NUTLEY, NJ — The Nutley High School marching band was riding high at the end of the 2019 season. The band won a Group IVA state championship, a second-place trophy in the group at nationals and had aspirations of defending the titles in 2020 with a new show.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
School buildings shut down in March 2020 and didn’t open for in-person instruction again for a year, and the fall athletics season showed little resemblance to normality. COVID restrictions didn’t allow the band to pull together a normal show; band members stood still on the field at NHS home football games and played in the stands. There was no traveling to away games or competing at all. But this year, they’re back in uniform and marching around, with a contingent of new members who have never experienced a real season before.
“This year we went full force,” band Director Vincent Vicchiariello said in a phone interview with the Nutley Journal on Oct. 18. “It’s marching, playing — the whole nine. The kids have been phenomenal in terms of flipping the switch. All of them have come leaps and bounds since we started in June; it’s amazing to see how far they’ve come.”
The circus-themed 2020 show, “Sideshow,” was shelved and brought back out for this year, and three grades of students who have never experienced a regular marching band season are learning the ropes: freshmen, sophomores and eighth-graders from John H. Walker Middle School. For senior color guard captain Danielle Scott, it’s been a learning experience to teach such a large group of newcomers how to march.
“We were state champions, and coming back this year we were thinking ‘Can we live up to that?’” Scott said in a phone interview with the Nutley Journal on Oct. 19. “It’s a lot to take on. There are a lot of people who have never marched before, and it was a lot to learn. They’ve been doing great.”
Aside from competing, the Raiders have been making up for the time they didn’t get to spend together. A limited rehearsal schedule and no in-person class time meant that the band and guard members weren’t together a lot last fall, which made it tough to get to know one another. Senior drum major Ethan Ramos has seen the difference in enthusiasm this year has brought.
“Last year was tough, because band for a lot of people is like home,” Ramos said in a phone interview with the Nutley Journal on Oct. 18. “This year everyone has loved it. I think the excitement of it and getting to perform has had a big effect.”
Ramos and assistant drum major Caroline Ritacco walk the audience through the show as it is being performed, starting with an opening narration by Ramos. Ritacco spends a lot of time on the field, conducting and playing a character experiencing the circus sideshow.
“It’s a lot of dancing, I’m kind of like a color guard member except I don’t throw anything,” Ritacco said in a phone interview with the Nutley Journal on Oct. 19.
The fact that the band has an audience now has made a huge difference.
“That plays a role, when you have the hype of the crowd,” Ritacco said. “You feed off of it. Last year, we were mostly playing for ourselves. We love what we do, but we want other people to see it.”
The band members aren’t the only ones who have noticed the difference in energy. The staff has, too.
“They do better when they have people in front of them,” Vicchiariello said. “They thrive off the instant feedback. If anything, the biggest adjustment was not playing in front of people. We also didn’t wear uniforms last year, and there are so many things we look back on and think, ‘Wow, that really does make a huge difference.’”
Since “Sideshow” was meant to be performed during the 2020 season, it was written for an experienced band that had been performing at a high level. NHS is in a different place now. With such a large group of new marchers and others who were a little rusty, it was a risk to use it anyway. But Vicchiariello and the staff decided to change only minor elements and to keep most of the show as written.
“This is a demanding show,” Vicchiariello said. “For a new group it was a stretch, but they accepted the challenge and are really, really impressing us. It’s upbeat and it’s fun. Coming off of the pandemic, this is a light show that people can enjoy.”
Ritacco, a junior, is one of the only student leaders this year who will be back next fall. She has been watching Ramos and modeling her leadership style after his, since there’s a good chance she’ll be in his position in 2022. She wants to build on the progress NHS has been able to make, even with a lost 2020 season.
“We still have that mindset from two years ago,” Ritacco said. “You’re constantly learning, so I’ve been evaluating what I can do better and I’ve been adjusting.”
Ramos and Scott are enjoying their marching band swan song this year. The 2020 gap year made them both realize what they were missing, and Ramos is making an effort to move up to the next level.
“Before this year I wasn’t considering joining a drum corps at all, but now I am,” Ramos said. “I’ve been looking at colleges with a band I can join.”
Scott isn’t completely ready for it to end either.
“They’ve improved so much, I want to come back and see them next year,” she said. “I think the upcoming classes have a lot of potential to succeed. I went into it a couple years ago not even knowing what color guard was, and it was one of the most unexpected things. I’m glad I did it.”
Photos Courtesy of Nutley Music Boosters Association
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