Students and drama directors working on this year’s Middle School spring play have had to learn to film Frozen Jr. in the middle of a pandemic. The students are able to showcase their skills in a more creative way. Fall play director Jennifer Finlayson explains, “It is extremely different and hard this year because usually, you are performing for live audiences.”

Due to Covid-19 students aren’t able to sing on stage, so they record the songs beforehand. Singing with masks injects a lot of germs into the air; therefore, they are being recorded singing the songs outside and will have to mouth the words to the songs while on stage. 

Watching the play online presents many advantages. People travel, so people can still watch the play if they were at home. Also, the students don’t have to worry about the stress of memorizing all of their lines. Some students prefer to have the production be filmed because they don’t have to perform in front of a live audience. However, some students prefer to act live because they feel that it is more interactive and draws the spectators into the play. For the onlookers, they would want to watch the play in real life rather than on a computer. Something about physically buying the tickets, finding their seats, and watching the play at the school is a better experience. However, watching the play online means that people don’t have to buy tickets for the show. 

The size of the cast benefits directors and students. Spring Play director Linda Searles says “We chose Frozen jr. because the cast size is bigger, so it allows more students to join the play.” Frozen Jr. was the best choice in terms of stage space, costuming, and cast size. It is so different because no not only do the directors have to worry about making sure the actors know their lines, but they have to get the cameras at the perfect angle, and the lighting needs to be perfect so that the camera picks up their faces. Fall Play director Jennifer Finlayson says, “I really enjoyed the participation and everyone was really valuable in the play, so I want to incorporate the participation and cast size into the next play.”  It is also very different for the students because they have to get used to not having an audience, having a mask on, performing with cameras videotaping.