Roberts Elementary presents musical on Thursday evening

Roberts Elementary fifth grade students will present a musical production of The Phantom Tollbooth Jr. on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the school’s multipurpose room.

Student Valden Denha stars as Milo, the uninspired boy who thinks everything is boring. Student Olivia Bowman appears as Tock, the watchdog Milo befriends on a magical journey to the Land Beyond. The play is directed by music teacher Dana Gress and was partially funded by the Roberts PTO. Admission is free.

Although the students’ main focus is on the Thursday performance, their learning experience encompassed much more.

Thanks to DonorsChoose.org and Google Detroit, the fifth graders received their own copies of the Norton Juster novel of the same name upon which the play is based. Students compared the book to the play and explored allegories and symbols in both versions.