Westborough High School Presents Musical "The Apple Tree"

The annual spring musical has arrived at . The school theater department is presenting the The Apple Tree on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Showtimes are Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Auditions for the show took place in December, giving cast and crew two and a half months to rehearse. Under the direction of Anne Slotnick, the show will take place in the high school auditorium. The show is being produced by John Hayes. Sam Bianco is the musical director, Matt Lefebvre is conditing the 24-piece pit orchestra and Lynn Frederiksen is the choreographer.

The Apple Tree is a series of three musical playlets written by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnett. The original Broadway production, in 1966, starred Alan Alda and Barbara Harris. Harris went on to win a Tony for her performance.

Each of the acts has its own storyline, but all three are tied together by a common theme (the main character feels he or she really wants something and once they get it, realize they really want something else). The first act is based on Mark Twain's The Diary of Adam and Eve, the second act is based on Frank R. Stockton's The Lady or the Tiger? and the third act is based on Jules Feiffer's Passionella.

In the first act, Adam (Alex Hayes) is quite content until Eve (Shira Berger) comes along and starts giving proper names to all the “crawlers,” “swimmers” and “fliers” in his perfect world. Eve makes many changes and he resents them all - especially her relationship with the snake (Mara Frumkin).

The second act centers around a barbaric kingdom ruled by King Arik, his daughter Princess Barbara and her slave Nadjira. Princess Barbara loves the hero of the army, Capt. Sanjar, but cannot do so openly because he is of a lower class. When the illicit lovers get caught stealing a kiss, the king puts the heroic captain on trial.

The third act, Passionella, is the story of Ella (Michayla Savitt),a hard-working, plain, poor chimney sweep. Ella’s story is told by three narrators (Kate Barrette, Becca Crivello and Megan Speed). Ella dreams of escaping her dirty hum-drum life and being a beautiful movie star. One day she meets her “Friendly Neighborhood Fairy Godmother” who magically appears and grants Ella her most cherished wish with one caveat: she can only be Passionella (Amanda Hutchinson) the star from 7 p.m. until 4 a.m. She meets a producer George Brown (Jacob Robbins) who makes her a star.

Tickets are $10 and general admission seats are available at the door. Reserved seating is available through Thursday. For reserved seats, contact John or Brenda at 508-366-5864 or haynik@hotmail.com or hayesnj@westborough.k12.ma.us.