Second-graders in D.C. Moore's new after-school Drama Club performed a musical entitled "Life Cycles, How Plants and Animals Change," Monday evening delighting the audience.
Music was provided by instructional assistants Alicia Rohner and Kelly Neuser, who played the piano, and a sound system. Stephanie Hribko, big sister of Samantha Sansone, who played a plant, also assisted in the production with the script on a huge easel.
The stage was ornately decorated with creations made by the children. The kids used several types of media to make the decorations ranging from crayons, markers, paint, glue and colorful tissue paper. All of the work was done under the direction of Rose Baird, a second-grade teacher at the school.
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About six months ago, Baird approached Principal Jackie Bacon with the idea of beginning a drama club after school. Bacon loved the idea, giving Baird the go-ahead to start the program with two assistants.
“This undertaking was a little challenging because for five months, they only met two days a week,” said Bacon of the upstart of the club.
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The "Life Cyles" cast consisted of 28 second-graders who played the parts of hosts, zoo keepers gardeners and biologists, as well as plants and animals. There were snakes, butterflies, fish, rabbits and tadpoles donning creations put together by the kids.
The show opened with Baird and the kids chanting in unison: “Break a leg,” followed by the cast singing, "Here’s a Show About Life Cycles." The children went on to sing about metamorphosis, explaining quite comically how the changes of the life cycle occurs. They dressed up as caterpillars who then turned into butterflies, with a chorus of "I don’t want to grow up." Another song featured quips about the food chain where the children sang about being an appleseed that turned into a tree of apples.
Right before the show started, Brooklyn Mortimer, who played a butterfly, said, “I would like to thank my parents for helping me with my lines. I like the animals in this play. I think it’s going to be funny. I like acting.”
Robert Davis, who played a fish, said, “I’ve never been in a play before; I’m excited to play a fish with my friends.”
A blonde, curly-headed actor named Vincent Burbine played a biologist, costumed in a white lab coat and goggles, and was one of the show-stealers Monday evening.
Good luck to all of the children in D.C. Moore’s second-grade class of 2011, as you step up and move over to third grade.
