MINOT, ND (KXNET) — Wildcat fever is about to hit the stage in a way that hasn’t been done before.
Over the past two weeks, young aspiring actors and actresses have been practicing day and night on the production of Disney’s High School Musical Jr. Now they are putting everything they have learned in camp into a full-on musical for everyone to come and see.
“We knew that we wanted ways to incorporate kids and teenagers more into summer theatre, and so we thought that this would be a really great way to kind of give them a spotlight as well, so that they can shine at summer theatre,” Director Jacob Jenkins said.
The cast of this show consists entirely of young performers ages 11 through 18. With the wide range of abilities between the age groups, Jenkins says they have been spending time finding a way to balance the talent between the rookies and the vets.
“It’s worked out really well, actually, because our experienced actors are great mentors, and so they’ve done a really good job of helping our newer ones understand everything all from the beginning,” Jenkins said. “They don’t know the terms that we use, you know, when we’re like ‘oh we’re going to do blocking today,’ you see the blank look of a new actor who doesn’t really know what that means.”
Prairie Grit needs volunteer stylists for haircut event
Taylor Nehring, a recent high school grad and Minot native, is playing Gabriella Montez in the musical. Although it’s been almost 20 years since the original High School Musical came out, Nehring says it’s still close to her heart.
“It’s really cool to see myself open up and kind of transform into the character and be something more than what I thought it was going to be in the beginning, it’s really, really cool to see that,” Nehring said.
Nehring says the show has been coming together smoothly and that the cast has built a very strong foundation together. Leaders at the theatre say they see this kids’ camp continuing into future summers, and the campers are encouraging the next bunch of kids to sign up and enjoy this opportunity.
“Please do it, this is something that I’ve been wanting to do for a while and I put off on it and so if you see something that you like, if you see a show that you really want to do, please do it because it is so so worth it,” Nehring said.
The Musical will be performed this Thursday and Friday only at the amphitheatre in Minot. The show begins at 8:30 p.m.
Thanks for signing up!
Watch for us in your inbox.
Today's Top Stories
SIGN UP NOW
if ( window.checkSizeClasses && window.checkSizeClasses instanceof Function) {
window.checkSizeClasses();
}
