Musical meant to be a way to learn

By Kyra Smith-Cullen ksmithcullen@dailyitem.com

Director Rachel Ulsh saw learning potential when it came time to select the spring musical for Selinsgrove Area High School.

While it is based off of a classic Disney movie that many have seen, she said she and her musical partner Jay Muller chose “The Little Mermaid” because it includes differences from the film and additional songs that would give her performers the trifecta of choreography, acting and singing — and the production team would have the experience of learning to give top notch lighting, sound, set building and design and more.

“The performances of the show are an amazing accomplishment that we love sharing with the community, but the main goal is to provide an educational atmosphere and provide a wonderful journey of learning and growth,” Ulsh said.

“This show provided those things.”

Such a visual ly-heavy production required a lot of elements from both the cast and crew, whether it was costumes to help identify the dis­ tinctive — and in several cases not human — cast of characters or the lighting and design elements that transformed the set from an underwater kingdom to one on land.

“The most challenging element leading up to the show was the scene changes,” said Elliot Muller, a junior who played the crab Sebastian in the show. “With so many set pieces and special effects, the crew and the cast had to work hard to get the timing right during instrumental pieces of music during the performances.”

One crucial piece of equipment especially took a lot of practice to use — a flying system that allowed several cast members to swim in the air.

“I think the biggest challenge was fitting everything on the stage with over 60 people in the cast and crew and incorporating the fly system with the students,” Ulsh said.

“It took an entire day of training to fly the students safely and then took the week before the show to fine tune the flying.”

See MERMAID, Page 23