Welcome to Ridgebury’s own Finding Nemo,jr!
It’s always such a pleasure to watch our young performers begin to take on their roles. Character traits begin to emerge, jokes start to make sense, songs begin to emanate from the heart. Chorus groups learn their songs and dances, and take on their own personalities, and piece by piece, we have a show!
Speaking of heart, this show is all heart. The sadness and shock of Coral falling prey to the Barracuda attack and Marlin’s resulting overprotectiveness of his son, Nemo. Nemo’s strong desire for independence, in spite of any limitations that his “little fin” might place on him.
Then there is Dory. Wonderful Dory, who explains to us that “something’s different in my brain. Things get really scrambled in my head”. Dory also shares her amazing wisdom with us. When Marlin says he had promised he would never let anything happen to Nemo, Dory famously tells Marlin,”Well, you can’t never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him”. This insight serves as a turning point for Marlin in his struggle to let Nemo begin to find his way into the Big Blue World.
All of this is told to us through 17 musical numbers and twelve scenes. This is a big undertaking for our students, and they have more than risen to the occasion. Our student crew has been working hard preparing props and pieces of scenery. Some are helping run lights and sound, while others are working backstage to get us from one scene to the next. And while we are talking numbers, we have 65 cast members and 20 crew members this year.
Absolutely none of this could be possible without the support of so many parent volunteers. From sets, to costumes, headshots (please visit our wall of fame in the hallway outside of the auditorium!), playbills, rehearsal volunteers, after party organizers, a special Finding Nemo night at the Prospector, we are truly grateful for each and every one of you. An extra special thank you goes to our choreographer, Kalyn Bard. Kalyn has spent hours at home putting choreography together, and has been here at every rehearsal. Her partnership, good cheer, and patience are invaluable.
We are equally lucky in house. The support from our principal, Mary Scalise, is tremendous, as always. We are thrilled to have Allyson Lyons, a Ridgebury Special Education teacher, on board as our producer. I cannot begin to tell you how many things she has been making sure happen; almost everything! Ryan Loucks has been very busy teaching those 17 musical numbers and doing his usual wonderful job. A special thank you to John Mansfield for running our sound board. John is the Help Desk technician for RPS, and we are so happy he agreed to join us this year!
It is so wonderful to have you all here tonight. To have so many parents and family members supporting our young performers is something very special. Many of us have cherished memories of school shows and performances, and you have helped to create that for our student/performers.
Into the Big Blue World we go.
