There are likely no students at LHS who spend more time thinking about Godzilla than Jaiden Moreno, Lola Sokolskiy, and Grace Benedict. These three precocious sophomores are in the process of creating their own original musical, based on Godzilla, of course, and have recently debuted one of the show’s songs, “The Monster on the Shore,” in the chorus class’ “Performance Friday.” The musical currently spans approximately 90 minutes in length, excluding the music, and contains 17 energetic songs, all written by Moreno.

The idea sprouted back when the trio was in eighth grade, at the time King Kong the Musical debuted on Broadway. “Fifty percent of our time together was spent making fun of it,” laughed Moreno. “It just looked like the worst show ever made, and it got terrible reviews. We thought it was the funniest thing,” he added. Sokolskiy chimed in, “We said, ‘If they’re doing King Kong, why don’t we do Godzilla?’”

They initially drafted a rough sketch of the script and completed two songs, but they never planned on finishing the soundtrack or bringing the show to the stage, After some time, the musical slipped their minds and the excitement died out, but every few months, they would reminisce over the show that could have been. In November of 2020, LHS chorus classes were assigned a songwriting project; the trio decided to submit one of the musical’s original songs for the project, and from then on, Godzilla was reborn. The group started by going back to their old songs, adding more to the script, and spurring new song ideas, when they finally thought, “‘Wow, we can actually do this,’” shared Moreno.

Although Godzilla was put on hiatus for some time, the trio had never ceased exploring other musical endeavors, such as writing plays, performing parody reality-TV shows, and filming movies on their iPads. Some of their ideas included Jaiden: the Musical, The Bachelorette: Quarantine Edition, and their fourth annual movie project, Heist. “We have two modes of friendship: playing Mario Party and making something,” explained Moreno. “It’s not like we’re playing sports or anything, so there’s nothing else to take up our time.”

Moreno, Sokolskiy, and Benedict each have a long history in the field of musical theater, performing in plays at school in addition to shows at Plaza Performing Arts Academy in Lynbrook. Moreno has participated in the greatest number of productions out of the three, reaching 35 shows throughout his musical career thus far. He also sports full Lynbrook pride at football games as the owl mascot. Sokolskiy and Benedict both sing and play instruments in the school’s orchestra ensemble. “I fell in love with the thrill of performing the second I got on stage,” smiled Benedict. “I’m a very shy person, but when I’m on a stage, I shed all of that hesitance. It’s just the best way for me to express myself,” she added.

The three artists are each inspired by different people in their lives. Moreno shared that his love for theater and wild sense of humor comes from his sister, Jacqueline, who was also a star on the LHS stage before she graduated in 2018. Benedict said her biggest supporter is her mother, who has always been there for her, through thick and thin; her music icon is Tony-winner Sutton Foster. Sokolskiy said she is inspired by everyone she meets, the good and the bad alike; her music icon is Phantom of the Opera star Sierra Boggess.

The show is currently comprised of a 10-member cast, starring Benedict as Vincent, an old man; and Sokolskiy as June, Vincent’s daughter. Other LHS cast members include sophomores Adam Samuel, Andrew Schiller, and Regan O’Callahan, in addition to other student actors from Plaza. The plot follows Roger and his friend, the sole survivors of a boat crash after an attack by a mysterious sea monster. The two wash up on shore in a small town and get taken     in by an old scientist who used to study Godzilla but lost all of his scientific credibility after revealing his discovery. War is later declared on Godzilla, and mayhem ensues; in Act Two, Godzilla becomes involved in a romance. The satirical comedy is also vaguely anachronistic, leaving viewers, and even the writers, unsure of which time period the story takes place in.

“When Lola and Jaiden told me they were going to perform an original song from their own original musical, they caught me off guard,” recalled chorus teacher Barry Wyner. “My heart just leapt out of my chest because original musicals are a passion of mine, and it hit very close to home,” he added. Wyner wrote his own original show, Calvin Berger, after graduating college; the show has gone on to be performed all around the world, and it has starred several award-winning actors, such as Joshua Bassett, Neil Patrick Harris, and Krystal Joy Brown, who played Eliza Schuyler in the Broadway hit Hamilton.

Although this is Wyner’s first year teaching the playwright trio, he is already impressed by their passion for musical theater. “From my first impression,” he said, “I could tell that these students were very clever, creative, and talented people…they’re quirky in the best way possible.” Wyner shared his excitement for the show’s final product and said he could one day envision LHS performing an original production. “Never say never,” he smiled.

The ultimate goal is to perform Godzilla as a full musical production, but for now, the trio is looking to upload a musical soundtrack on popular streaming services, such as Spotify and Apple Music. The soundtrack will likely be released around April or May, and in the meantime, the trio is filming a documentary-style film of the recording process. “I’m very excited for this,” said Sokolskiy. “I hope everyone likes it, and Godzilla The Musical wins all the Tony Awards.” 

Now more than ever, the theater community is in need of some excitement, as the coronavirus pandemic forced many music programs to shut down, both locally and globally, for almost a year. “When music programs shut down due to coronavirus, a lot of us theater-lovers felt really lost for a while,” said Benedict. Thankfully, Moreno, Sokolskiy, Benedict, and Godzilla are here to save the day. “I just hope this musical brings people some joy,” Benedict smiled. “That’s definitely something everyone could use an extra dose of right now.”