On Saturday, 11/1/25, four of our Manville High School choir students participated in the New Jersey NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) Musical Theater Vocal Competition — Paul Antonelli, Knight Sonnenberg, Nicole Smutek, and Julia Musielak. All four students performed beautifully and came extremely well-prepared. Students are scored by a judge’s panel through a point system where their averaged score places them in one of 3 categories – Developing, Advancing, and Mastery. Nicole Smutek ranged in the mastery division with a score of 90; Paul Antonelli also ranged in the mastery division with a score of 91, and brought home First Place in the Lower Men’s Musical Theater Division! Knight Sonnenberg interviewed Paul asking about his preparation for NATS and his achievement:
Q: ”How did you feel when you were practicing for NATS?”
Paul: “Weeks beforehand, well, I had to learn three songs that I didn’t know in the span of two weeks, maybe, so I was a little worried, maybe even stressed out, because I mean, 3 days before this happened, you know, I barely knew two of my songs, so just very stressed out.”
Q: “How did you feel when you got to Rider University and before you stepped into that audition room?”
Paul:”Before I got to Rider University I was in the car basically shaking in my boots; I wasn’t really confident going into it because I didn’t really know my music well at least not enough so I was scared and then right before I got into that audition room a whole another wave of anxiousness hit me because I mean you don’t know who’s in there, you don’t know what they’re going to do you, don’t know what they’re going to look like, what they’re going to say to you, right if they say anything to you, which they didn’t, but that’s when all the nerves hit and as soon as I started to sing those nerves were gone.”
Q: “How did you feel stepping out of the room? Did you feel like you did your best, and did you enjoy the experience?”
Paul:“Stepping out of the room, I thought that I did okay. I know I didn’t do my best because I messed up, so I was going into it with the attitude that I wasn’t good enough to win and the experience was very fun I mean once the nerves went away I had a great time singing along but I just did not have the confidence that I sang as good as it takes to win.”
Q: ”What emotions and thoughts went through your head when they called your name for first place?”
Paul: “I honestly couldn’t believe what I heard. I thought that I didn’t do as well as I could have done, and to be honest, I thought that when I messed up in the room, that was the end of it. I thought, oh, there are so many people who weren’t going to mess up because there are so many good singers out there, and when I heard my name called, my ears couldn’t believe what they were hearing, and my jaw dropped as low as the damn core of the Earth. I was happy, I was ecstatic, and I was also surprised because I don’t know how I won but sometimes you know you got to be confident in yourself, and I think that if I had more confidence, I would have went into it with a better attitude, but hearing my name called was probably the best thing I’ve ever heard.“
Q: “Who helped you on this journey to this accomplishment of getting first place in the lower men’s musical theater division, and who would you want to thank?”
Paul:”Oh man, I couldn’t have done this without my amazing teacher, Miss Alexa Lucchese. She has helped me so much, especially with figuring out what each portion of the song meant and how to put that into my actions and emotions while singing the song. I would also like to extend my gratitude to my mom and my family for always being there and supporting me. Also, a big thanks to my lovely girlfriend, who also participated in NATS, averaging a pretty good score.”
Congratulations to Paul and the rest of the choir members who participated!
