The Gatewood Players put on multiple showings of the play “Shrek Jr.,” on March 21 and 22, for fellow students, family members, and friends. Students in grades three through nine were involved.
“I love working with young people in these shows. It’s my favorite part of working in the performing arts,” Gatewood music and drama teacher Beth Mappes said. “I have worked really hard this year at starting to expand the performing arts at Gatewood and as the students I work with get older, I hope we can eventually have a full high-school production, too. With our new theatre coming next year, I am absolutely stoked to see where we go from here.”
Mappes has taught at Gatewood for five years and said she felt this year was a good time to put on a Broadway Junior show.
“We have a lot of students who have worked with me for four years and we had a good group of middle schoolers. The Junior shows are more advanced than the Kids productions we have done in the past, but I felt like we had a good drama basis to do one,” she explained. “I chose ‘Shrek Jr.’ because we had some really strong middle-school boys who I knew could handle the part of Shrek. Plus, it is just a fun show with a lot of fun characters, so many students could take part.”
The Gatewood cast of “Shrek Jr.” included 38 actors, which is more than the usual limit, but with such interest in participating, Mappes could not turn kids away.
“We started rehearsals at the end of October and this month we have rehearsed a lot, especially show week. We had three very strong leads: Walker Crowder, Caylin Stancil, and Clyde Thrift, and they rehearsed separately quite a few times since their parts were so large. Their dedication and hard work really made it so much easier as a director,” Mappes said.
Also of significance, third-grade student Cami Jackson, who was fighting for her life with a brain tumor just a year ago, danced and sang on stage as Baby Bear in the show.
“Seeing her say her lines, sing, and dance up on stage is nothing short of a miracle. It put everything in perspective.
There are many obstacles to putting on a musical, but watching Cami made all those seem miniscule,” Mappes said.
The show also featured several scenes and costume changes throughout. Mappes said she was particularly proud of younger students’ ability to learn quickly and keep the show running smoothly.
She said “Shrek Jr.” was the first show with multiple costumes and set changes she directed at Gatewood and pointed out that can present a difficult challenge.
“So, we had to work that into rehearsals more than if we had only middle or high school students,” Mappes said. “But the kids did great with the set changes during the performance. They got to learn about being part of the stage crew, which I love.”
Among those involved in behind-the-scenes positions was ninth-grader Ava Todd, the assistant director.
“(Ava) has been in multiple shows with me for the past five years. I love having students move into these leadership roles,” Mappes said. “Our tech crew was Zeb Boswell and Lucas Milbrath, who have run our lights many times. We had three middle schoolers who helped with hair (and) with such a large cast, we had lots of braiding to do. And my middle school performing arts elective made the set pieces and many of the props.”
It was not only students that made the show a success, however.
“I could not have done this show without Kristy Hicks and Jessica Womack,” Mappes added. “Kristy is our preschool para-pro and parent, and Jessica from The Arts Barn is a K-4 parent. Kristy ran everything backstage, which was a monumental task with this show, and Jessica organized all the costumes, makeup, and hair. It is the first year at Gatewood for both of them and we are so blessed to have them.
“I also had one or two moms help out backstage with our dress rehearsals and performances. It’s so great that everyone is willing to pitch in to have our shows be such a success. It takes all of us,” Mappes stressed.
The Gatewood Players put on two school performances and two family performances, Mappes said, with both family performances “completely full,” with standing room only for the Friday night show.