“Let’s Go Crazy” at Great Gig

4/23/2025

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today … to witness upper school students bring one of music’s most iconic albums to life.

This weekend, the annual Great Gig in the Sky — an interdisciplinary production during which students recreate an album in its entirety during a live performance — will take on Prince’s legendary “Purple Rain.”

The album consists of nine songs, and includes some of Prince’s most well-known and beloved: “When Doves Cry,” “Let’s Go Crazy,” “I Would Die 4 U” and the titular, 8-minute-and-41-second-long “Purple Rain.”

Upper School Music Teacher Gilles Pugatch, who has worked on Great Gig since it began in 2012, said the Department of Performing Arts selected the album because it’s “the perfect blend of rock, R&B, and virtuosity for guitars and voice.”

In addition to 65 upper school musicians and A/V technicians, two alumnae/i — Eden Leach ’23 and Buster Scheuer ’20 — returned to their alma mater to bring their musical expertise to the show.

This is Alex Carnevale’s fourth and final Great Gig. The senior is a soloist on “I Would Die 4 U,” is in the senior ensemble for “Purple Rain,” and is designing the lights for “Darling Nikki” and “Baby I’m a Star.”

Carnevale wasn’t familiar with the album before Great Gig, but said, “After listening to it repeatedly I grew to love it and really enjoy it.” And as for the show itself, “I love watching everything come together but personally I love designing some of the lights for it and just seeing my vision and work come alive on stage — especially since I will be studying lighting design in college.”

Ella Morin ’25, who was part of the tech crew last year and this year, was also introduced to much of the album through Great Gig. “The best part is definitely getting to hear your peers and friends perform and see how talented everybody is, whether it is singing, playing an instrument, or helping out in some other way,” Morin said.

Great Gig has a special meaning for Sam Appiah ’12: As a senior at Masters, he played keyboards and sang in the School’s first Great Gig: a salute to Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.” Now, as a faculty member in the Department of Performing Arts, he is coaching students who are standing in the same spot he did 13 years ago.

“The most enjoyable part is definitely the sense of fulfillment that I observe from the students as they finally arrive at a sound and presentation that they are glad to own and have worked hard to cultivate,” Appiah said.

And what does the Great Gig veteran say audiences should expect? “The familiar sound and vibe of the ’80s with the flair of the approach of budding high school artistry and musicianship.”

We’ll see you underneath the purple rain in the Claudia Boettcher Theatre on Thursday, April 24 (invited dress rehearsal); Friday, April 25; and Saturday, April 26, at 7:00 p.m. all nights. Check our SmugMug for photos next week.