The Little Mermaid is being performed on the Gorzycki stage February 25th through the 27th. The musical will be put on by the Theatere students, and held in the cafeteria after school.

Rehearsals for the play take place Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays after school. The rehearsals will continue until the day the play begins, with a “tech week” the week of opening night.

The Little Mermaid is a Disney musical about an ambitious mermaid, fascinated by life on land. Seventh grader Carli V. goes in-depth about similarities between them, and the characters they play.

“Sebastian, he really thinks he’s bigger, and grander, than everyone else.” Carli said. “He thinks he’s the best, and thinks of himself very highly. I feel like I can relate. His ideas are always the best in his own eyes.  Sebastian’s always like ‘Yeah, of course it’s a good idea.’  Carli said. Faith W. also shares the similarities  “I really don’t think I can relate, because she’s kind of a big, evil, purple, octopus-tentacle thing, and I like to think that I’m not, well, whatever she is.” Faith said.

Eighth Grader Patrick W., who plays Prince Eric, explains the audition process for the musical. “[At the audition] you sign up [for a role], and Mrs. Huerta puts you in a time slot. You learn a song and dance, and then perform [the song] in front of Mrs. Huerta and Mrs. Zimmerman.” Patrick said.

Seventh graders Josh L. and Khai J., explains what turned them to acting.  “I was in the musical last year, and it was lots of fun. I got to meet a lot of new people, and it was overall, a really good experience.” Josh said. “I just really love attention, this is pretty much my first acting experience, but so far, it’s been really fun.” Khai said.

Stage fright can be very overwhelming when onstage. Students explain their form of stage fright, and how they cope with it.

“I love being on stage, but of course I think everyone gets a little bit of stage fright. I always get this feeling like I’m starving, right before I get onstage.”  Carli said  “It’s the weirdest thing, I always feel like I could eat a whole cow. It’s kind of my form of stage fright. Its just the adrenalin rush, but then I step onstage, and it all goes away.”

Gorzycki students have been practicing for the musical for the past five weeks. Be sure to check out the musical on the 25 through 27th after school.