On April 3 and 4, Colchester Middle School’s Drama Club will present The Phantom Tollbooth Jr. at 7:00 p.m. in the community theater at Colchester High School. The Phantom Tollbooth Jr. is a one-act musical based on the novel The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, with music by Arnold Black and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. “We’ve been working since mid-November after school three times a week,” said Emily Desautels, CMS’s instrumental music director. Performed by approximately forty CMS students in grades 6–8 (with even more students helping backstage), bedazzled with original sets and props created by CMS students, and aggrandized with choreography by Jen Barden, this show is sure to be fun for the entire family. “Jen Barden has graciously offered her choreography skills once again to bring even more life and energy to the show. Her dance numbers always make the show full of enthusiasm and teamwork,” said Desautels. Tickets are $5 for adults, and $3 for students and senior citizens; tickets will be available at the door the nights of the show and are available at the CMS main office beginning Tuesday, April 1.
On April 9 and 10, all kindergarten through second-grade students at Porters Point School will perform the musical Hats! by John Jacobson and John Higgins in the community theater at Colchester High School. The performance is a culmination of several weeks of learning for the students that includes reading the script and learning songs, speaking parts, and dances. Half of the students will perform on Wednesday, April 9, and the other half will perform on Thursday, April 10. Both performances will begin at 6:30 p.m. and last approximately thirty minutes. The PPS Hats! performances are free and open to the community.
“Musicals provide a great opportunity for the children to learn and explore on so many levels,” said Martie Mutz, CSD music teacher at both Porters Point School and Union Memorial School. “There will be speaking and dancing parts, and every child will be a part of the chorus … for many of our children, this is their first time on a real stage.”
More than 450 Colchester School District students district-wide include band and choral curriculum in their studies, providing them with a well-rounded educational experience and offering them a host of benefits associated with music education.
For more information about these performances, visit Martie Mutz’s blog at ppsmusicwithmsmutz.blogspot.com and/or the CMS music department’s blog at cmsmusicdepartment.weebly.com. You may also call PPS at (802) 264-5920 or CMS at (802) 264-5800.
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