LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) -
Lufkin
Middle School's theater and choir departments' annual musical is becoming a "must-see"
event. This year's musical, "The Little Mermaid," features a cast and crew of
about 60 LMS students.
There
will be performances of "The Little Mermaid" Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 2
p.m. and 7 p.m. in the LMS Auditorium. General admission tickets are $5 each,
and reserved tickets are $7.
"It's our
big event of the year," Teresa Ragland, the theater teacher at LMS and the
production's director, said. "Our annual musical has kind of become our money
maker."
Brandon
Nichols, the choir teacher at Lufkin Middle School, will serving as the musical
director for the production, and Ragland will be handling the stage direction
duties in addition to the overall direction of "The Little Mermaid."
Ragland
said that LMS students have been working on "The Little Mermaid" for about two
and a half months. LMS students auditioned for the production in the second
week of school, and once they were cast, they started rehearsing in the third
week of school.
"It's a
big production," Ragland said. "We have a very elaborate set. The SFA School of
Theater donated a lot of it - they just gave it to us."
Mark
Porter, the SFA Theater Department's stage manager, and several SFA students
helped Ragland and her LMS crew put the stage together. Ragland said that
Central Freight Lines helped by donating a truck and trailer to move the set
dressing materials to the Lufkin Middle School Auditorium.
"We
couldn't have done this without all the help we've received from the community,"
Ragland said.
The LMS
theater and choir departments have already done one production of "The Little
Mermaid." They performed the musical for about 900 Lufkin ISD elementary
students Tuesday. Ragland said they put the show on for free to teach the
younger kids audience etiquette and encourage them to become active in the
Lufkin Middle School theater or choir departments when they get older.
Ragland
said among other things, funds raised by "The Little Mermaid" will used to pay
for the school's Christmas musical. The theater and choir departments are
combining their efforts again to produce and perform their first bilingual
production, "The Poinsettia Story" on Dec. 18. Admission for that production
will be $3, three canned goods, or a new toy, and all of those proceeds will
benefit the Women's Shelter of East Texas.
Money
from "The Little Mermaid" will also be used to help pay for the Lufkin Middle
School's spring musical and an end-of-the year incentive trip to Splashtown in
Houston.
For more
information, call Teresa Ragland at (936) 630-4444 or e-mail her at
tragland@lufkinisd.org.
Copyright 2012 KTRE. All rights reserved.
