William Sexton, Reporter
@wsexton_courant
The Freaky Friday underclassmen musical will be performed on November 19th at 7:00 p.m. and November 20th at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
“The Freaky Friday plot follows a mother and daughter who are not seeing eye-to-eye,” show director Christopher Myers said. “Through a magical mishap, they switch places for a day. Suddenly, the mom is in her daughter’s body trying to survive high school, and the daughter is trying to run a business and a wedding. It’s a hilarious story about empathy, understanding, and love.”
The musical is full of engaging dance numbers and upbeat tunes. “The scene ‘Go’ in particular is really fantastic,” Bennett Grouper, who plays Adam, said. “It’s one of the biggest dance numbers of the program and it’s going to be incredibly fun to perform and for the audience to watch.”
In preparation, the cast members rehearse four or five days a week for about three hours each day. “Each rehearsal is a little different,” Director Myers said. “Sometimes, the entire rehearsal will focus just on one thing – music, dance, the script, or staging. Most days are a combination of a few. They might start out with an hour of music rehearsal, learning the harmonies of a song.”
This is the first underclassmen musical that will hold a live audience following the pandemic. “COVID has changed musical theatre forever,” Director Myers said. “The first thing it did was make us think outside of the box of actors on stage with a live audience in the theatre. Publishing houses were forced to consider offering online streaming rights, which was never an option before. Directors had to start creating theatre for the camera.
Despite this, the positive attitude of the theater department at the high school remains intact. “The show must go on!” Director Myers said.
