Director says musical blends Disney spectacle with celebration of young performers’ drama journey
Hartland Community School is preparing to stage another musical, and this time they’re diving into the Disney universe with The Little Mermaid.
Caroline Fletcher-Allison, one of the musical directors and an intensive French teacher at the school, says the group has been considering The Little Mermaid for a few years, and she knew this was the year to do it.
“We kind of knew the group that we were going to have, and it was some of their favourites, and we just really thought that it would really feature some great strengths of the students that we knew we were going to have this year,” said Fletcher-Allison
Fletcher-Allison describes rehearsal as “very good, but very busy.” Putting on a Disney show requires a lot of effort to pull off the Disney magic. She says the students have been working really hard to pull it off and that she has enjoyed watching them embody their characters.
“You don’t realize how big a Disney princess musical is until you’re kind of in the middle of doing it, and then you realize, like, kind of the magic of Disney, and how to make that magic, and how that can be a big undertaking,” said Fletcher-Allison.
This year is the first time Hartland Community School has had students graduate who joined the club when they were young.
Cousins Layla Walton and Grace McCully have been with the club since Grade 4. Walton is playing Ariel, and McCully is playing Ursula.
The two have played enemies before when the club did The Wizard of Oz in 2022, except the roles were flipped. Walton played the villain as the Wicked Witch, and McCully played Dorothy.
“This will be a very emotional year, I’m sure, for our directing team. Because it’s just kind of that full circle moment of coming back to the original vision of a drama program that builds throughout the years and builds leadership and,just watching them grow from little Grade 4 kids to Grade 12 leaders,” said Fletcher- Allison.
The shows run Nov. 26 to 28 at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $10 each and are available at the school and Hartland Value Foods.
