Great Neck's two public high schools have back-to-back musicals on the calendar. Great Neck North's Junior Players have two performances of Anastasia: The Musical left this weekend, and Theatre South follows with Rock of Ages: Teen Edition on November 20 and 21. In the same stretch, the district's student-run television station, GNPS/TV, brought home four Telly Awards.

Anastasia at North, this weekend

The Junior Players of Great Neck North High School opened Anastasia: The Musical on Friday, November 13. The remaining performances are Saturday, November 14, at 7 p.m. and a matinee on Sunday, November 15, at 3 p.m., in the school's Bernard Kaplan Auditorium at 35 Polo Road.

The musical follows Anya, a young woman trying to uncover her past, from the last days of the Russian Empire to Paris in the 1920s. A Soviet officer pursues her while a con man and a former aristocrat help her search for home and family. Alan Wales directs the North production.

Advance tickets are $20 for adults and $5 for children, students and seniors 65 and older, sold online through the North High performing arts ticket page. Proceeds go to the Junior Players. The box office line for questions is 516-441-4751.

Rock of Ages at South, November 20 and 21

Theatre South stages Rock of Ages: Teen Edition on Friday, November 20, and Saturday, November 21, both at 7 p.m. The performances are in the South Middle School auditorium at 349 Lakeville Road.

The show is the version of the Tony-nominated Broadway musical adapted for high school performers and younger audiences, built on 1980s songs by Styx, Journey, Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister and others. Its story follows Drew, an aspiring rocker who cleans toilets for a living, and Sherrie, a small-town girl from Kansas with the same dream, as developers arrive with plans to turn the Strip in their Hollywood town into a shopping center. Ilana Meredith, the Theatre South director and drama teacher, directs.

Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for students and seniors 65 and older, and $5 for children 10 and under and for Great Neck South Middle School students. Seating is general admission, and tickets are sold in advance online through Theatre South's website.

Four Telly Awards for the student TV station

Great Neck Public Schools Television, the district station known as GNPS/TV, won four Bronze Telly trophies in the General-Student category of the 47th annual Telly Awards, an international competition for video and television. The district announced the wins on November 9.

The four honored programs:

  • A Board of Education appreciation video highlighting programs at North and South high schools, made for New York State School Board Recognition Week in October 2025
  • North High Unified Basketball, a video on the team's first season
  • North High Opera's Carmen, filmed in February 2025
  • Happy Holidays, a message to the community from Superintendent Dr. Kenneth R. Bossert, with winter concert footage from the district's secondary schools

GNPS/TV programs air on Optimum Channel 75 and Verizon Fios Channel 32 within the incorporated villages of Great Neck, and they stream on demand on the district website. Robert Zahn is the district's director of educational television and broadcast media.

Plan your night out

  • Anastasia: The Musical: Saturday, November 14, 7 p.m.; Sunday, November 15, 3 p.m.; Bernard Kaplan Auditorium, Great Neck North High School, 35 Polo Road; $20 adults, $5 children, students and seniors
  • Rock of Ages: Teen Edition: Friday and Saturday, November 20 and 21, 7 p.m.; South Middle School auditorium, 349 Lakeville Road; $20 adults, $10 students and seniors, $5 children 10 and under
  • GNPS/TV: Optimum 75, Fios 32, and on demand at the district website

Sources