Tickets go on sale for Columbia High School’s 41st annual musical at noon Saturday, and Musical Director Kim Walley said they always go fast for a Disney production.
“The Little Mermaid” will hit the stage March 1 and March 2 in the Crystelle Ford Auditorium at 7 each night.
Tickets are $15 each at chsmusical2019.brownpapertickets.com.
Walley said costumes have been ordered and most of the lines are memorized at this point. Rehearsal time averages about 10 hours per week, plus time at home committing lines to memory.
“The kids are doing well. They’re up here a lot at night. That commitment level is huge,” she said.
And it’s a true community effort. Parents help on Saturdays constructing sets and helping alter costumes, and volunteers prepare students to perform. Connie Wood and Melissa Jordan work with the drama portion of the play, and Stephanie Guidroz and Gail Curtis work with choreography.
“I don’t think this exists anywhere else,” Walley said. “I’ve taught at a lot of places from elementary school to the collegiate level, and I’ve never seen a group of community people who volunteer like this.”
The costuming is always fun with Disney and they have everything from mermaids to fish that the students are enjoying bringing to life, she said.
This is her third year, and she said they hadn’t done a Disney show during her tenure yet. “I wanted to target a younger audience with more family oriented this year,” she said.
Pictured Above: Columbia High students rehearse for “The Little Mermaid.” The Disney musical is coming to the Crystelle Ford Auditorium March 1 and March 2. | Photo by Charlie Smith
