"This March, Osa Sixth Grade Theatre is Producing a version of Peter Pan!"--Lottie Mills, 6th grade
This March, OSA Sixth Grade Theatre is putting on a performance of Peter Pan. To prepare for this exciting production, Theatre has been working hard, rehearsing almost every day. The cast’s normal rehearsals look like this: first up, they do a check-in. “ [The check-in] will either be a silly question to get to know the students more or a simple question about how they're feeling that day,” Sarah Vela, Peter Pan’s director, says. After that, they do vocal and physical warm-ups, along with a few games or activities. Once that is done, the cast starts actually working on the play, running through scenes and refining them.
Now, before a play can start the actual rehearsal, everyone has to do an audition. For their auditions, students had to prepare monologues that they performed in front of Vela. To Vela, this was her favorite part. “ This was my favorite part because it allowed me to see each student's creative abilities on their own,” she said. Auditions may be Vela’s favorite part, but to some students they were hard. “Auditions were pretty scary because I wasn’t memorized, but I still got a pretty good amount of lines for a Lost Boy.” said Jarea Porter, a sixth grader playing Twin Two in Peter Pan.
Now, before a play can start the actual rehearsal, everyone has to do an audition. For their auditions, students had to prepare monologues that they performed in front of Vela. To Vela, this was her favorite part. “ This was my favorite part because it allowed me to see each student's creative abilities on their own,” she said. Auditions may be Vela’s favorite part, but to some students they were hard. “Auditions were pretty scary because I wasn’t memorized, but I still got a pretty good amount of lines for a Lost Boy.” said Jarea Porter, a sixth grader playing Twin Two in Peter Pan.
In Peter Pan, there are several main characters. The three main characters are Peter Pan, Wendy Darling, and Captain Hook. Since these are the main characters, it’s not fair to let that main role go to only one person. To solve this, OSA’s Peter Pan is going to split the main roles between several actors. Peter Pan will be played by Nina Monroe and Zenovia Sanders. Wendy will be played by Natasha Boyden and Chloe Jefferies. Captain Hook will be played by Vivian Bucks and Liliana Bloch. Make sure to watch for these amazing actors on stage!
Now, no play is complete without its props and costumes. For this, Peter Pan has its own prop team. This year, the lead prop/stage manager is Jax Phillips, a sixth grader here at OSA. His team includes Chloe Jeffries, Jarea Porter, and Bella Tran. For costumes, the production will have one article of clothing for each character so that you can tell who it is. “Like Peter Pan [will have] a hat! Wendy, a big bow. Maybe, the Lost Boys, leaves in their hair, or camo pants, camo shirt,” Ruah Barken, a student playing Twin said. “Even though there is no budget,” Vela said, “we support each other and everything works out the way it was meant to in the end!”
Of course, no play is without its challenges. For Vela, the most difficult part has been casting. “We have a class of 25, so making sure everyone is represented was difficult,” she said. Of course, there are other aspects of casting to consider too. You have to make sure the student is able to memorize the lines of that character, and not become distracted on stage. For Barken, the biggest challenge is, “Sitting out and doing nothing while someone will mess up their lines,” And it is certainly difficult to try and not correct them. For Porter, it is memorization, and having to redo a scene over and over.
OSA’s production of Peter Pan will be shown in Sweets Ballroom on March 22 and March 23, as part of a March Theatre Festival. Don’t miss seeing all these young students' hard work come together to form an amazing version of Peter Pan!
Now, no play is complete without its props and costumes. For this, Peter Pan has its own prop team. This year, the lead prop/stage manager is Jax Phillips, a sixth grader here at OSA. His team includes Chloe Jeffries, Jarea Porter, and Bella Tran. For costumes, the production will have one article of clothing for each character so that you can tell who it is. “Like Peter Pan [will have] a hat! Wendy, a big bow. Maybe, the Lost Boys, leaves in their hair, or camo pants, camo shirt,” Ruah Barken, a student playing Twin said. “Even though there is no budget,” Vela said, “we support each other and everything works out the way it was meant to in the end!”
Of course, no play is without its challenges. For Vela, the most difficult part has been casting. “We have a class of 25, so making sure everyone is represented was difficult,” she said. Of course, there are other aspects of casting to consider too. You have to make sure the student is able to memorize the lines of that character, and not become distracted on stage. For Barken, the biggest challenge is, “Sitting out and doing nothing while someone will mess up their lines,” And it is certainly difficult to try and not correct them. For Porter, it is memorization, and having to redo a scene over and over.
OSA’s production of Peter Pan will be shown in Sweets Ballroom on March 22 and March 23, as part of a March Theatre Festival. Don’t miss seeing all these young students' hard work come together to form an amazing version of Peter Pan!
