Feb 14, 2019 4 min read

Just a couple of months after Zachary Mendola graduated from by Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School, he was eager for a new challenge.

So in August 2017, the Mon Valley native began writing the musical composition for a ballet that would eventually be performed at the fine arts charter school in Beaver County less than two years later.

“Something like this could take a couple of years, but we really didn’t have that much time,” Mendola said.

Meanwhile, he was balancing that challenge with studying musical theater while attending the Boston Conservatory at Berklee.

After spending nearly a year on the musical composition for “Snow White the Ballet” and with the performance fast approaching, Mendola did the unthinkable. He scrapped nearly half of the score and started over last May. Rather than wilting under the pressure, it motivated him to work even harder on the project.

“It really was a fast process. My summer was dedicated to 12-hour days to writing it and making sure it was what I wanted,” he said of the break between his freshman and sophomore years. “It lit a fire under me because I had to get it done.”

Soon, Mendola was able to produce the music that he hears in his head when he thinks about the iconic fairytale “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Now that the production is complete, the 20-year-old Carroll Township native has returned to home from college to conduct the orchestra for the four performances this weekend at Lincoln Park.

Since getting his score back on track, Mendola worked closely with the production’s director and choreographer, Jennifer Verba, on putting the music to the ballet on stage.

“The story she tells on stage is wonderful,” Mendola said. “We really wanted to be able to tell the story that I had written in music. There was a lot of collaboration.”

The 49 cast members range in ages from 5 to 18. There are five students from Washington County – Kayla Rush of McMurray, Jackie Wingard of Burgettstown, Zoe Wise of Washington, Vayda Clark of Canonsburg and Hope Shober of Washington – in the performance.

Verba said the dynamic between the 20-piece orchestra and ballet company will produce a memorable rendition of the fairytale.

“Working with a live orchestra in a ballet is very special because the dancers get to watch the conductor for cues, the music can be sped up or slowed down as needed, as well as accents that can be hit between the dancer and the orchestra,” Verba said.

Those dancers and musicians will be watching Mendola for cues as he conducts the ensemble in the orchestra pit.

“That’s one reason why I love ballet and music in general, really,” Mendola said. “There’s a freedom to it. For me, this project wasn’t so much trying to tell a story that people have heard, but introduce them to a world that I heard. This is what I heard when I think of Snow White.”

As for what he sees on stage will still be a mystery because he hadn’t seen the final piece until after returning home Monday for a week of dress rehearsals. Mendola said these weekend performances will be special because of the amount of work that he put into the musical composition and what he learned about himself along the way, including making sure the final product was in line his vision of the show.

“I’ve learned there’s never one right way to do something. I’ve learned the importance of being true to yourself. Just going back to what the music is,” he said. “What works on paper doesn’t always work so well on stage.”

The performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday inside the MainStage Theater at 1 Lincoln Park in Midland. Tickets are available online at www.lincolnparkarts.org/events or by calling the Lincoln Park box office at 724-576-4644.