Crown Point High School (CPHS) theater program brought a fantasy musical to life this fall with their production of “Mary Poppins.” Over the past 10 weeks, the students involved in the theater crew have been working to bring this magical story to the Crown Point area.
“We decided on “Mary Poppins” based on the group of kids that we have and we thought this would be a great opportunity to really showcase our amazing Mary and challenge her at the same time. It has a great big cast, which we were looking for, and some classic numbers that we just knew would excite everybody,” said Jill Ryan, the director of the CPHS musical.
Although the play has posed some challenges with there being a cast full of high schoolers acting as older individuals, it allows the students to get out of their comfort zone and step into a world that can become difficult but exciting.
“I think there's been a lot of ups and downs but I think overall the experience has been very rewarding and fulfilling and I think we're gonna put on a great show,” said Addisyn Wiley, who portrays Queen Victoria and one of the board of directors in the school musical.
“We're feeling excited, things have been coming together. There's a lot of different moving parts in the show that some of us have never experienced before. There's a lot of magic in the show. It has been really challenging to execute it,” said Ryan.
The play allows a multitude of students to showcase their talents and bring together the beloved story that is “Mary Poppins.” With such a huge play comes perseverance.
“I feel like it's been a difficult last few weeks, but around this week, it has come around nicely. We have picked up our act and we have gotten so much better with all of the dances and all the complex little things. It's so great,” said David Aganon who portrays the Bank Chairman in the musical.
The students are thrilled to be able to put it all together for the community to witness, through all the adversity.
“I'm really proud of the actors for challenging themselves to play roles that they maybe never have before and pushing themselves to be the best version of their character that they can,” said Ryan.
“Mary Poppins” opens in the Crown Point High School Auditorium on November 11, 12, 18, and 19 at 2 p.m. The show will also go on November 11, 17, and 18 at 7 p.m.
For more information go to https://sites.google.com/cps.k12.in.us/cphstheatre.