Catch The Little Mermaid at the high school this weekend
By Tom Ganser
Correspondent
Sixty actors and 10 members of the technical crew of the Whitewater Summer School Playhouse will present the Disney classic, The Little Mermaid, at the Whitewater High School Auditorium this weekend. Show times are 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 11 and 12, at 7 p.m., and 2 p.m. Sunday, July 13.
Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for students/seniors, and free to children 5 and under. Call (262) 472-8178 for ticket information.
According to Lori Heidenreich, musical director for The Little Mermaid, the summer school show is important by “having students using their talents over the summer to keep them singing and performing.”
The Little Mermaid includes about 15 young actors taking part in their first production.
Heidenreich said that being part of a summer play gives “the younger students learn from the older students which goes a long way in helping them see what the potential can be. Students learning from their peers is much stronger than hearing it from an adult.”
Heidenreich pointed out that the younger members of The Little Mermaid “also learn some work ethics that help them in the future performing ensembles and other areas of their life.”
According to artistic and technical director Jim McCulloch, the Summer School Playhouse productions contribute to the success of the Whitewater Unified School District theater program in several important ways.
McCulloch said that for experienced student actors and backstage technicians, “The summer program helps to reinforce what we try teaching them during the school year and gives them the firsthand experience of being able to mentor the younger kids.”
In addition, participating in summer productions increases the skills of the students “so that when they come up to the high school they know the basics already and they’re pretty well education and versed in the mechanics of theater.”
McCulloch estimated about 15 members of the cast of The Little Mermaid will be involved in their first theatrical production.
