CULLMAN – Cast and crew wowed the crowd at last night’s performance of Disney’s “The Lion King, Jr.” at Cullman High School (CHS). Friday night’s was one of two showings put on by the Cullman City Schools (CCS) and the CHS theater department.
Cast and choir members were students across the CCS system, ranging from elementary to ninth-grade students at CHS. The production, based on the Broadway musical directed by Julie Taymor, involved approximately 200 students, choir members, actors and crew members included.
Director Wayne Cook, CHS theater instructor, received a large grant from the state of Alabama, which helped fund the program. He utilized the funds by providing a drama workshop camp this summer for those interested in performing in the production. Funds also made possible a wide, lavish set design, complete with a star curtain and elaborate costumes.
Cook applied for the grant and was selected to receive the funds in part by expressing his hopes that the investment by the state into the CHS theater program will increase community involvement in the arts as a whole and that it would be, he said, “the last push in making Cullman a special place,” referring to his want of a community theater program.
He says he wants kids in the CCS system to feel inspired. “One kid said that ‘this was the best thing that I’ve ever done in my whole life,’ which tells me that they got the bug. I remember when I got the bug as a kid and you just fall in love with the stage and the theater. It’s worth it to me if they got that during this performance,” he said.
Laci New, who played Rafiki, and Natalie Thrasher, who played Zazu, are in eighth and ninth grades, respectively. New is enrolled in Cullman Middle School and Thrasher at CHS. The girls say they have practiced for their roles since the summer camp. Thrasher says she was able to improve her acting. “I have ever done anything like this before,” she said. Both had ensemble experience but had never acted prior to this production.
Cole Lawrence, head director of sound and lighting, is a junior at CHS. He managed the sound system and lighting cues during the performance and spoke about the technical side of a theater production. “We spend months preparing. If it’s a large play like ‘Beauty and the Beast’ last year, it would take two or three months. This play wasn’t as big, but it took about a month and a half,” he said. Lawrence was also sure to include thanks to the rest of the technical crew Friday evening: Jady Pipes, Riley Christman and Micah Andrews.
CHS Choral Director Sarah Skinner echoed Lawrence, describing the months of preparation required for a performance. “The choir ran rehearsals almost every night… Monday, Tuesday, Thursday for a couple of months and they came ready to learn.”
Skinner says the performance surpassed her expectations. “The students have blown us away with their talent,” she said.
Juliaunna Koloski, 18, of Cullman, was an audience member with a unique perspective as a CHS grad who was once involved in the theater program at the school. “I was thoroughly impressed. I did not expect them to be this good, especially being a younger group. Their voices were pretty mature for their age and I was impressed. They kept drawing my eyes every time.”
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