This year’s middle school musical was the classic Little Mermaid! Montrose thespians and tech crew worked hard to bring the production to life for our audience. A lot goes on behind the scenes. From working hard mastering complex choreography to painting set designs with our amazing set builder, Bret, everyone in the show gave their all to produce the final product.

First off, a bravo for our amazing director, Mrs. Rios. Mrs. Rios worked hard alongside Ms. Fernandes, our tech crew leader, Mrs. Nicholson, our choreographer, and Bret. They all worked so hard to make sure that the cast looked good on stage but also felt great about each of their specific roles and characters.

Next, the casting. The cast this year was amazing. All of the people put in so much effort to make their character look amazing – not just to them, but also to the audience. They made the scenes hilarious and interesting, and they knew how to make the audience laugh hard.

Three key elements to any musical are the music (singing), choreography (dancing) and blocking (acting and lines). We will dive into what these three components look like in week-to-week rehearsals.

Music was directed by Mrs. Rios, who helped us make the harmonies sound amazing. Even with lots of people crammed in her classroom, she managed to make all of us memorize the lyrics and keep the harmonies while we were dancing. It may seem pretty simple, but dancing and harmonizing can be tough. Though Mrs. Rios’s courage and determination helped us get through the hard parts.

Choreography is run by none other than Mrs. Nicholson! She came in every Thursday with baby John in her arms. Though John could be crawling around her all the time, she managed to be a mom and a dancer at the same time! The multiple dances were simple with lots of mood put into them. The most important part about being on stage is showing the energy to the audience. Once the audience feels the energy, they are on the edge of their seats, staring in amazement at the choreography.

Blocking was also run by Mrs. Rios. Can you see how much work she put into this show now? She got the cast together every Friday, and we ran through lines and blocking. She told us where we were supposed to stand in every scene and, when someone couldn’t remember what her line was, she helped her out. Fridays were a time to know which scenes you need most help on, and, when someone has a question, she was not afraid to ask kind, helpful Mrs. Rios.

In all, this performance was astounding, with the hard work and talent everyone showcased.

By Gabri Ottaviani ‘30, Faith Editor, Sarah Tea ‘30, Middle School Editor, Luisa Silveyra Dodds ‘30 and Caterina Franchi ’30, Contributing Writers

30gottaviani@montroseschool.org, 30stea@montroseschool.org, 30lsilveyra@montroseschool.org, and 30cfranchi@montroseschool.org