Fourty-one Nottawa Elementary School Students are living the hard knock life this week on the Gayety Stage.
The school’s drama club, led by teachers Jason Durance and Barb Opt’hoog (Mrs. O) is putting on a production of Annie Jr.
Durance and Mrs. O held auditions and have been working with the students on the production since October 2017. The entire backstage crew and stage manager are students, and all the set and costume design was student-led. In fact, the actors came up with most of their own choreography after receiving some notes from their teachers.
“We discovered some hidden talents,” said Mrs. O. “I really believe some of the students didn’t know they had it in them.”
Two students learned the part of Annie - MacKenna Irwin and Ava Garbutt. They are taking turns for each of the live performances.
Irwin comes from a line of Annies. Her mother and grandmother played Annie in school, but Irwin, as far as her family knew, wasn’t interested in singing.
Durance said Irwin tried out in secret in order to surprise her family when she got the role. She’ll be playing Annie tonight at 7 p.m., and it will be the first time her family sees her sing on stage.
Durance runs the school's drama club. This is the first time the school is putting on a production this big, but he hopes to carry on the tradition with a large publicly performed production every two years.
The student’s have already performed at the Gayety Theatre in a live production for Nottawa Elementary School, another for Admiral school and a public show last night (May 17).
Tickets are $10 and available here or by phone at 1-888-353-3203 through the Gayety Box Office. The final show is tonight (May 18) at 7 p.m.
