Morrow Theater Camp Fundraises for Haiti

No summer is complete without a healthy dose of Snozzberries, Everlasting Gobstoppers and Three-Course Dinner Chewing Gum. Thankfully, if you haven't had yours yet, you can head to Morrow Church this weekend for the local production of "Willy Wonka Jr."

For the past week, 60 kids from around the community, including many South Orange residents, grades four through eight, have tirelessly learned their lines and cues in preparation for Opening Night. There will be two performances of the show. The first is Aug. 21 at 7 p.m., the second is Aug. 22 at 2 p.m., both at Morrow Memorial United Methodist Church on Ridgewood Road in Maplewood.

Proceeds from the "Willy Wonka Jr." production will go to the United Methodist Committee on Relief, which is currently coordinating relief efforts in Haiti.

"Our vision was that these kids could perform in a backyard kind of production while also learning to be professionals—we've done marketing and publicity—and raise money for a cause," said Rev. Brenda Wheeler Ehlers, Associate Pastor of Education & Youth Ministry at Morrow Church.

Helping to realize this vision are 14 volunteers from the area, many of them students at Rutgers University. The director, rising senior Shona Roebuck, is double majoring in theatre and dance at Rutgers, New Brunswick.

"This has been a learning experience for me," Roebuck said, "The kids are outstanding. They overly impressed me. They came in the first day with their lines and music memorized."

The cast was selected after a mock professional, two-hour audition that was held back in June. Since then, they have not only attended daily practice sessions from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and danced and sang their parts at home in front of bemused (and doubtless proud) parents, but they have helped paint props and have manned spotlights like true seasoned stage hands.  

And it seems all their hard work is about to pay off. With 60 tickets already sold, the cast and crew seem optimistic about the aid they'll be able to send to Haiti.

Couldn't find the "Golden Ticket?" Tickets are sold at the door for a suggested donation of just 10 dollars.