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Community Corner

Barrymore's Way: The Next Generation

Fort Lee High school carries on the tradition of the great John Barrymore

It has been said that the past is history, the future is a mystery, but today is a gift – that’s why they call it the present. Well, this weekend we can open up a great big present at , as the school presents its first one-act play festival entitled "The Art of Adolescence" Friday and Saturday, Dec. 9 and 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the Fort Lee High School auditorium. 

These student thespians carry on a great tradition of theatre arts in our borough that can trace its roots to the corner of Main Street and Central Road. A few years ago the Fort Lee Film Commission petitioned the Fort Lee Mayor and Council to commemorate this spot with a special street sign and designate it "John Barrymore Way." 

Buckheister’s Hotel stood on this location in 1900 when a then 18-year-old Fort Lee resident, John Barrymore, made his stage debut in the play, A Man of the World, directed by his father and Fort Lee resident, Maurice Barrymore.

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Maurice was at the time the most prominent actor from the Broadway stage. This fundraiser for the Fort Lee Fire Department saw the birth of the stage career of an actor who is still considered the most prominent stage actor in American history, Jack Barrymore.

The Barrymore magic runs through our Fort Lee history from John Barrymore Way directly to the stage in the auditorium of Fort Lee High School. Our student thespians and their instructor, Jodi Etra, carry onthe  Barrymore magic into a new century.

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We will have more information on the work the Fort Lee Film Commission will do with these thespians to make film history come alive in 2012, but that is a story better suited for presentment near John Barrymore’s birthday on Feb. 15 when the Fort Lee Film Commission will host a fundraiser for the thespians and their work at Restaurant on Main Street adjacent to John Barrymore Way.

So do yourself a favor this holiday season: take a break from rushing about buying presents for others, and give yourself a present. Come to Fort Lee High School tonight or tomorrow, Dec. 10, at 7:30 p.m. and unwrap a gift postmarked "Barrymore" courtesy of the Fort Lee High School student thespians.

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