Mount Vernon Middle School students have been “all in this together” since October, working on their production of High School Musical JR. Curtains are set to rise on Friday, Jan. 23 and Jan. 24 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 25, at 2 p.m. at the Mount Vernon District Auditorium. Cash will be accepted at the door, but in the event of a sellout, it is best to buy tickets online at mvhstheatre.ludus.com.

The middle school theatre program began last year, with their first show being Seussical JR. To make the jump into acting easier prior to high school, the middle school theatre program has decided to only put on junior versions of their shows.

This year, the program decided to put on High School Musical JR, which was a contender last year.

High School Musical JR. is a shorter production of Disney Channel’s movie, High School Musical, with the main characters, Troy and Gabriella, leading the show. Together, the two of them interrupt the “status quo” when they audition for their school production of Juliet and Romeo, as Troy is an athlete, while Gabriella is part of the “Brainiac” crowd. Tensions arise among them and other students, such as Sharpay Evans, as they believe that people should stick to what they know.

For directors Kristin Anderson and Elise Rodenberg, choosing High School Musical JR. for this year’s show was easy. According to Anderson, it had not only been the runner-up option for last year’s production, but the kids were familiar with it.

Anderson feels that it is especially fun to see such a broadly aged group of kids, from athletes to actors and everything in between, all come together. Elise has enjoyed seeing them all channel their creativity into the same thing and working together every day.

There are a total of 61 cast members and nine tech crew kids. Although it is such a large group of kids, many have enjoyed the same things and faced the same challenges.

For students like Leila Wilford, who plays Gabriella; Ella Weddington, who plays Sharpay Evans; and Aubrey Meester, who plays Susan, the challenges were all more skill related. Challenges for these actors included finding time for breaks between scenes, maintaining confidence onstage, even when there are only one or two others onstage, and acting without speaking.

Alongside challenges have been learning experiences. For students like Liesl Rodenberg, who plays Martha Cox, and Ruth West, who plays the science teacher, Ms. Tenny, perseverance and hard work have been a takeaway from this show. In Liesl’s opinion, if you “keep working at it, it becomes a lot more fun. Hard work pays off.” For West, the biggest takeaway has simply been to “keep on going,” even when things get difficult.

There have been challenges and learning curves for more than just the actors, however. For Priya Medinger, the main stage manager, has found that while she enjoys working backstage with the crew, being the person who oversees the entire crew and makes sure that things are always running smoothly has been challenging.

No matter the role, each student has enjoyed being able to work together with people they normally wouldn’t see, as well as learning fun and valuable acting skills.

For the students, they agree that the community should see the show because everyone has put countless hours of hard work to make the show perfect.

In the opinion of Elise Rodenberg, the community should make sure to attend the show “because the kids are awesome, funny, and doing such a good job.” Kristin Anderson believes the community should make it to the show because it is a great opportunity to “see a bunch of kids having a blast singing and dancing.”