has been our most active on stage as Pat was more background type, and Riley did lights. It’s been so nice to see them because I have no talent at all when it comes to that department. I’ve been sucked into doing this with Evelyn even when my kids weren’t here because we just love working together. She’s in charge and I do whatever she tells me. I’ll probably be back next year, too.”

Perhaps it’s because of all the families—perhaps not—but Marykate has found this year’s cast and crew to be one of the more enjoyable she’s worked with. Lots a laughter, lots of funny, appreciative kids. “This group I’ve literally costumed every single show they’ve been in,” she said. “They see how much we have to do and they offer to come out and help, so some of them have been sitting and sewing with us. It’s nice to see how mature they are and how much they’ve grown up.”

More than any other group, the McCabes have hosted Gabe’s friends and castmates at their house more times than they can count and Marykate loves having them back because she said her house is cleaner when they leave than when they had arrived. “I enjoy having them because they’re so incredibly polite, so incredibly lovely,” she said.

Award-winning costume designer Evelyn said that all four of her kids, who graduated in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2024, had to do theater in middle school.

“I did theater and I think that definitely teaches confidence,” she said. “They get out of their shell that they’re in in terms of the group of friends they have. There’s a lot of benefits to theater, and then they get to choose in high school. My daughter did it 11th and 12th and she wishes she’d done it the whole way through. My three boys did it the whole way through and actually now Macarthur is trying to make a career out. It’s funny because my mom actually did costumes when I did theater.”

One senior, who shall remain nameless, had trouble getting out of a costume as a sixth-grader and decided to take a pair of scissors to the costume during tech week. After shying away from the subject for many years, he finally was able to crack a joke about it with Evelyn and Marykate, who will never forget the incident, which mortified them in the moment that it happened. Thankfully that actor’s younger brother knew to ask for help instead of taking matters—or scissors—into his own hands.

Evelyn has seen the theater program change over the last decade-plus. “When my older son started it was a very good theater program—very good—but it was a lot smaller,” she said. “I think that people have realized how much the kids get out of it, and how much growing they do, how much fun they have, and it’s just expanding. And that happens within families as well. They see their sibling having a lot of fun. They can’t wait to experience that as well. They can do it together and see each other in a different way as well. Like I know that when my son and daughter were on stage they didn’t necessarily get along off stage, but on stage, you got to see and appreciate a different side of them, so it’s a cool thing to do.”

Following in mom’s footsteps

“Les Mis” is the fourth musical—“Mamma Mia!” “The Addams Family,” “Beauty and the Beast” in years prior—directed by music teacher Denler. The seniors are her first four-year class to go through and she chose “Les Mis” in part because of the talent she has, but also because it was her senior year show at Somers High School.

Denler grew up in a performance family. Her mother, Erica, is the musical director at Hen Hud High School, which Emily called “super useful.”

“She has 35 years of experience on me, so she’s always great to ask advice,” Emily said. “Plus, her school is only 25 minutes away, so we are using quite a few of her props and set pieces. And her show also includes a couple of ours as well. And I know a bunch of her students are coming to support our show, as we’ve done in the past with them. Some of our students know each other from county-wide choirs and just from seeing each other and following each other on Instagram. So it’s cool to have kind of like a sister school.”

Emily’s brother, Samuel, is two years older, so they were in productions together growing up. Samuel is now a professional opera singer.

“It was always kind of fun following in his footsteps and his friend group kind of brought me into the drama club when I was in high school, and made me feel welcome,” Emily said. “I knew that I had older kids to look up to because they took me in as Sam’s little sister.

“Sometimes it’s a little hard to break free of his reputation, especially because he was immensely talented, and boys in theater sometimes get it easier than girls do, but overall it was a positive experience.”

Gina Horan, a dance teacher and resident, is the choreographer for the high school and middle school musicals at Westlake. She’s directed both of her daughters, Kelly graduated in 2023, and Abby is still in middle school, and her son J.T., a sophomore, does sound and behind-the-scenes work for all the productions.

Gina isn’t surprised to see so many families involved in theater because it’s “welcoming to all different kids” whether they have done theater before, play sports, are shy, are outgoing, are artistic, even special needs.

“They just come together and it’s like a family here, and it’s a lot of hard work and determination, so they learn that, but it’s also a lot of fun,” she said. “The education they get through theater is something I haven’t seen anywhere else, so I think between all of that once one sibling does it the younger siblings see what they do and how they get to express themselves and they just want to be part of it as well.”

The Horans have always had a large crew come to see the shows when Kelly and Abby are on stage, but for “Les Mis” it’s just J.T. in the booth, so that didn’t happen. “I was like, ‘J.T. has an important role,’ but nobody really thinks about that, about the backstage kids, the crew,” Gina said. “They are just as important as the on-stage kids. For me it’s just fun watching both ends of it and how they experience different things.”

Gina enjoys watching all the siblings interact, and she finds it mostly positive. “It’s really funny because as a mom you see how siblings are, and I am a sibling myself, and it’s so evident when you have siblings that are in the wings together because they’re busting on each other or they’re getting annoyed with each other,” she said. “It’s just really funny watching them, but when they are acting together they do feed off of each other in a different way, because they can they see things differently. So that’s a cool thing to watch, too.”

Alums, directors and parents

All three directors of the middle school shows are Westlake grads who grew up at the Whearty Theatre as well: co-directors Mike Williams (class of 1991) and Toni (Battiste) Williams (class of 1994) and musical director Erin (Warner) Sica (class of 1997). And they have all directed their kids on stage as well. Mia Williams graduated in 2021, Dean Williams in 2023, while Regina Sica is a sophomore, Abby Sica a sixth-grader.

“I feel like it’s definitely nice to have my mom here because she has the same interest as me,” Regina said. “So she really encourages me to do this stuff. And I feel like I encouraged my sister to do the shows. I feel like it’s really sweet that she’s taking after me. And I enjoy like my mom helping me with things. She helps me prepare for auditions, she gives me tips on my acting and singing. And I just think I wouldn’t really be as good as I am without her.”

Regina said it did take some convincing to get Abby on stage, but after being in “Legally Blonde Jr.” over the winter, Abby is also hooked.

“I felt really proud of her because she didn’t really want to do it at first and I convinced her,” Regina said. “And then afterwards, she told me that she can’t wait to do it again next year. So it was kind of like a proud sister moment. I felt really happy that she was doing what I love.”

Directing a child or being directed by a parent isn’t always easy, but the Williams and Sica families have always made it seem so easy.

“I really liked it,” Regina said. “I feel like it was a good bonding moment for us because we got to spend so much time together, doing the thing that we both love. It brought us closer together. And I enjoyed having her company because it made me feel safer on stage and around all the other people. She tells me all the time about the leads she got here, and it just pushes me to want to be better and grow the way she did.”

Mike and Toni met on the stage at Westlake High School when they were cast in the fall drama “Our Town.” Toni was the first in her family to do theater, while Mike, the youngest of nine, had an older brother who did some theater before Mike was old enough to remember. Mike and Toni not only found their calling on that stage, but they found each other.

A few years after attending SUNY New Paltz, Mike starred in one of the biggest independent films of all-time, 1999’s “The Blair Witch Project,” and has many other credits to his name, including several over the past few years. After spending many years on the West Coast, Mike and Toni both shifted towards education and now work in schools. They also run MCW Acting Studio, teaching improv classes and they create great memories for themselves and the community through the afterschool high school fall drama and middle school winter musical.

Toni got involved back at Westlake first as the middle school theater assistant/parent volunteer to then director Nancy Engel for one year when Mia was in eighth grade, Dean in sixth grade doing “The Sound of Music.” When Engle vacated the spot for the following year, Toni urged Mike to join forces and take advantage of the unique opportunity. They also directed both kids in “A Chorus Line” Mia’s senior year and had taken over the fall drama, where they directed Dean.

“It felt like just very full circle, like we almost couldn’t believe we were having an opportunity to be back in that theater,” Toni said. “Both of us had done this type of work creatively prior to moving back to New York and having kids, so it was a way for us to get back into that type of creativity, and it’s so aligned with what we’re doing professionally, both working with kids. Then to be doing it when our children were there was kind of crazy. You almost don’t believe how it all kind of worked out.”

Directing your kids, much like coaching your kids—or doing anything with your kids, for that matter—is challenging to say the least. There are so many dynamics involved, most notably in the casting process and secondarily how you treat your child in comparison to others. On more than one occasion when they got home, Dean had to remind his parents that he should be treated like his peers, which his parents took to heart.

“He always appreciated what we did, but I don’t think it was always easy for him to have it be his parents,” Tonie said.

With the middle school musicals there is a team choosing roles, and they are generally on the same page, but honesty is the key to casting to avoid the appearance of favoritism and also to make sure any child can handle the role.

For the high school drama, the auditions are open, so everyone is watching and it’s apparent to the room if someone isn’t right for a role. The dramas are also more often than not ensemble shows, so there aren’t leads per se.

“We were never going to cast any of our own kids in a role unless we’re all on board,” Toni said. “Luckily, we all have that kind of relationship with each other where we set that tone before we even start when it’s our kids who are auditioning. We have to be honest with each other and make sure we’re making sense. I would never put any kid, including my own kid, in that situation where you’re just asking too much of them.”

After all these years, Mike and Toni are still married and still directing together, so they’re certainly doing things the right way with no plans to stop being married or directing. Each show they typically hit one obstacle where they don’t agree on something major, but they work through it in a way that they practice what they preach. “If we want the kids to listen to each other, we have to be listening to each other, too,” Toni said. “Sometimes it’s a lot of patience, but we make it work and we have fun doing it. We always have a good time.”

The last two dramas have had larger casts than past shows, which has meant more acting opportunities and more siblings. For “You Can’t Take it With You” last fall you had the Force, Occhiogrossi, Park, Samoyedny and Sliss families in the cast and crew.

“It’s always fantastic,” Toni said about the families. “It’s always made it an easier transition for the younger kids and the older kids to get along and to come together as a group because they are familiar with each other already. Very rarely is the concern about siblings. Sometimes they will argue like siblings, or not get along like siblings, or they have a such a comfortability with each other that you would worry that it’s going to be too casual, but it’s never happened to us. It’s always been more of an asset that they know each other well, that they know each other’s friends well. So it seems like it makes the whole experience a little bit more just like a family, because you literally have family as part of it.”

Like many of the siblings—whether they are the first in their family or not—a lot of what attracts kids to start doing theater in middle school is attending the family-friendly middle school shows when they’re in elementary school. Following the 2023 performance of “Matilda Jr.” which features some amazing ensemble numbers, the uptick in participation for the last two shows was noticeable going from around 70 to close to 100 kids in the cast alone, with dozens more signing up for crew. Much of it is also the three directors and the community they help build.

The goal for the Williamses is “to make sure everyone has a great experience” because “you have this family within a family,” Toni said, adding, “We teach them, ‘Who’s better than you? Everybody else,’ to show them that everyone is important. If I’m making you more important than me, you’re making me more important than you, then you’re connecting with each other. If you’re only thinking about yourself, you’re not serving each other, you’re not serving the scene, you’re not serving the audience.”

The biggest events of the year in the Town of Mount Pleasant are homecoming for football, Spirit Day to raise awareness and funds to battle childhood cancer, high school graduation, Mount Pleasant Day and the shows put on by the theater department.

“The whole thing feels like a family, so it makes sense,” Gabriel McCabe said.

Todd Sliss is not only a theater dad who helps out with the show program and by taking pictures, he’s an award-winning writer, editor and photographer for the last 25 years in Westchester County. He knows there are way more family connections than are contained in this article that he doesn’t know about. He also hopes to see you at the final two performances of “Les Misérables” Friday and Saturday, April 4-5 at 8 p.m. For tickets: https://cur8.com/projects/22038.