Four Rutgers School of Law–Newark students and two Class of 2009 graduates will be on the stage and in the orchestra pit on September 16 for the New Jersey Law Journal’s staging of Bye Bye Birdie at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.

The all-lawyer production and accompanying visual arts exhibit comprise “A Celebration of Lawyers in the Arts IV,” with proceeds going to the nonprofit New Jersey Volunteer Lawyers (NJVLA) for the Arts. More than 75 lawyers and law students, eager to support NJVLA’s pro bono work and drawn to the opportunity to return to their first passion, will participate in the production.

Pearson began singing as a child in the choir, with his particularly high (or “treble”) voice was given solo parts, turned to acting in high school, and in college went back to the chorus before being cast in an opera, ballet, a production of Hamlet and, in his senior year at Rhodes College, the regional premiere of Big Love, a modern and irreverent adaptation of Aeschylus’ The Suppliant Maidens. For Pearson the road to law school began when, unemployed and appearing in a production of Candide in Little Rock, he was encouraged by a cast mate who was a lawyer to interview at her firm.

Proceeds from the September 16 production  will  benefit  New Jersey Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. Click here for ticket information..  

Representing the law school in the orchestra will be David Gold ’10 and Justin Schwam ’11. Gold, who interned in the summer of 2008 with NJVLA, has been playing double bass classically for more than 15 years. A student of William Blossom of the New York Philharmonic, he has been a principal member of many symphonic groups including the Rockland Youth Philharmonic, the New York Youth Symphony, the Rockland All-County, Area All-State, and New York All-State Orchestras, the Brown University Symphony Orchestra, and the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra. In 2003, he and his father founded the New York Metropolitan Symphony, “Music with a Cause,” whose performances support a variety of charitable causes.

Gold came to Rutgers after receiving his master's in performing arts administration from New York University. His employment experiences include the New York Philharmonic, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, and Cole, Schotz, Meisel, Forman & Leonard. Last year he was president of the Student Bar Association. Not surprisingly, Gold’s professional goal is to combine his interest in the law and the arts.

Before starting law school, Schwam was a public school music teacher in New Jersey, teaching primarily beginning band and orchestra for fifth grade students. A Delaware native, he received a bachelor's in music education from West Chester University of Pennsylvania, performing in virtually every musical ensemble, from marching band and symphony orchestra to wind ensemble and jazz bands. Over the past 10 years, he has played the trumpet and bass in pit orchestras, sacred services, and community bands. Among his most memorable gigs was performing with a local jazz band at Rockefeller Center’s Rainbow Room.

This summer Schwam was a judicial intern for Superior Court Judge Fred H. Kumpf at the Somerset County Courthouse. Much of his preparation for Bye Bye Birdie was at home practicing, “a welcome addition to my summer,” he adds. “As far as the future, music has and always shall be a very important part of my life,” he says. Schwam’s wife is a music teacher and he continues to give private lessons.

Classically trained in ballet and modern dance, Nicole Barna ’11 welcomed the chance to have dance be a part of her life again. She had quit five years ago, deciding to attend Wake Forest University rather than pursue a professional dance career or attend a conservatory. “My love of dance never left me,” she says, “but simply walking back into a studio proved to be a psychologically daunting task. Could I still dance? Did I really want to put on a leotard and pink tights again?”

The former Alvin Ailey scholarship student decided to ignore those doubts and dig out her old dance wear. “It has truly not disappointed,” says Barna, “as my fellow dancers are talented and good-natured, our choreographer is amazing and patient with all of us, and it has also been a fantastic summer workout.” Barna has juggled rehearsals with two summer jobs – an internship with Appellate Division Judge Rudy Coleman and a research assistantship with Rutgers Assistant Professor Adil Haque. She found the rehearsals a welcome break from the researching and writing. Back in the studio, Barna also realized how her dance training has prepared her for anything, including a law career. “It has taught me to be tough and never to take things personally,” she explains, “to accept and grow from criticism, and when to take the lead and when to hold back.”

For these six performers, the Bye Bye Birdie experience has shown them that, no matter how busy their professional lives become, there will be opportunities to integrate their love of performing with their career – especially for a cause like the New Jersey Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.

For more information about the performance and to order tickets, click here.