DESCENDANTS: THE MUSICAL

Good is the New Bad

A SECOND GENERATION of Disney royals and villains took the stage in February in the Middle School’s production of Descendants: The Musical. Based on the eponymous Disney Channel Original Movies, the show chronicles the drama that ensues when the children of Maleficent, Snow White’s Evil Queen, Cruella De Vil and Jafar enroll at Auradon Prep with the offspring of their parents’ sworn enemies and must choose to live lives of good or evil.

“I try to pick different types of shows so Disney favorites students experience a wide variety of performance styles during their three years in come to life the Middle School,” says Director PATRICK in the Middle CAMPBELL. “Last year’s Spamalot was a fairly traditional musical. With Descendants, School musical we embraced pop.”

Given the COVID pandemic and related protocols, far more went into staging the annual musical than ever before. “We had plan A, B, C and D,” says Campbell, “but once the Pace COVID Response Team determined we could sing indoors thanks to the Fine Arts Center’s upgraded air filtration system, we got to work.” Campbell and his team organized rehearsals in small groups, recorded choreography and vocal parts so cast members could practice independently and even crafted custom masks to match the characters' costumes.

“Since we could only have a limited number of people in the audience, we were also able to make the largest Middle School set ever,” Campbell says. “[Technical Director] SCOTT SARGENT’s amazing two-story set extended out into the audience, allowing us to spread out the cast over a larger playing space. COVID-19 was never going to hold these kids down!”

The one-of-a-kind production, streamed live to Pace theatre fans near and far, did not disappoint. In fact, the cast and crew knocked it out of the park. “Our mission this year was to #bringjoy,” Campbell says. “I’m proud to report that our Middle School students accomplished that goal.”

Asked what’s in store for the ever-innovative Middle School drama team, Campbell responds with a smile: “Next year, who knows? Anything goes around here, I guess.”

Photography by CHRIS BERRY