WESTMORELAND, N.Y.- Hours of rehearsal, dance lessons and constructing incredible set pieces! Our students put on an amazing performance in Mary Poppins the Musical.
Students displayed their talents to the community at the Stanley on March 8th and 9th. This gave them a taste of what it’s like to perform in front of a big audience under the “blinding” bright lights, just like a broadway show!
Bert played by senior, David Huyck, kicked off the musical with an introduction to the audience letting them know where the exits are and warned them to stay out of the aisles because there would be some dancing.
There were two acts with almost 30 scenes! Junior, Marcella Perrault, navigated the stage with grace as Mary Poppins. She sang popular songs like “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and “A Spoonful of Sugar.” You even saw her fly across the stage! To the audience’s surprise, Bert did a tap dance upside down, hanging from the ceiling of the stage.
About 20% of the high school participated in the play! Some of the actors were brought up from the Upper Elementary School to fill some roles. Directors, Emily and Jason Davis started casting for the play in December. Mrs. Davis said once they nailed down who was playing what, they started their rehearsals. They practiced every day during the week, for several hours after school. They had a professional dance instructor teach them how to tap dance and they hired a company to help Mary Poppins and Bert fly across the stage!
There were many hands involved (literally) that helped make the audience feel as though they were IN the movie watching it from afar. Parents, loved ones, students and teachers handmade the set pieces to give the show a real life look. Of course Mrs. Kristyn Cutler was the orchestra conductor. We can’t forget about the amazing makeup done by many of our students and some of their parents.
This is most certainly an “all hands on deck” performance and the whole crew did a fantastic job!
Click here for photos from the musical!