Majors a world apart
Stonington’s Caraballo to take on unique twin billing at Dean College
H e began a sports blog on Instagram in the summer of 2015 when the New England Patriots signed wide receiver Reggie Wayne from the rival Indianapolis Colts, a juxtaposition that intrigued Patriots diehard Christopher-David Caraballo, now a Stonington High School senior.
"I just thought, 'I have to talk about this somewhere,'" Caraballo said. "I started the whole thing just because of that. I was a big talker back in the day. I have to limit how much I can talk. The only way around that is typing it.
"... I also love the idea of sharing a love for something with other people, people that share the same love as you."
In Caraballo's case, there is more than one "something."
He was born a few days after the Patriots won the Super Bowl in 2002, so that affiliation came naturally. His blog, "pats.365," has grown from that first day to include more than 21,000 followers.
Caraballo also has a knack for musical theater, something he began in elementary school at West Broad Street School when he got to perform in a show at Pawcatuck Middle School, "Once Upon a Mattress."
He most recently took on the persona of Mr. Banks, English accent and all, for Stonington High School's masterful spring musical, "Mary Poppins."
So it was that when Stonington High School Drama began posting on Facebook where the members of its ensemble would attend college, it was announced that Caraballo would be attending Dean College in Franklin, Mass. His majors: sports broadcasting and musical theater.
"That was the tough part," the personable Caraballo explained in a telephone conversation this week of choosing a major. "I have these two passions. There isn't one thing that's similar about them. I couldn't imagine a future that didn't have either one of them.
"I've been told it will be a lot of work, but in the long run it will be worth it not to give up one of my passions."
Caraballo has never been an athlete. He
“I have these two passions. There isn't one thing that's similar about them. I couldn't imagine a future that didn't have either one of them.'' CHRISTOPHER-DAVID CARABALLO, ON MAJORING IN SPORTS BROADCASTING AND MUSICAL THEATER AT DEAN COLLEGE
supposed that to play meant he would be the one getting injured. There are also the time constraints. He performs with the East Lyme Regional Theater during the summer months, then in Stonington's fall play and spring musical.
"That didn't stop me from having a love and passion for sports," he said. "... The path that I'm on right now still allows me to have a passion and a love for sports; I feel just as close to sports as if I played. I wish I had maybe played one year of rec league in basketball or the flag football league in school. There was always a big time-scheduling thing."
Caraballo calls the sports broadcasting program at Dean "one of the best if not the best in the country." The faculty includes award-winning sports broadcaster John Rooke, who is the stadium voice for the
New England Patriots and the playby-play man for the Providence College men's basketball team, as well as former Boston Red Sox broadcaster Jerry Trupiano.
"A funny story," Caraballo said of his beginnings in sports broadcasting. "I was in eighth grade and we were playing floor hockey in the gym at Pawcatuck Middle . ... I was pretending to announce the game and I really enjoyed it. I kept it in the back of my mind.
"When I found out it was a possibility, I thought, 'That's something special. That's something I want to do for my future.' It's something I feel like I can do. I know it's something I want to do. That's why it's really special ... if you get to do something you love as your job."
Caraballo got accepted into the broadcasting program at Dean around Thanksgiving. As part of his application he submitted an essay on the impact football has had on his life.
Meanwhile, his musical theater audition was a little more involved. He had to deliver a two-to-three minute monologue — his was taken from "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" — then a vocal performance followed by dancing.
"It gave me a taste of what this is going to be like," Caraballo said. "In the big leagues, this is what I'm going to do . ... After my monologue they gave me tips and pointers that I could do that would be funny; they wanted to see if I could adapt right on the spot."
He got accepted into the musical theater program around February.
It's a mashup Caraballo is used to: theater and sports. He has been on stage for a rehearsal before when the Patriots were playing a Thursday night game against the New York Giants. In that case, his mom Wendianne, Stonington drama's costume manager, was charged with watching the game on her phone and relaying the score to her son. He also covers both topics for the school's newspaper, The Brown & White.
"It's an interesting dynamic," he said.
Big Brady fan
His favorite Patriot is former quarterback Tom Brady, who left recently for Tampa Bay.
"Just everything that he did for the team and the city. It's incredible what he did," Caraballo said.
"... I know a lot about the Patriots. The Patriots are my bread and butter."
His favorite musical theater role came in the spring of 2019 in Stonington's version of "Hello, Dolly!" which received the prize for Best Classical Musical at the statewide HALO awards for high school theater. Caraballo was nominated for best performance by a featured actor in a musical for his role as Barnaby Tucker.
"One of the best times of my life," he said. "The atmosphere was so amazing. It was a comedic role. I got to do crazy stunts, on the ground, under a table, in a cupboard."
Like the Patriots were, Caraballo said music has always been a part of his household. He is told that when the movie "High School Musical 3" was released in 2008, he quite literally began jumping off walls and singing.
"I wouldn't trade it," he said of the theater portion of his high school resume. "Sure, rehearsals can get long. You're trying to fit in your school responsibility. But just the experience of it all, to have it all just happen . ... It was always something I wanted to do."
Caraballo feels fortunate, he said, to attend Stonington High School, praising the drama department behind director Erin Sousa-Stanley and music director Chris Stanley, all the way to English teacher MaryLou Devine, whose creative writing class this year he called "just fantastic."
"It's crazy," Caraballo said of drawing his inspiration from such a wide range of opportunities. "It's pretty unique." v.fulkerson@theday.com