By Philip Riebli '25

In our Fall show, Peter and the Starcatcher, Trinitas raised anchor and set sail in the timeless tale before the tale of the Boy who never grew up. This show specialized in pushing the boundaries of visual storytelling through the usage of ordinary objects like buckets, bloomers, and umbrellas and imagining them as pirate ships, rainstorms, and giant crocodiles.

Actors new and old livened the stage as deckhands, mermaids, cannibals, and orphans. I was fortunate enough to play the role of Boy, a lonely orphan who would become the legendary Peter Pan. Some of my favorite memories from this show include the comical dramatics between Captain Black Stache and his First Mate Smee, the brotherly camaraderie of the three orphan boys, and the playful spiritedness of Peter and Molly as they realize what it means to grow up. Ultimately, Peter and the Starcatcher began our Trinitas year with dreams of joy and reawakened our youthful whimsies of flying.

This year, Trinitas broke free from the cold confines of a Winter show in place of something new. Introducing Winterfest: a weekend of events showcasing the various and sometimes underrepresented aspects of theater arts. The weekend began at our Night of Shakespeare event as participating students prepared their best Shakespearean scenes, sonnets, and songs with a focus on the author’s greatest heroes and villains.

Much of the evening was student led and the performance came together in the span of a few short weeks. The event even featured a musical performance starring Michael Ghebrial as the one and only Will Power. The following day, Servite and Rosary’s Comedy Sportz team faced off against select Servite and Rosary faculty members in the fabled Comedy Sportz Faculty Match.

If you are not on the Comedy Sportz team, you should join. Lastly, Trinitas Arts Conservatory’s Cabaret students rounded out the Winterfest weekend telling personal stories about perseverance and familial bonds through speech and song.

The Christmas season may have ended in December, but Trinitas students remained in the festive feeling because we ended our year doing Elf the Musical. Along with Buddy, the show featured a colorful cast of characters, a city-sized ensemble, a specialized group of featured dancers, multiple backstage technical crews fit for Santa’s workshop, and a dedicated team of directors. The final performance had us singing loud for all to hear, dancing when nobody cared about Santa, roller skating onstage and kissing mid-date at the Rockefeller Center, watching snow fall in Central Park, and sending off Santa in a little tiny sleigh (Thanks Robotics).

All of the hard work and dedication in Elf resulted in countless accolades and awards at both the JRAY’s and MACY's award shows, including but not limited to Trinitas’ production of Elf the Musical being named the Best Comedic Musical of the Year at the JRAY’s. Huge congratulations to Head Director Michael Betts and the rest of the Elf team on the achievement and for making this year truly memorable.

Riebli has been an active participant in Trinitas Arts Conservatory during his time at Servite, starring in multiple productions. His senior year concluded by starring as Buddy the Elf in "Elf: The Musical." At the annual JRAY Awards, Riebli was nominated and won the award for Leading Actor in a Musical Comedy. We wish Philip well as he continues his academic journey at Christendom College this fall.