by Dee H. On February 7th and 8th the musical “Finding Nemo J.R.” was performed at the upper school theater.

To make the musical actually happen the cast had to practice as an elective, choreography for first elective, blocking, rehearsals, e.t.c. for second elective. The cast also had to practice at home, but it still took everyone to make it actually happen, “doing it as a learning process took more than just ourselves” says Max. T, participant of the musical (played Marlin).

Now you might be wondering how the auditions worked out, well I’ll tell you. First everyone was supposed to full out an audition sheet with a few questions on it, then everyone was told to memorize a monologue, it could be one from the sheet of monologues everyone was given, one that the person auditioning wrote, or one that the person who was auditioning found somewhere, they were also told to memorize a bit of a song from the musical (“Dorys Ditty” or “Where’s My Dad”), also everyone had to learn the dance to “Just Keep Swimming (Part Two) “. On the day of the auditions everyone got in a line to audition, when it was their turn to audition they told Amy, Alex, and Hans (the choreographer, director, and musical director, also the people who cast the musical) the monologue they were doing and the song they were doing. Then performed their monologue and song. Then over the weekend Alex, Amy, and Hans thought about who was a experienced second year, what roles would challenge people, and what roles people said they wanted on their audition sheet, in order to cast the musical, and that is how auditions went.

When it got close to the performance they did something called tech week, where after school the cast would go over to the upper school where it was performed, until 6 pm, and people found out what their costumes were, did rehearsals on the stage with lights, and found out who would be getting a microphone. On the day of the performance someone found some people had to exit one way then enter another, so to solve this problem they decided people could walk through the cafeteria to get to the other side of the stage. Also on the day of the performance they went through dress rehearsals, and finally learned the bows. Soon it was time for their performance, everyone was rushing to get their props and costumes, and then suddenly people were on the stage performing, and they did great.

And all this, from choosing the show to the performance, took five months.

Cast:

Lincoln ( Nigel )

Parker ( Sheldons Parent )

Sagan ( Kai )

Willow ( Sea Turtle 2 and Sharks Fish and Jellyfish )

Blair ( Anchor )

Chase ( Professor Ray )

Eliza ( Crush )

Isabella ( Sheldon )

Will ( Sea Turtle 1 and Jellyfish )

Aria ( Bloat )

Dilara ( Scuba Mask Dancer )

Jack ( Bruce )

Jackson ( Barracuda )

Brooklyn ( Gill )

Christina ( Tads Parent )

Richard ( Nemo )

Avleen ( Vacationer )

Ayden ( Dory )

Maddie ( Breeze )

Norah ( Chum )

Zoe ( Tad )

Ava ( Pearl )

Melody ( Bubbles )

Charlotte ( Coral )

Max ( Marlin )

Dee ( Gurgle )

Emma ( Angelfish )

Ada ( Squirt )

Isla ( Pearls Parent, Octopus, Seagull, Sea Turtle )

Thank you Alex, for providing information!

Photo credit: Jack W.