Each year, our school’s Thespians club presents two exciting shows for students, staff, and families to enjoy. For this year’s spring musical, they will be performing “The Little Mermaid Jr.,” directed by seniors Patrick Gohl and Izzy Savarino, on April 21 and 23. 

Producing a theatrical show is never an easy task, and this year is no exception. With obstacles far beyond the usual choreography, harmonies, and lines, this show’s production seemed to falter. Despite the many unique challenges and setbacks, the Thespians club continues to put their best foot forward. 

Complications with “The Little Mermaid Jr.” began soon after this school year’s fall play: “Peter and the Starcatcher.” The club’s previous sponsor, music teacher Gregory Banaska, had to go on medical leave for the remainder of the school year. This meant no rehearsals could be held until a new sponsor took over. 

“Looking for a new sponsor was probably the biggest challenge we had to face. We explored every option we could, reached out to multiple teachers and were unable to find anybody that could take us with such a large time commitment that does come with our club,” Savarino said. The directors and officers met and worked with our school’s administration to figure out their course of action. 

There are many rules and regulations in place, limiting those who could be available and what the club could do. One of the most prominent rules was that the sponsor couldn’t just be anyone, as they must be an employee of Broward County Schools. Fortunately, members of the school board and administration aided in the club’s efforts and supported them. With their help, the show was ensured to continue and a sponsor was eventually found. Since early March, Carlos Ortiz, a drama teacher at Blanche Ely High School, would take on this role to oversee the show’s production, allowing the show to move forward once again. 

Even though a new sponsor was found, another obstacle remained: finding time. Originally, “Peter and the Starcatcher” was going to be performed in early December, but due to licensing issues, it was delayed until late January. After the fall play, the search for a new sponsor took place, pushing rehearsals for the spring musical, originally the full “Little Mermaid,” back until early March. With the show scheduled for late April, the cast and crew would only have a little over a month to learn an entire musical. In that short amount of time, the possibility of the show’s cancellation hung in the air. However, the directors were not ready to give up. 

“We had to figure out how to keep the show going, so we worked with the whole club. We held a meeting to discuss it, and what we ended up settling on was that instead of putting on ‘The Little Mermaid’ in the original version, we would be putting on ‘The Little Mermaid Jr,’” Gohl said. 

Switching from “The Little Mermaid” to “The Little Mermaid Jr” made the difference. The original show was about two hours, while the junior version is about one hour. This lightens the load for both actors and tech, as it means fewer lines to memorize and songs to choreograph, all while keeping the same fun story. To maintain efficiency, some scenes had to be rehearsed on the actors’ own time, and others had to be worked on simultaneously on the same day. Despite the time crunch, everyone pushed through with determination. 

“Everyone was very adamant about the fact that they wanted to put on a show and whatever time that would require of us. Everyone has completely held to that, and I see how much hard work these people put in everyday when they come into rehearsals,” Savarino said. “I am so proud of all of the amazing work everyone has put into this show.”