Elementary school spring musical revues often consist of several songs sung cutely but tentatively by fidgety singers outfitted in little league and soccer uniforms.
But Tuesday afternoon, Phillips Elementary got the jump on spring fever and all that goes with it by staging an impressive, full-blown 5th grade production of Annie Jr. that’s been in the works since last November under the joint direction of music teacher Liz Moldovan and art teacher Lisa Rasmussen.
There were songs sung with gusto over an actual sound system, costumes (even the stage crew wore them), sets that turned the school gym into everything from a millionaire’s mansion to an orphanage – even a real live dog in the role of Annie’s pooch, Sandy! And not a whiff of stage fright, except possibly from Misty, 5th grade teacher Kim Foster’s best friend, who was a bit reluctant to steal the spotlight from his/her human cast-mates.
“We wanted the 5th graders to have a chance to try musical theater,” said Moldovan by way of explaining why she, Rasmussen and a deep supporting behind-the-scenes cast took on such an ambitious project. “It’s a transformative year for them and we hope this will be something for them to build on as they move up to middle and high school.”
The practice/performance ratio is lopsided in favor of the former, a la Thanksgiving feasts that take way, way longer to prepare than they do to consume. The Opening/Closing Day show that we saw on Tuesday afternoon is one of only two for Annie Jr. The command community performance was scheduled for 6:30 Tuesday evening. In between the two shows, the 4th graders would strut their stuff with a set list including tunes (and props) from Toy Story and The Addams Family. And as if that weren’t enough theatrics for one day, it all followed a fieldtrip for the Phillips kindergartners and 1st graders to the Des Moines Civic Center where they were treated to The Snowy Day and Other Ezra Jack Keats Stories, another installment in the Applause Series at Des Moines Performing Arts which makes live theater affordable for schoolkids.
The most popular song from Annie Jr. is probably Tomorrow. But the one that best fit the circumstances on Tuesday afternoon was the finale, Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile.
The gym at Phillips was full – and dressed to overflowing.
Bravo, Tigers!
