Helen Stapinski

On the day of the fifth grade musical, Helene Stapinski is picking up balloons, putting final touches on the set, opening windows -- and running around the building trying to find he...

After hours pouring glitter to create the yellow brick road on the backdrop, Helene Stapinski realizes: the set is so crowded, no one can even see it. That's just one of the problems ...

P.S. 29's fifth-grade musical is coming along, with parents putting the final touch on sets, costumes and staging. But even as the child actors' jazz fingers are flying, they are fumi...

The lesson of the Tin Man hits home at P.S. 29 in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, as the weather warms and the fifth-grade production of "The Wizard of Oz" continues to come together. Helene S...

What seemed to be a cacophonous clump of performers is starting to sound like music and look like staging. For the first time since Helene Stapinski took on the task of co-directing t...

It's set-building time in the land of Oz, which has been temporarily transported to P.S. 29 in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. Helene Stapinski, who has volunteered, reluctantly, to co-direct ...

All of the Dorothys, Scarecrows and even poppies have been cast. The fifth-grade's performers are officially in rehearsals for "The Wizard of Oz." And the household of the amateur co...

The Drama Club has been formed and the next step in producing "The Wizard of Oz" for the fifth-grade play is casting. Helene Stapinski, a reluctant -- and inexperienced -- parent prod...

In last week's installment of "The Munchkins Are a Problem," Helene Stapinski wrote about how she reluctantly agreed to help produce the fifth-grade play at P.S. 29 in Cobble Hill, Br...

Helene Stapinski, author of "Five-Finger Discount," somehow wound up directing the fifth-grade play at her son's school. She writes, "Who knew when I signed up that my life would be t...