Accidentals and Naturals trip to New York City

by Natalie Mack, news editor

For the first time since 2018, the Accidentals and Naturals, the select chorus group at Nantucket High School, will be traveling to New York City. Due to the Covid pandemic, the trip has been canceled for the past couple of years. This year, the group traveled to New York City on Thursday, April 6th, and stayed for three nights.

They have been connected with a tour group, called Gerber Tours, a student travel agency. The group traveled by bus and arrived in New York City on the afternoon of the 6th and met up with a tour guide. Throughout the four-day trip, the group visited and toured the Theatre District, the Empire State Building Observatory, the theaters of Lincoln Center, Central Park, Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Fifth Avenue, American Museum of Natural History, and many more well-known locations, as well as ate at popular restaurants in the city.

They  saw two Broadway shows: “Hamilton,” by Lin-Manuel Miranda, a historical production that tells the story of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton based on the 2004 book “Alexander Hamilton” by Ron Cherno, and “Hadestown,” by Anais Mitchell, a musical that tells a version of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. In addition, they also attended several dance and theater-based workshops.

From her experience with doing this trip in past years, leader of the Accidentals and Naturals and Nantucket High School chorus director Erin MacIver, who has been on the trip four times with the group, reflects on why she takes the select group of singers on this trip, stating that, “I get the opportunity to take students to New York City to see things they might not be able to see again. It provides them the chance to see Broadway shows and tour many places in the city. It is a great cultural experience.”

She adds that her favorite part of the trip is, “seeing the students experience all of these things for the first time.” Students also have the opportunity during this trip to attend several dance and theater workshops.

MacIver states that “the workshops are with professional choreographers and teachers from Broadway which is a great experience for them.” This year, the group took part in a stage combat class and a variety of dance and theater classes as well.

The group has been fundraising all year with their annual dessert cabaret performance as well as their auction. The students involved in the group are a select group of singers in the Nantucket High School chorus. The chorus is made up of Sopranos, Altos, Tenors, and Basses—the different voice parts that make up a chorus. The Accidentals and Naturals perform at many events around the island, as well as private parties, mainly during the holiday season. They are most well known for their annual caroling performance at the top of Main Street at Nantucket’s annual downtown tree lighting ceremony the day after Thanksgiving, which for the past two years has been performed in front of President Biden, while he was visiting the island for Thanksgiving with his family, as well as their various performances throughout Nantucket’s annual stroll weekend.

After all of the practices, fundraising, and performances, MacIver expressed that the trip is “a way for her to reward the students that have worked so hard during their time with Accidentals and Naturals.”

Senior member of the Accidentals and Naturals, tenor Hunter Gross expresses his thoughts on the trip stating, “Growing up on Nantucket, I have never gotten the chance to go to the city.” He is most excited for “the interactive workshops, because I will be able to learn something new that I wouldn’t have been to have to learn if I wasn’t going on this trip”.

In addition to a great experience, the students are able to spend time with their fellow classmates. Benton Killion, a junior and tenor member of the Accidentals and Naturals, is most looking forward to “seeing all the shows, going to the workshops, and bonding with the group.” School group trips are a way for students to become more educated but also provide a great opportunity for students to create lifelong memories with their classmates.