Central Middle School drama club takes on bigger production with "The Princess and the Pea"

A group of students at Cape Girardeau Central Middle School are getting a head start on theater.

"They can do amazing things at this age. You just need to pull it out of them," said Rhonda Young, who directs the school's new drama club.

The group has been putting on smaller shows since it started last year. This year about 30 students are tackling the production of "The Princess and the Pea" on a bigger scale.

"This year we stepped up quite a bit," Young said. "I skipped a few steps, I think."

She said students auditioned to participate in the club at the beginning of the year. It meets twice a week, said Young, who teaches social studies and science at the middle school.

The students performed with high school students for the Madrigal Feaste during the Christmas season. In January, they started rehearsing for "The Princess and the Pea," which opens Thursday in the middle school cafeteria.

"I know that Mike Dumey has such a strong and wonderful program for the kids, and I wanted to complement him," said Young, referring to the junior high school choir director.

The group started with no money, costumes or scenery. Young said she has been working with parents and other district productions to build up the program. The group also had fundraisers throughout the year.

To create the centerpiece prop for the play adaptation of the fairy tale, she recycled a large wooden box on wheels from the high school's production of "Guys and Dolls."

"This is just amazing how it's all coming together," she said. She used other scenery from the high school's spring production.

"This is brand new for the middle school, so most of the kids were able to come up with costumes," said Hays Hendricks, a parent helping with costumes.

She has been sewing costumes for the royal characters to build a small "pile of costumes" for the students to reuse. She has a sixth-grade son in the play and an older son who participates in Red Dagger productions at the high school.

Getting students on stage before they hit their teens helps them get used to performing, she said.

"The earlier they do it, then they don't know to be nervous or self-conscious," Hendricks said.

"The Princess and the Pea" will be at 6:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday in the middle school cafeteria. Tickets can be purchased by calling the school at 334-6281.

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Pertinent address:

1900 Thilenius St., Cape Girardeau, MO